A strong side will no doubt be displayed by the Americans as they travel to Sweeden for their friendly, tomorrow August 22nd in Goteborg's Ullevi Stadium. A European strong group with 15 of 19 coming from the premier European leagues. The only 4 US players being Donovan, Mastroeni, Ching and Bornstien. The Americans will try to reverse a trend of US teams getting hammered across the pond by elite European internationals.
Sweeden, while not the England's, Germany's, France's and Italy's of the world, are still elite competition. They compiled 5 points and a 2nd place finishing in last years World Cup and were then subsiquently defeated 2-0 by eventual 3rd place finishers Germany in the round of 16. They are a poor mans Italy in a sense. They have a solid midfield with an equal part experience (Ljungberg, Linderoth) and long range shooting ability (Kallstrom) and a world class striker in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who at 6'4", could spell considerable trouble for Onyewu/DeMerit. Fortunately/Unfortunately, however you look at it, both the captain Ljungberg and Linderoth will both be out with injury. Ljungberg has yet to make his debut after his transfer to West Ham from Arsenal this offseason.
On the US side, they feature one of their strongest lineups I've seen in recent years. This is arguably the best side the US has to offer and very well could have at least 17 of these guys making the trip to South Africa in 2010. In my humble opinion, there are two glaring omissions from this roster. One, understandably so, one, not at all. The one that I don't really mind is the omission of Jozy Altidore. This kid will be our lead striker and arguably the only true striker on the entire US side over 17. Why not give him a shot now instead of Brian Ching, who we know can play decently, but not on the international level. The second and most significant omission would have to be Frank Simek. Why would Bradley opt to bring Bornstien AND Spector? Both are natural Left Backs, and Bornstien plays in Kansas City. Why wouldn't Bradley want Simek included instead of Bornstien. That way he can even out the depth in the backfield and save Bornstein the 3,000 mile trip and inevitable jet lag. Otherwise it should be a good game with strong sides put forward by both ends. We could see history if Donovan scores to break the US record held by Wynalda, and more importantly, it is a chance to see how the US have matured as a team since the Gold Cup and each player's respective training camps. Enjoy the match.
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