Mauricio Pochettino will field a squad involving 26 of his 28 available players today. Both sides agreed to 11 potential substitutions in this friendly (or “non-official match,” as Pochettino likes to say) and he is sure to use all of them.
One would assume that one of the missing 28 is a goalkeeper. The other may be Chris Richards, who was dealing with a lingering injury as of late last week.
Pablo is our man at the ground today, and it sounds like he and the rest of the attendees will be swimming through the Floridian humidty…
An absolutely soupy 82 degrees here in Orlando for today’s match, something US head coach Mauricio Pochettino probably isn’t thrilled by; at his press conference yesterday, Pochettino took a moment to bemoan US Soccer for scheduling four matches during this international window - he’d have preferred three.
It almost makes one wonder why the US boss didn’t call in more than the 28 players he did, as Germany boss Jurgen Klopp did, essentially creating a split squad. Either way, it ain’t comfortable here.
Preamble
This would be the part of a schlocky action-romance film where the characters look at each other, gasping for breath amidst tons of rubble strewn about in an absolute state, and optimistically ask “…now what?”
The United States men are back in action after their once-dreamy World Cup run ended in an absolute nightmare. 82 days have passed since Mauricio Pochettino’s side were humbled in Seattle by a more experienced (and more focused) Belgium, crashing out in the last-16 for the fifth time in seven World Cups.
Perhaps surprisingly, Pochettino is back in his post along the touchline for (at least the start of) another cycle, as no clubs of his standard were still without a coach come tournament’s end. His squad for this four-match window blends youthful upstarts with holdovers from the World Cup squad, while a few players (like Yunus Musah) are back in the mix. Hope springs eternal, first with Peru paying a visit to the City Beautiful (the words of Orlando’s marketing folks, not mine).
Soon, we’ll learn how many of the 13 uncapped players in this camp will debut for the US from the opening whistle. Until then, finish off those Saturday chores and stick around for plenty of walk-up coverage before the MBM kicks off in earnest.
Preamble
Hello, and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of USA v Peru from beautiful Orlando, Florida. Jeff will be along shortly to take you through the teams’ starting lineups as they’re released.
