The United States men's national team takes on all comers (read: Costa Rica) in Connecticut with the victor earning the spoils and first place in Group C. Josh Gatt: hurt again. David Beckham: Miami-bound?
BY
Jesse Yomtov
Posted
July 16, 2013
8:10 AM
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It’s gameday, as the U.S. takes on Costa Rica in the Group C finale in Hartford. The last time these two teams met was the Snow Clasico, a famous 1-0 U.S. win. Clint Dempsey’s first-half goal in that game was actually the last goal Costa Rica allowed, a scoreless streak that’s at 704 minutes. With a win or draw, the U.S. would top the group and take on Martinique in the quarterfinals. A loss would mean a tricky matchup with Honduras.
Jurgen Klinsmann was quite clear the U.S. isn’t taking ”the final for Group C” lightly.
"This is a team that we’re going to fight for World Cup qualifying points in September and we want to send them a signal,” he said of the Ticos. “We take this very seriously and everybody is ready for this battle. We kind of saved a couple legs in the game against Cuba with some changes that we made there. We won’t save anybody for the game against Costa Rica.”
Klinsmann also did a little trolling:
Klinsmann: If snow game vs Costa Rica had been played in good weather, US would have won by more goals.
And just because, let’s watch highlights from the Snow Clasico/Bowl/Game.
In last night’s Gold Cup action, El Salvador beat Haiti 1-0 to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals while Trinidad and Tobago topped Honduras 2-0, doing the same. T&T will take on Mexico, while El Salvador will almost certainly face off with Panama.
Injuries! Brian Sciaretta reports Fabian Johnson partially tore a ligament in his left ankle, but hopefully will be back within a week. Meanwhile, Josh Gatt needs knee surgery and is done for the rest of the Norwegian season, which runs until Nov. 10. Gatt will miss out on Molde’s upcoming Champions League matches. It's another unfortunate break for a guy whose injuries have prevented him from getting much of a look with the American squad.
Major League Soccer announced its 20-man game day roster for the All Star team and a recent ASN 100 debutante made the squad. "DeAndre Yedlin admitted his knowledge of Italy’s AS Roma is limited to having played against the team on the popular FIFA Soccer video-game series," writes Joshua Meyers in an excellent lede. "Yedlin is just the second homegrown player to be available in an All-Star Game. The 20-year-old Seattle native is also the first rookie to make the game-day roster since Michael Parkhurst in 2005." Nick Rimando, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, Graham Zusi, Kyle Beckerman, and Chris Wondolowski will be among the other American stars to figure in the proceedings. Not included: Landon Donovan and Jack McInerney. The former didn't play enough games; the latter can't catch a break.
David Beckham says he’s soon going to announce his plans for a new MLS franchise “It will be in a few months maybe but it’s important to get it right,” the Golden One said. “This is a big decision where I’ll have my franchise and how I’m going to do it. It’s something I’m excited about.” Miami, anybody?
U.S. kit man Jesse Bignami snapped this unbelievable photo from training at Rentschler Field last night:
