WASHINGTON – Strong teams, it's said, are built with strong spines. And a deep collection of midfield and defensive talent has gathered in the nation's capital to battle for starting spots at the heart of the US national team's starting lineup this week ahead of Friday's friendly vs. Peru at RFK Stadium (7 pm ET; FOX Sports 1).
On paper, the USMNT's two games over the next week (after Peru, Brazil will await at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Tuesday) are mere exhibition matches. But with October's massive CONCACAF Cup clash vs. Mexico looming large, there was no mistaking the extra edge in the air as the Yanks trained at American University in Northwest D.C. on Monday morning.
“It's always good to be back,” said goalkeeper Brad Guzan. “We all know the importance of these two games leading into this October. It's hopefully going to be a good week for us.”
For a variety of reasons, even the team's most established veterans have something to prove this week, a theme that coach Jurgen Klinsmann has driven home repeatedly in recent remarks.
“Of course I would say that the two games now are important,” said New England Revolution star Jermaine Jones, making his return to the USMNT camp after months of injury struggles. “With Brazil, it's a big team that you're playing. Of course we will try everything to win both games, and concentrate in both games, in hope that we don't make mistakes, that we can go forward to the Mexico game.
“We know this is like a final, we want to win that.”
Jones is back, but will have to prove his match fitness and sharpness amid a packed central-midfield stable. Tim Howard has returned to challenge Guzan after a yearlong, post-World Cup sabbatical. And Klinsmann has no less than seven battle-ready options to choose from for the two center-back spots most recently manned by Ventura Alvarado and John Brooks.
“Competition is good. It pushes guys along,” said Sporting KC mainstay Matt Besler, another World Cup veteran back after a lengthy absence from the USMNT picture. “It helps the team get stronger. And that's what we need right now.
“I definitely think these friendlies are different than friendlies in January, just because of where they fall on the calendar and what's ahead of us. So I think if Jurgen has said that these friendlies are more important, then I think he's correct. That's how it should be. We have a very, very big match coming up in about a month, and so these two friendlies we have to take very seriously, to try and get ready for the Mexico game.”
As if that wasn't motivation enough, there's the lingering, stinging memory of a disappointing Gold Cup campaign that ended with an upset semifinal loss to Jamaica.
“We know it obviously wasn't good enough from a collective standpoint,” said Guzan. “We know it was a disappointing tournament in the sense that we didn't obviously didn't put ourselves in a position to win it, in terms of making the final. That's now behind us: we need to make sure we look forward.”
