Either Brad Guzan or Zach Wells - or perhaps both - will win his first international cap Sunday when the United States takes on Guatemala at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas (2 p.m. ET; ESPN2).
It will be a familiar foe for the United States, who played Guatemala twice in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for Germany 2006 last year. The Stars and Stripes defeated their Central American foes 2-0 in Birmingham, Ala., on March 30, and the teams played to a scoreless draw in Guatemala City on Sept. 7, four days after the U.S. had clinch a spot in this summer's World Cup finals.
All of the MLS players on the roster are very familiar with Guatemala's undisputed star, FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz.
"We look forward to the challenge against Guatemala," Arena said on a media conference call Tuesday. "Obviously, Carlos Ruiz is the one player we're certainly well aware of. We know from qualifying they have a very good team, so it should be a real good game in Dallas. We look forward to our first visit in this wonderful facility."
With U.S. national team manager Bruce Arena releasing all Los Angeles Galaxy and New England Revolution players to allow them to prepare for their CONCACAF Champions' Cup openers next week, Chivas USA starter Guzan and Houston 1836 backup Wells are the only goalkeepers left in camp for Arena to choose from.
Fifteen players, all but one from Major League Soccer, join Guzan and Wells on the roster for the USA's first-ever match at Pizza Hut Park. In front of the 'keeper, possible defensive starters include Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Heath Pearce (FC Nordsjælland/Denmark) and Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake).
In the midfield, Brian Carroll (United), Chris Klein (RSL), Kyle Martino (Crew), Ben Olsen (United), Santino Quaranta (United) and Kerry Zavagnin (Wizards) are candidates for the starting 11, and Brian Ching (Houston 1836), Eddie Johnson (Wizards), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire) and Josh Wolff (Wizards) could start up front.
Though some of the U.S. players who turned in the best performances of the side's first three friendlies of the year - the Galaxy's Landon Donovan and the Revolution's Clint Dempsey and Taylor Twellman, to name three - won't be in attendance, Arena is confident in the competitive ability of any team he puts on the field.
"We've been together as a group for a long time, and I think the group that we get on the field on Sunday is going to do fine," Arena said. "I expect that, I see it out of these guys every day in training, so hopefully it carries over on the field on Sunday."
The U.S. team will also debut its 2006 World Cup uniforms in Sunday's match.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
