It's been a little over six weeks since the U.S. men's national team fell to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, but things won't be exactly the same when the two teams square off tonight in a friendly at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA (9pm ET, ESPN2).
The United States will kick off a new chapter in its history as the game marks the U.S. coaching debut of Jurgen Klinsmann, who has add some much-needed luster to the match. U.S. fans are eager to see what Klinsmann can bring to the table, and tonight he gets a chance to show them against a nearly at-strength Mexico team.
Mexico heads into the match having won the last three meetings between the two teams by a combined score of 11-3. El Tri is without Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez, but it returns its other 10 starters from the Gold Cup final for this friendly.
If you're looking for some reading on tonight's game to help pass the time, here is Ives' Fox Soccer column on the match.
SBI will be providing plenty of coverage before, during and after the game, but for now, please feel free to make SBI your place for pre-game discussions.
Go US!
Not expecting a whole bunch tonight, Klinsi just hasn’t had much time to institute massive changes. If we win I’ll be ecstatic! If we lose, eh, not too concerned. It’s too early.
Go get em boys!
I wonder if Buddle will get a real chance with Klins…I dont think he will ever be hotter than he was last year though
I don’t have high hopes for tonight. But after watching Germany boss Brazil this afternoon, I hope that the long-term changes lead to a similar style of play for the US.
This little league game had better end on time..
ESPN News will pick up pregame if LL goes long.
thank goodness for NBC
Saw a tweet that Torres was injured. Anyone know if that’s true?
i hate mexico
he limped off early against Italy, so probably
The Spanish one … not the US player.
No Dempsey vs. Mexico is a little scary.
Haha, nice. In actuality, reading how in that new ESPN book about how close NBC came to getting the broadcast rights for the World Cup, considering their plans were heavy on tape delayed coverage (a la Olympics) which is why ESPN was allowed to bid, I can’t say I’m too excited about NBC jumping into the soccer realm.
Maybe now that Ebersol is gone things will be different. Say what you want about ESPN, but they’re normally committed to showing the event. They might just have 3 celebrity interviews instead of talking about the game.
(Mostly kidding there. The World Cup coverage was a fantastic step forward from 2006, I thought, and every game live/HD was awesome. I wish they showed more MLS/EPL matches. No offense to Fox.)
i meant jose francisco torres, not fernando torres.
The United States defeating Mexico in the 2002 World Cup was probably the best thing to happen to Mexican soccer ever, at least in terms of its implications for the sport during the subsequent years.
Maybe the United States getting our as#$s kicked isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I just can’t picture the US winning this game, sorry.
Paul is dead
This is U.S. B- team versus Mexico A- team. I expect a bit of a thrashing and a bunch of idiotic comments tomorrow about how the U.S. got off on ‘the wrong foot.’
Torres has a mild concussion . . . . Pique was also injured with a thigh problem
Not really. At a minimum its a B+/A- team.
Is ESPN3 showing this one? No cable til this weekend..
Here we go! B team A team, stop it dude. Just support your team, whoever is on the roster, and deal with it.
Klinsmann is goin old school with the numbers on jersey’s. Starters 1-11 and reserves 12-18 with no last names on back.Name on the front,only thing that matters.I like it !!!
Yes they are, the ESPN3 coverage starts 8:30 eastern.
A bit early for excuses, I think.
A little off topic but I am watching Spain v Korea in the U20WC and Mark Geiger is the center official for the game and is surprisingly doing a great job in this match.
..and yes it is
Yes, off topic indeed.
These descriptions make my head hurt. Very rarely do we have our full selection available for any match. We get one true “A” team every four years, thats it.
The only time we field a “B” team, as such, with NO players that are likely to play in a world cup for us, is camp cupcake.
The same is true for every team in the world. So lets stop with this B-/C/A-/D+ crap.
I don’t know who introduced this grading concept into the American soccer lexicon but it needs to die, soon.
What formation do folks think we’ll see or hope is put on the field for the USMNT? Given the personnel in camp, I’d like to see a lineup that emphasizes wing play so wondering if Klinsi deploys a 4-2-3-1 w Beas and Donovan on the flanks…
Shazam!
you and ives should get a room jk I stop hating mexico when this new generation came about
I’m pretty sure Ives is single-handedly responsible for coining this idiotic phrase, which is unique to American soccer fans.
We’ll see how it goes tonight, but I thought a lot of the hatred drained out of the U.S.-Mexico rivalry in the 2007 Gold Cup. That game was well-played, without much rancor.
Since then, there have been a couple of flare-ups, but nothing as passionate as before. Nery Castillo was in the middle of the most recent battles, and he’s gone, thank god. It’s a credit to Mexico that they’ve finally got past 2002 to focus more on their game, and it shows!
Of course, we’ll see what happens next time they lose to the USA.
I think it was the American sports writers who introduced it to the rest of the World after what happened at the copa america. Back then I would hear reserve or u23 as excuses.
I like it too. Everybody starts fresh, he’s basically just saying, ‘show me what you’ve got, it doesn’t matter what happened in the past.’
USMNT lineup v. MEX: Howard; Cherundolo, Orozco Fiscal, Bocanegra (c), Castillo; Jones, Beckerman; Donovan, Bradley, Torres; Buddle
So when this Little League game inevitably runs past 9, then what does ESPN do? Tell us to go to non-HD ESPN Classic or ESPN3?
Thank goodness Univision also has this one.
interesting. Torres and Donovan playing wide? Surprised with Orozco too, but I guess he must have shown well in practice.
Interesting to see Bradley in an AM role and Torres wide left. Also what is the over/under on minutes Juergen takes out Orozco Fiscal? 45 min?
2009 WC qualifier in Columbus had Oswaldo Sanchez’s well earned red card among the action
the lineup is out:
U.S. MNT starters vs. Mexico: Howard; Cherundolo, Orozco Fiscal, Bocanegra (c), Castillo; Jones, Beckerman; Donovan, Bradley, Torres; Buddle. What do you think of Jurgen Klinsmann’s first lineup?
whoops just noticed someone else posted it. Ignore.
what a lineup! well, let’s see it play then!!!
Awful!
Come on boys! GO USA!!!
Yeah, true, but that didn’t lead to any greater antics. It was pretty isolated, unlike the outbreaks of earlier years.
I must say, that is a crazy line-up. Interested to see how it pans out.
They only play 6 innings in the LLWS.
ugh. hating the line up. torres is not a wide player, orozco should be nowhere near the nats, and adu isn’t even in uniform.
here’s to hoping i sound like an idiot after a USA win with great wide play from torres, lockdown d from orozco and a creative spark from someone other than adu.
I can’t help it. I’m already sold on Klinsi. I tried to hold out and be a rational soccer observer as long as I could. He’s just so pretty.
Free thinking, smooth talking, an XNXP Meyers Briggs, known for bold vision and new ideas. Changing the starters numbers + Bradley as a CAM + No names on the back of jerseys = oh my god yes heck yes. Sieg Heil Kaiser Jurgen please make love to me.
Why is a Mexican commentator, full of “the USA needs to stop playing soccer and learn to play futbol” type comments, on the ESPN pregame?
I know not all agree but that doesn’t sit right with me.
I agree. typically backhanded commentary
Dear ESPN. I invite you to sodomize your mentally handicapped mother.