Coming off a couple of very successful friendlies, the United States men are heading into the Gold Cup confident that they can become champions of North America again. They’re likely to get a bit more of a challenge than they got from Mexico in 2011 — El Tri didn’t even make the final in that tournament — but they’re still slight favorites. On Friday, they play their lone warmup game with this squad before the group stage, against Guatemala.
The Guatemalans are a middle-of-the-road Gold Cup squad, so they should provide a good way for the U.S. to gauge where they are while also building some confidence with a likely victory.
Michael Bradley will be wearing the armband for the USMNT, having taken over the captaincy from Clint Dempsey. In June, Dempsey ripped up a referee’s notebook during a U.S. Open Cup game and was suspended from that tournament for two years. He didn’t receive any punishment from Jurgen Klinsmann, but the captaincy has been moved on to another player.
Among the notable players missing from this squad are (continue reading)