United States predicted lineup vs Netherlands – World Cup
The United States go toe-to-toe with the Netherlands in the round of 16 on Saturday afternoon.
In the all-or-nothing final group game against Iran, Gregg Berhalter named the first World Cup starting XI for the US men’s national team which exclusively contained players contracted to European clubs. Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic scored the game’s only goal.
Here’s the continental XI Berhalter may deploy to get navigate their way past European opposition.
GK: Matt Turner – Arsenal’s reserve custodian became the first American man to keep consecutive clean sheets at the World Cup since Jimmy Douglas in 1930.
RB: Sergino Dest – The former Ajax youth team player was born in the newest city in the Netherlands, Almere.
CB: Cameron Carter-Vickers – The son of a former NBA player made his first start of the tournament in the crunch game against Iran on Tuesday night.
CB: Tim Ream – An ever-present in the group stage, America’s opening game of the tournament against Wales was Ream’s first international appearance in 14 months.
LB: Antonee Robinson – Ream’s Fulham teammate got the nickname Jedi because of his Star Wars fanaticism but went viral with a card trick this summer which wouldn’t look out of place in the Mos Eisley cantina.
CM: Weston McKennie – The self-confessed „big Harry Potter fan“ celebrates some of his goals with a swish of an imaginary wand.
CM: Tyler Adams – The Leeds United midfielder has Scottish roots which fall firmly on the blue half of Glasgow. „I mean, my uncle Alan even has a dog named Ranger,“ Adams revealed, „and if you say the word Celtic to the dog, it growls.“
CM: Yunus Musah – Eligible for England, Ghana, Italy and the US, Musah’s allegiance to America is evident from the name of his cat; ‚Bronx‘, as in the New York City borough in which he was born.
RW: Timothy Weah – His father, George, may have won the Ballon d’Or, but Weah junior has already matched his dad’s tally of three European league titles by the age of 22.
ST: Haji Wright – With Josh Sargent nursing an ankle injury, Wright may be drafted in if Berhalter continues to overlook Jesus Ferreira.
LW: Christian Pulisic – The last eight matches in which Pulisic has scored for his country have ended in victory for the USMNT.
Harry Symeou hosts Scott Saunders and Toby Cudworth to look back on South Korea/Japan ’02 as part of the ‚Our World Cup‘ series. We take a trip down memory lane – join us!
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