USA vs Guatemala

The United States begin World Cup qualifying against Guatemala tonight. Rumor has it that Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson will be starting up top...both Fulham players. Should be exciting.

Dempsey scored me some good points in fantasy footie last year! GL to the Us they surely can't play any worse than England did tonight!

Should put a few past these shouldn't they?

Are Guatemala any good?

I mean like compared to US

Guatemala aren't good at all except for their star striker Carlos Ruiz, who often leads the MLS in scoring.

The game should be pretty close, though. In CONCACAF (North American confederation) away games are always difficult. For instance, tonight the US players will have bags of urine thrown at them during every corner, batteries thrown at them, etc. Away games to these third world countries are never easy for that reason.

With that said, by the end of the game the US's dominance in North America usually shows. I definitely expect a victory, as on the pitch Guatemala can't compare to us.

tonight the US players will have bags of urine thrown at them during every corner, batteries thrown at them, etc


Are they playing at The Den???!!

Don't fancy taking a trip to Guatemala on your recommendation Brian!!

Oh yeh course, Ruiz plays for Galaxy right?

He did, until today, funny enough. He was just traded to Toronto so the Galaxy can sign Eddie Lewis (who has bounced around the English leagues for years).

Eddie Lewis was good for Leeds.

What league would you compare the MLS with Brian? Quality of football wise.

I'd say league 1, and yes i am aware the question wasn't directed at me

I'd say the upper echelon of MLS sides could do well in the Championship. The likes of New England, DC United, and Chicago would fare very well in the Championship. They've proven it over the years too - just look at the results between American sides and British clubs. DC United has taken down some giants from the Prem (albeit it was preseason, but they were Premiership clubs...they'd perform as well against an in form Championship side).

As Andy said, the lower MLS teams like NY are definitely comparable to League 1 football wise.

a) oh good, it's on tv.
b) I hope Bob Bradley watched the Olympics and decides to get some minutes for Sacha Kljestan and Charlie Davies. I also hope Adu and Bradley are back for this one. And I agree Brian, at least we can say that the US is the dominant North American team even tho that doesn't really mean a whole lot if you look at the countries on this continent.

Very satisfying win...anybody else watch it?

it was a down and dirty physical game...but I was disappointed not to see some younger players like those that played in the Olympics. we saw no Adu, Kljestan, Davies, or Altidore. But I was glad to see Bradley in there again.

Dempsey didn't do a heck of a lot, as usual for the national team.

Any other thoughts on the game?

I watched the game too, John, and I was a bit disappointed in our overall play. Brian Ching is too slow up front, and Landon Donovan went missing for the entire game. As you said, Dempsey didn't do much either.

DeMarcus Beasley proved once again why he should be an automatic starter, and Tim Howard showed why he's one of the best goalies in the Prem. Bocanegra is class and a great leader.

BTW, why can't Guatemala afford to light the whole pitch? It was ridiculously dark there.

I agree that Ching and Donovan didnt play well overall, and my guess is that the younger strikers that I was hoping to see were too tired from the Olympics and just weren't with the team. But I'm not sure if they would have done much better; Guatemala did not try to play so much as they ran themselves ragged swarming to the ball and disrupting anything the US tried to do. Once they got the ball they just sent it down the wings very hopefully, with no real results dispite a couple chances. Gua made it a scrappy game, where the winner had to be tougher, not more skilled.