The USA has one of the toughest draws in this year’s World Cup: they are grouped with Germany and Portugal, ranked second and third in FIFA world ranking and a Ghana team that has had the run over Jürgen Klinsmann’s side in recent times.
Doomsayers beware though; the Americans have managed to pull off victories against both Germany and Portugal in their previous meetings. In June last year, the US team mustered a 4-3 victory over the Germans on home soil, the last time they faced Portugal was in the 2002 World Cup, when they upset the opposition 3-2.
While both victories provide a glimmer of hope for fans of the Stars and Stripes, they don’t offer much comfort when it comes to facing the team that has eliminated them from the previous two World Cups – Ghana. In 2010, Asamoah Gyan’s early goal in extra-time stole any American dream after the side had made it through the group stages. In 2006, another 1-2 defeat meant Ghana prevented them from making it through group stages at all.
The US has had a record-setting qualifying run for Brazil. They finished with 16 wins and a 0.761 win percentage, both team records. The team also notched up a fantastic goal difference (+28), and kept 11 of their opponents from finding the back of the net. According to the experts at Betfair, the US has the highest odds to qualify. Those same experts also list the US as an underdog in every one of their matches in group play.
Three Key Players
Landon Donovan, L.A. Galaxy
The US will certainly be looking for a top performance from Donovan: at 32 this could be his last World Cup.
Jozy Altidore, Sunderland
Tim Howard, Everton
USA World Cup fixtures:
16th June – Ghana
22nd June – Portugal
26th June – Germany
Where do you think USA will finish at this year’s tournament?Â