The first part of this World Cup series gave a general overview last week of the who, what, where and when of the world’s greatest event, including brief descriptions of teams and players to watch out for. This week the spotlight shines on the United States, whose 23-man roster was just recently announced on ESPN on Tuesday, May 3.

Currently ranked fourth in the world, according to the official FIFA rankings, a large pool of players drawn from Major League Soccer and European clubs competed in 59 games over the past three and a half years, as they worked toward an elusive spot on the team. These games consisted of World Cup qualifiers, North American tournaments and friendly games.

The team is made up of three goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders and four forwards. The U.S. is anchored by experienced World Cup veterans in first-choice goalie Kasey Keller, midfield captain Claudio Reyna, defenders Eddie Pope and Eddie Lewis and fellow midfielder duo John O’Brien and Pablo Mastroeni. Playing in their second World Cup are established young stars Landon Donavan and DaMarcus Beasley, who look to add speed and skill to a potent midfield. Playing for the first time in the World Cup are rock-solid defender Oguchi Onyewu and forward Eddie Johnson, who has showcased his scoring ability in some crucial qualifiers and friendly games. Other World Cup rookies include Clint Dempsey, who has excelled in the MLS after just a few seasons and midfielder Bobby Convey, who has experienced enormous success in his recent club season.

The defense is strong with Onyewu and Pope holding down the center, with Lewis likely playing on the outside left and former University of Portland star Steve Cherundolo possibly filling out the right side.

Beasely, Donovan, Reyna, Mastroeni, Convey, Dempsey and O’Brien offer lots of offensive options for Head Coach Bruce Arena. Their mix of speed on the outside midfield positions and a decently strong core in the center add many dimensions to the U.S. attack.

An interesting area of the team will be the forward position. McBride is a proven goal-scorer, having been one of the important pieces in the team’s historic run to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup. The other three players are less proven and thus difficult to analyze. Johnson and Brian Ching, the first Hawaiian ever to play on the national team, are both new to the World Cup. Returning for his second cup, Josh Wolff has yet to prove he can score goals consistently.

Squad depth does not seem to be too much of a problem. With two solid back-up goalkeepers in Tim Howard and Marcus Hahnemann, Arena should have little to worry about in that area. The U.S. is mixed with lots of youth and a solid amount of experienced players, which should benefit this dynamic group. The players won’t find more motivation to play their best soccer, as World Cup competition is as good as it gets.

Moving away from the personnel, the team faces a steep hill to climb in their opening group games. Deemed the “group of death,” Italy, Czech Republic and newcomer Ghana make up the rest of the group. The Czechs are currently ranked second in the world, as they bring a very dangerous team with many polished international players. Former Liverpool striker Milan Baros, Juventus midfield workhorse Pavel Nedved and 6’5’’ towering goalkeeper Petr Cech are just a few stars that will help carry this team. The U.S. opens their tournament against the Czechs on Sunday, June 12.

Five days later the U.S. faces the famed, albeit recently inconsistent, Italians. Italy has been a world powerhouse for years, but recently they have done poorly by their high standards at international tournaments. They are known to be more of a defensive team, with such stars as Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon holding down the back. A hard-tackling midfield, led by Gennaro Gattuso, help feed the forwards in Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti. When these two are on their game, they have the ability to break down any defense.

The final team in the group is new to the World Cup atmosphere. Ghana, who plays the U.S. on Wednesday, June 22, performed very well during the qualifying rounds, mainly due to a very strong midfield run by the most expensive player in African soccer, Michael Essien. A strong offense could see this minnowesque team surprise a few people, as many feel Ghana will not have a significant impact in the tournament.

The fact remains that the U.S. has a tough group, with many people feeling that the team will claim second place, if anything. However, the road does not get any easier. Theoretically, if the U.S. finishes second, they will have to play the winner of Group F. Barring any huge surprises, this will be none other than 2002 World Cup champion Brazil.

Although a mouthwatering second round game could await American fans, it may be disheartening to learn that the team could face the Brazilians so early. However, as the saying goes, “Where there is a will, there is a way,” and many will be excited to see how the U.S. fares against such stiff competition. People have discussed how far the United States has come over the years, but the only way to prove that their world ranking is justified is to compete with the best teams in the world.

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Part 2 of a 3-part series.
The final part of this World Cup series will run in next week’s issue.