USA v Chile Rancagua, Chile – Estadio El Teniente 1/28/2015 6pm ET on Fox Sports 1, UniMas, UDN

The first match of 2015 brings the USMNT to Rancagua, Chile for a good test against a quality opponent. The yanks will certainly have their work cut out for themselves against this Chilean side that nearly knocked Brazil out of the World Cup last summer. Chile is slowly becoming a South American powerhouse with their recent results and wealth of talent, which includes Eduardo Vargas, Alexis Sanchez, and Arturo Vida. Though none of these players will feature against the US on Wednesday, they still have a talented group of players who play their club soccer in South America. FWIW, here’s their roster with clubs: GK: Johnny Herrera (Universidad de Chile), Paulo Garces (Colo Colo) DEF: Juan Cornejo (Audax Italiano), Paulo Diaz (Palestino), Gonzalo Fierro (Colo Colo), Osvaldo Gonzalez (Universidad de Chile), Erick Pulgar (Universidad Católica), Jose Rojas (Universidad de Chile), Cristian Suarez (Universidad de Chile) MID: Bryan Carrasco (Audax Italiano), Gonzalo Espinoza (Universidad de Chile), Mark Gonzalez (Universidad Católica), Marco Medel (Santiago Wanderers), Angelo Sagal (Huachipato), Diego Valdes (Audax Italiano), Jaime Valdes (Colo Colo), Cesar Valenzuela (Palestino) FOR: Juan Delgado (Colo Colo), Roberto Gutierrez (Universidad Católica), Andres Vilches (Huachipato)

Jurgen Klinsmann has brought in another mixed group of seasoned vets alongside some new faces. Seven of these players are even eligible for the Olympics next summer as well. It will be very interesting to see how he lines up against the home team. Here’s our full roster: GK: Sean Johnson, Jon Kempin, Nick Rimando DEF: Matt Besler, Steve Birnbaum, Matt Hedges, Jermaine Jones, Perry Kitchen, Shane O’Neill, DeAndre Yedlin MID: Michael Bradley, Mix Diskerud, Luis Gil, Miguel Ibarra, Lee Nguyen, Dillon Serna, Brek Shea, Wil Trapp FOR: Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Chris Wondolowski, Bobby Wood, Gyasi Zardes

Not many would have looked upon their crystal ball and saw Jon Kempin and Shane O’Neill in Chile, but this will certainly be a great learning experience for these players. Good to see Wil Trapp and Gyasi Zardes in the team after their excellent MLS campaigns. The ‘JJ at the back’ experiment continues, so we shall see if Klinsmann’s magic touch can go on into the GC this summer.

US maybe switching to 3-5-2: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/01/26/armchair-analyst-change-air-usmnt-maybe-switch-3-5-2

So, 2015 is here. Another big year for the USMNT. We’re ready. Wondering where your local watch party is? You can find your full list here: www.theamericanoutlaws.com/chapters

LOVE, AO