By Ryan Mayer
After the excitement of the Women’s World Cup last summer and the
World Cup in 2014, this summer may seem like a bit of a lull in the
soccer world to the casual fan. However, that’s far from the case as the
US Men’s National Team will be playing in matches of consequence over
the next couple weeks. It begins tonight when the US takes on Colombia
to kick off the 2016 Copa America Centenario. What is it? How do you
watch? Let’s answer those questions for you.
What is the Copa America Centenario?
It is the 100th anniversary of the first Copa America tournament held
in 1916, a special tournament is being put on this year to honor that
anniversary. Copa America is traditionally a South American (CONMEBOL)
championship. This year’s tournament features 10 countries from the
CONMEBOL federation and six teams from CONCACAF.
The countries involved are:
CONMEBOL (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela)
CONCACAF (Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, USA, Panama, Haiti)
The teams have been split into four groups where the teams will play
round robin matches to determine who advances to the elimination stage.
The United States is hosting the tournament, the first time that it has
been held outside of South America.
When Does the USA play?
The United States starts play tonight against Colombia at 9:30 pm ET
in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. They will also face Costa
Rica (June 7th, Soldier Field, Chicago) and Paraguay (June 11th, Lincoln
Financial Field, Philadelphia).
How Can I Watch?
The matches for the US will all be aired on Fox Sports 1.
Is It The Same Roster As The World Cup?
No, Jurgen Klinsmann has made some big changes to the group since the
2014 World Cup. Players from 2014 not on the roster are DeMarcus
Beasley, Omar Gonzalez, Brad Davis, Mix Diskerud, Julian Green, Jozi
Altidore, and Aron Johannsson. So who’s on the team you ask?
GK: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Ethan Horvath
D: Matt Besler, Steve Birnbaum, John Brooks, Geoff Cameron, Edgar Castillo, Michael Orozco, DeAndre Yedlin
MF: Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Michael
Bradley, Fabian Johnson, Jermaine Jones, Perry Kitchen, Darlington
Nagbe, Christian Pulisic, Graham Zusi
F: Clint Dempsey, Bobby Wood, Chris Wondolowski, Gyasi Zardes
Who is everyone talking about?
Well, a lot of attention is being paid (understandably) to the next
“savior” of American soccer, 17-year-old Christian Pulisic. Pulisic
became the youngest player to score for the US in their last friendly
against Bolivia on May 28th.
That’s not the sole reason people are excited. Pulisic has performed
well in his appearances with the national team recently after showing
well for top German club Borussia Dortmund this season. Pulisic has
become the new “hope” for many US soccer fans to be that next star
player.
Outside of Pulisic, players like DeAndre Yedlin (remember him from
the World Cup?) and Darlington Nagbe have caught the attention of fans
in recent matches.
Full article in here:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hello (^-^)v