The United States and Turkey are playing a soccer match in a World Cup international friendly on Sunday and the game starts up at 2 pm ET from Red Bull Arena and the team has one more match before Brazil 2014 starts up and this year is a big one for the Americans and Clint Dempsey will be playing, while Landon Donovan will be out after getting cut from the team by Jurgen Klinsmann.
Dempsey comes into the game after being pulled out of the lineup last week against Azerbaijan and now he is set to go on Sunday against Turkey and that is big for the team, as Klinsmann has a limited amount of time to prepare the team for the World Cup, with just another friendly against Nigeria on the schedule left and that will be at EverBank Field on June 7 before the World Cup starts in Brazil on June 12. The US team comes in with high expectations after having a great year through qualifying, but Klinsmann's work is likely looking long term, as the team is in the group of death and may not make it to the knockout stages.
The US team is in Group G with Portugal, Germany and Ghana, meaning they have to face off against Cristiano Ronaldo, Klinsmann's former team and the nation that knocked out the Americans in the last two World Cups. Last time around the US team had a great showing and they are coming with more youth than experience after the controversial decision from Klinsmann to cit Landon Donovan and many came out to criticize that choice, with Donovan saying that he felt he played well enough in training and leading up to Brazil.
The team of 23 is led by Dempsey and goalie Tim Howard and the team has a number of players with little experience like Julian Green and they also are relying on Chris Wondolowski for scoring with Donovan out. Klinsmann said that Dempsey would be back in the lineup against Turkey after being pulled out for the last game with a sore groin and now he is fine coming back and the game is in Jersey and comes before the final friendly ahead of the World Cup. Jozy Altidore led the team in scoring in qualifying and Klinsmann is relying on Dempsey to be a star this year.
The US played to a 2-2 draw against Mexico and had an uneven performance against Ukraine amidst the riots there that was played out of the country and those matchups came before the last win and Klinsmann gave credit to the subs for winning that game. The US opens against Ghana in their first matchup and they play against Portugal in the Amazon and the team will have a very tough time getting out of the first stage for multiple reasons, as they have very tough opponents and the longest distance for their travel schedule of any team of the 32 in the tournament. The US is looking to win that first game against Ghana and if they can somehow pull a draw at least, they will have a shot at making it out of the round.
Check here for the United States and Turkey live coverage for the friendly World Cup match.
