Get Recruited Faster with a Player Profile on SoccerWire.com

LEARN MORE
+ GET RECRUITED
USMNT Jun 10, 2015

U.S. Men’s National Team face Germany today in Cologne

(via US Soccer) Following its 4-3 comeback win over the Netherlands, the U.S. MNT takes on an even greater challenge when it tackles reigning World Cup champion and FIFA No. 1-ranked Germany Wednesday in Cologne. Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1, UniMás and Univision Deportes Network.

The match will serve as a part of the team’s continued preparation for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup and will be the fifth game of 2015 for the U.S. against a team ranked in the top 20 in the world, having a compiled a record of 2-1-1 during that span.

The MNT last went head-to-head with Germany in the final Group G matchup of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Thomas Muller punched in a goal in the 55th minute to lead the German side to a 1-0 victory as both teams advanced on to the Round of 16. Three players on the U.S. roster – Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, and Fabian Johnson – started in that match, while DeAndre Yedlin came on as a late substitute.

The 22-player U.S. roster is a hybrid of youth and experience as nine players have earned 11 caps or less, while 11 have made 20 or more international appearances. The U.S. is without the services of three key players as Jozy Altidore recovers from a hamstring injury and midfielder Alejandro Bedoya from a knee issue, while team captain Clint Dempsey remains in Seattle awaiting the birth of his fourth child.

Since defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time to win World Cup, Germany has gone 4-2-2 and is unbeaten in its last five matches most recently defeating Georgia 2-0 on March 29 in a qualifier for the 2016 European Championship. Germany currently sits in the second position of Group D behind Poland.

U.S. Men’s National Team Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3) : Cody Cropper (unattached), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
DEFENDERS (7) : Ventura Alvarado (Club America), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Michael Orozco (Puebla), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC), DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur)
MIDFIELDERS (7) : Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Miguel Ibarra (Minnesota United FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt), Danny Williams (Reading)
FORWARDS (5) : Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

USA vs. GERMANY NOTES:

  • The United States is 3-7-0 all-time against Germany. All three of the American wins have come on North American soil, and represent the most by a U.S. team against a World champion. Die Mannschaft has outscored the U.S. 22-15 in the 10 matches.
  • The teams last met in the Centennial Celebration match in honor of U.S. Soccer’s 100-year anniversary. On June 2, 2013 in Washington D.C., the U.S ran out 4-3 winners.
  • The U.S. beat Germany twice in 1999, earning its first win on Feb. 6, 1999 in a friendly in Jacksonville, Fla. Later that year, they met in official competition in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Mexico, the U.S. posting a 2-0 shutout on goals from Ben Olsen and Joe-Max Moore in Guadalajara.
  • The last time the teams played in Germany was in March 27, 2006 in a tune-up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Coached by Jurgen Klinsmann the Germans won 4-1 in Dortmund, going on to finish in third place in the World Cup that summer.
  • The first meeting between the teams – a 4-3 win on June 13, 1993 in Chicago – was broadcast on ABC and became the first U.S. MNT match televised without commercial interruption.
  • The teams have met three times in the World Cup, with Germany winning each match. Besides the game in Recife last summer, the Germans recorded a 2-0 win on June 15, 1998, in the teams’ Group F opener in Paris (in which Klinsmann scored a goal), and a 1-0 victory on June 21, 2002, in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Ulsan, Korea Republic.
  • Germany head coach Joachim Low was Klinsmann’s assistant when he led the team to a third-place finish at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
  • U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann made 80 appearances and scored 38 goals from 1990-98 as a member of the German National Team. He won a World Cup title with Germany in 1990, starting at forward and scoring three goals in the tournament. He scored five goals in the 1994 World Cup tournament and three in 1998, becoming the first player in history to score at least three goals in three-consecutive World Cups. He still stands as the third highest scoring German in the tournament with 11 goals overall.
  • This will be the third matchup between the teams during Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as head coach.
  • Klinsmann also managed Germany from 2004-06, leading Die Mannschaft to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup.
  • U.S. midfielder Fabian Johnson is club teammates with Kristoph Cramer, Max Kruse and Patrick Hermann at Borussia Monchengladbach. As a group the foursome helped ‘Gladbach to a third place finish in Bundesliga, which earned the club a spot in the 2016 UEFA Champions League group stage.

U.S. ROSTER NOTES:

  • Against Netherlands, Gyasi Zardes, Danny Williams and Bobby Wood each scored their first career goals with the MNT.
  • Eleven different players have scored for the USA in 2015: Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, John Brooks, Clint Dempsey, Aron Johannsson, Jordan Morris, Brek Shea, Williams, Wood and Zardes.
  • The win against Netherlands was the third victory for the U.S. MNT over a top-10 ranked opponent since Jurgen Klinsmann took over the helm in 2011.
    Against Netherlands, Brad Guzan made his first appearance since he played against Colombia on Nov. 14, 2014. It was his first start of 2015.
  • Fabian Johnson helped lift Borussia Mönchengladbach to a third-place finish in the Bundesliga that earned the club a spot in the 2016 UEFA Champions League group stage. The German side went 10-0-2 with Johnson in the starting lineup this season.
  • Johannsson recorded four goals in his final three matches as AZ Alkmaar snatched the third spot in the Dutch Eredivisie and a place in the 2016 UEFA Europa League.
  • Alfredo Morales played a key role in FC Ingolstadt securing first place in the second division in Germany and subsequent promotion to the Bundesliga.
  • Bradley has played every minute of the USA’s six matches so far in 2015. In addition to Bradley, two other MNT players have appeared in all six games in 2015: Zardes and DeAndre Yedlin.
    Bradley has started as the team’s captain in four-straight matches.
  • William Yarbrough, 26, was born and raised in Mexico to two American parents. He has marshaled the backline for Club Leon to the 2013 Apertura and 2014 Clausura titles.
  • Brad Evans started at right back in the 4-3 win against Germany in the U.S. Soccer Centennial Match on June 2, 2013, in Washington, D.C., Bradley and Johnson were also on the field that day.
  • Ventura Alvarado has appeared in four-straight matches since making his debut in a U.S. uniform on March 25 against Denmark. Alvarado is a regular starter for the Club America team that captured the CONCACAF Champions League title and a trip to the FIFA Club World Cup.
  • Miguel Ibarra, who earned his first cap for the U.S. in 2014, is the reigning MVP of the NASL
    Jordan Morris joined the squad on June 3 in Amsterdam from Toulon, France, where he participated in the 2015 Toulon Tournament with the U.S. U-23 MNT. Morris assisted on Wood’s game-winning goal in the game against Netherlands.
  • Cody Cropper joined the MNT in Cologne from Toulon, France, where he helped the U-23 MNT finish in third place in the Toulon Tournament. He fills in as the third goalkeeper with Nick Rimando returning to Real Salt Lake.
  • Eight leagues from six countries are represented on the roster: Canada, England, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, and the United States.

 

Featured Players

Defender, Midfielder
Defender, Midfielder
Midfielder
See Commitment List