USA have the players to upset England

Most football pundits are predicting an England victory over the USA on Saturday evening but I’m not so sure. The USA are no longer soft touches and have come along way in recent years. The States are 14^th in the FIFA world rankings and are steadily improving.

Experience

The USA squad now have far more experience of World Cup finals having played in the last five tournaments. A number of their players have experience of playing in top flight European leagues and will benefit from this experience.

Watford and USA defender Jay DeMerit has revealed that his side won’t be intimidated by England and their big reputations.

Mind games

DeMerit also revealed that they would try to wind up England’s brilliant but temperamental star Wayne Rooney. Rooney is England’s key player and the USA know that if they can knock the Manchester United star off his game then they will have a better chance of getting something from the first group game.

Rooney may have matured over the last few years but he still has a short fuse and can still be wound up by opponents. However Rooney has probably heard all about how the American’s are set to wind him up and will be on his best behaviour.

Commitment

The US side are full of commitment and give their all for their national sides cause. This commitment has made them one of the toughest sides to beat in world football. What they sometimes lack in finesse they make up for in effort.

Quality

Their squad isn’t lacking in quality either. Their three keepers are all based in the Premier League. USA number one Tim Howard is rated as one of the best keepers in the English top flight. He was adjudged not good enough to play for Manchester United but since moving to Everton he has been superb.

The two back-up keepers Aston Villa’s Brad Guzan and Wolves Marcus Hahnemann are solid and would be good replacements for the Everton stopper. In defence the States have the aforementioned DeMerit who is a good solid no-frills defender.

Former-Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra is also a decent defender. AC Milan centre-back Oguchi Onyewu is a good athlete who is strong and quick, he has endured injury-troubles in recent months. USA boss Bob Bradley will be hoping he regains full fitness.

Bradley’s son Michael is the hub of the USA midfield. The 22 year-old is a true box-to-box midfielder. He has impressed immensely in the Bundesliga with Monchengladbach. Fulham star Clint Dempsey is a big attacking threat from midfield and could also operate up front.

Star

Without doubt their star player though is LA Galaxy attacker Landon Donovan. He won MLS Player of the Year last season, before moving to the Premier League with Everton on-loan. In his ten weeks at Goodison he became a cult hero and stated that he would love to go back to Everton one day.

His direct running and willingness to take on players endeared him to the Everton fans and cries of USA, USA, USA were regularly heard at Goodison Park. He had unsuccessful loan spells in Germany with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen but proved at Everton he has the quality to succeed at the top level.

He has also helped to promote the game inside his own country and helped raise the profile of the national team and MLS and is also his country’s all-time leading goalscorer with 42 goals. This tournament is his chance to shine on the big stage and he seems determined to impress.

Qualifiers

There is no doubt in my mind the USA will qualify from the group and it wouldn’t surprise me if they made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament. The USA are no longer the underdogs they used to be and England can’t afford to underestimate them or they could end up embarrassed.