Monday, February 04, 2013

Besler and Zusi Called Up for World Cup Qualifier

It was rumored this weekend after Matt Besler posted a picture online of him with Kim Kardashian but today it was confirmed that Besler, along with teammate, Graham Zusi, have been named to the US men's national team roster ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier in Honduras.

Besler and Zusi are two of the 24 players named to Jurgen Klinsmann's roster for the game.  Klinsmann plans to dress 23 for the game, which means that only one of the players will not dress for the game.

After having a solid performance in the USA's 0-0 draw with Canada, Besler and his center back partner for the game, Omar Gonzalez were both called into this camp.  They join Carlos Bocanegra, Geoff Cameron, and midfielder Maurice Edu as potential center backs.  Bocanegra and Cameron are the favorites to start the game in the middle of defense for the USA.

Zusi has established himself in the US midfield and will likely have a shot at starting on one of the wings for the USA on Wednesday.  Zusi and Besler are two of seven players that made the cut from the January camp roster and friendly vs Canada.

Missing from the roster is Sporting KC midfielder, Benny Feilhaber who did not make the cut from the Camp Strudel roster to the qualifying roster.  Feilhaber has returned to KC and will begin work with the club ahead of their trip to Orlando for the final phase of preseason.  As a whole, that's probably the best for him ahead of the 2013 season, so he can get accustomed to his new teammates.

The team gathered in Miami and will fly down to Honduras for their 3pm kickoff on Wednesday to kick off the final phase of World Cup qualifying.

1 comment:

Nathan Martin said...

When Bocanegra plays himself off the field in the next year or two, Besler's left-footed-ness puts him higher up the depth chart than many would suspect.