When people think of the U.S. Men’s National Team, they tend to think of three players – Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard. However, all three of these veteran players may be making their final World Cup appearances in 2014. With the United States having already qualified for Brazil, the final two CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying games against Jamaica and Panama will be a showcase for the future USMNT stars.
Five players on the USMNT are under the age of 25. Mix Diskerud (23), Omar Gonzalez (24), Jozy Altidore (23), Terrence Boyd (22) and Aron Johannsson (22) are all on the roster for the final two WCQ games. Each one of them plays in a different country for a different team in a different league, which shows the diversity of playing styles in the youngest members of the USMNT and the potential for growth across the board.
Every minute of playing time together is crucial, not only for each of these players but for the fate of US Soccer as a whole. A lot of the top teams around the world have had a majority of their team playing together at the international level for a long time. Head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann knows this and will try to utilize his up and coming players frequently in the next two games.
All of these players should get a lot of time in these final two games as the United States tries to finish World Cup Qualifying strong and carry that momentum into next summer. The future is bright for the USMNT, and you can expect to see positive glimpses of the future of American soccer in the final two games of the United States’ long qualifying campaign.
Taylor Sturm is an SEC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS or add him to your network on Google.