There are still question marks surrounding the US national team callup.   Let's be honest, Bob Bradley picked the best men available to him.  The team has a collective mentality that is very strong.  But mentality can only take you so far.   The callup stirs mixed emotions, but overall you have to give it a passing grade- for now.

There was not question in anyone's mind that Herculez Gómez deserved to be on Bradley's 23-man list.  The first American to do that in a league like top-tier like Mexico shows that the former LA Galaxy man is the truth.   He was the had-to-root-for story of this pre-World Cup process.

The same goes for Edson Buddle.  The US will depend on his scoring prowess a great deal.  Hope that his form in MLS translate to form at the international level.  It will be a baptism under fire for the Galaxy star, and he should come out of it well.   

The biggest doubt is that of Robbie Findley over Brian Ching.  Jozy Altidore, although he is still young, did not get consistent playing time at Hull City, socring only two goals this season.  

Herculez Gómez (Puebla) 10

Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy) 9

Jozy Altidore (Hull City)   2

Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake) 1

 

There is no doubt in mind that the midfield is the strength of the team begins and ends in the midfield.  With players like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, and of course Landon Donovan the midfield is rock solid.   They will have two playmakers that saw their respective careers evolve during 2010.  The big wild card would be DaMarcus Beasley.   Anything that he can offer on the left will be the proverbial cherry on top. 

Backline

This is where England must be salivating right now.  Both Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu are coming off of surgeries and are not completely fit.  Bocanegra, as much as the US  want to sugar coat his sports hernia surgery, is still a procedure that takes time to heal.  Peter Crouch and Wayne Rooney are forces to be reckoned with and chances are that Watford man Jay De Merit will partner with Gooch in the center and he would have the dubious responsibility of getting .  De Merit's job will be to neutralize Rooney who will be coming off a series of injuries that saw him.  The second part of my worry can be defined in the poor form of Jonathan Bornstein. If he can get his confidence, or whatever he lost after that goal he scored against Costa Rica, he will be a welcome addition to the club.   What is fortunate about this is that Slovenia is not a goalscoring machine.

With all this said the US does have potential to advance to the second round.  England is not the worry, because with master pragmatist Fabio Capello the Three Lions will be a force.     For how long?  Well that's left to be seen.  But the chances of them reaching their third consecutive quarterfinal is a reality.  

 If anyone has any complaints about goalkeeping on the US squad, then there is a problem.   Between Howard, Guzan, and Hahnemann the goal will be one issue that the team will not have to worry about.  You could make an argument that they are one of the ten best goalkeeping trios in the World Cup.   This team will be more experienced compared to the 2006 side.  They will also be more realistic expectations compared to the ridiculousness being said about Keller being better than Buffon and Cech back then.   But overall, solid goalkeepers top to bottom.  Hope the defense helps them.

How are they going to react if they fall behind?  The US is a different team when they jump out in front compared to when they are popped in the mouth first.  If they plan to be successful, they have to knock their opponent down first. Since 2006, they have a 4-11-4 record against teams who have scored against them first.  The record is not impressive, but what makes it even more troublesome is the fact that those four wins have all been against CONCACAF teams (overall 4-2-3).   They have shown episodes of this against El Salvador and Honduras in World Cup qualifiers.

Different mentality? 

We all remember the first five minutes against the Czech Republic that were a telltale sign of things to come. They will be facing a defensively solid Slovenia side as well as the erratic Algerians who suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of this World Cup's "33rd team", Ireland.   But many that covered the African Cup of Nations earlier this year saw this soap opera.  Algeria lost to Malawi in the group stage and were pretty much shunned by their entire country.   Then, and only then, did the team pull up their boot straps and make an improbable run to the semis, where they lost to eventual champs Egypt.  So... hope the Algerian media don't shun them again. 

The Slovenians are the game they will have to look at as their make-or-break match.  If they do not get points against England, they will face Slovenia knowing that a win is all that counts.  Slovenia was the second best defense in World Cup qualifiers in UEFA, second to the Netherlands allowing only four goals in 10 matches. 

So if England is going to be tough, Slovenia could turn into a grudge match.  This is why it's important for the US to score first and apply the lessons they learned in Slovakia and Denmark to give them a good reference.  

In other news, the US Soccer Federation also announced on Friday that they will play Brazil at the New Meadowlands Stadium in a rematch of last year's Confederations Cup final that the Canarinha won in come-from-behind fashion 3-2.