USMNT v Bolivia
Date: May 28th, 2018
Time: 6:30pm ET
Location: Talen Energy Stadium (Chester, PA)
TV: FS1, UniMas, UDN
Watch with your #AOFamily at one of 196 chapter bars!
THE HYPE
The USMNT return to action on Monday night in Chester to face Bolivia in what will be the first of three matches before the summer break. Christian Pulisic headlines the roster of which the average age is just 22. Many USMNT fans will be pleased to see these young faces in the team, which continues to rebuild after a shocking World Cup Qualification disaster.
In March, the boys pulled out a gritty win defeating Paraguay by the score of 1-0, courtesy of Bobby Wood’s 1st half penalty. In what was another youth-filled roster, the match was largely highlighted by a few USMNT appearances, including the debuts of Timothy Weah and Andrija Novakovich.
Interim coach Dave Sarachan names a predominately young and inexperienced squad for Monday night’s match. Three players (Guido, Olosunde, Parks) receive their first invitation to camp, and four others hope to make their first USMNT appearance (Bono, Palmer-Brown, Robinson, Sargent).
Here is the full roster:
Bill Hamid leads the GK’s with five caps, and has been getting some good PT with Midtjylland in Denmark. CCV and Miazga have both had successful loan spells in Europe and big games against Paraguay in March, which will surely translate as the potential CB pairing going forward. Matthew Olosunde and EPB represent the red and blue side of Manchester respectively, and many USMNT fans are excited to see these guys get some minutes.
Julian Green returns to the Yanks and will be looking to reinvigorate his career for both club and country. Benfica’s Keaton Parks is an exciting talent and will be looking for his first cap. Gooch, McKennie, and Weah all had promising seasons with their respective clubs and will be looking for a good showing Monday. Pulisic returns after seven months with Dortmund. And up front, Novakovich looked dangerous during his Paraguay cameo. Young Josh Sargent could make his debut after his move to Werder Bremen.
Read more about the young MNT roster.
The rebuilding continues for the USMNT. With no indication from USSF about coaching vacancies, general management positions, or any youth structure changes, many US Soccer fans will be wondering if there will be any progress regarding soccer in this country over the next decade. Although early in his presidency, Carlos Cordeiro promised to “deliver the change we need” and so far we have seen no evidence to back this claim.
Despite the off-the-field distractions, our mission remains to unite and strengthen our fandom for the USMNT & USWNT. And on Monday we will be letting the boys on the field know that we are not going anywhere, and that we are still here for the future. Let’s do this together.
XOXO,
AO