US vs. Mexico

With all the talk about the Big Diesel coming to Phoenix (here and here), let me take a quick timeout to remind you of an important, albeit ultimately meaningless, soccer game going on tonight.

That's right kids, it's time for the annual early-year US vs. Mexico friendly. And once again, inexplicably, it's on American soil, this time in Reliant Stadium in Houston. While this game is considered a friendly, there is nothing friendly going on when these two teams meet, and the US has dominated this series on home soil as of late. They are 8-0-1 against El Tri since 2000 in America, allowing only a single goal along the way.

The American squad, as well as the Mexican one, look to be at almost full-strength tonight, with a lean towards showcasing the young up-and-comers likely to be big factors in World Cup Qualifying and beyond. Let's take a look, courtesy of Soccernet:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton, England)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Ramiro Corrales (Brann, Norway), Drew Moor (Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Michael Parkhurst (New England), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Eddie Robinson (Houston)

Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Benfica, Portugal), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Bobby Convey (Reading, England), Brad Davis (Houston), Maurice Edu (Toronto), Benny Feilhaber (Derby, England), Stuart Holden (Houston), Eddie Lewis (Derby, England)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (New York), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Pat Noonan (Aalesund, Norway)

There are a couple of things you should notice here: One, the Keepers. Howard has long been the next great American Keeper, and it looks like the job may finally be his for good. Also, Guzan is getting major play from European teams, so look for him to make the move soon.

In back, Bocanegra and Gooch i'm sure will start in the middle. Gooch needs to start showing the form and skill he showed off in the World Cup a few years back, since he has shown none of it since and it's getting frustrating.

In the midfield, the only name i miss is Mastroeni (Beasley obviously is out with an injury). I would expect Bradley and Feilhaber to get the start in the middle, as that will most likely be the central of the US squad for many years to come. Also note that Bradley has BLOWN UP for his Dutch Club team, Heerenven, scoring goals at a ridiculous pace. We need goal production from the midfield, so this is a good sign. Also, i would like to see either Adu or Edu get the start to see what they can do, but i doubt they will. More likely would be Convey and Lewis, though reports are that Lewis is hurt as well.

And up top is where i'm excited. Note to coach Bob Bradley: Please, please, PLEASE start Jozy Altidore. I'm begging you! Put him up top with LanDo or Dempsey! In fact, put him up top with either of those two, then drop the other one back into midfield. Dempsey plays well on the right, and i like LanDo as an attacking central Mid anyway. Do it! This kid is gonna be a star!

Overall i like the line-ups, and am excited to see the youngsters play. I think Adu and Jozy have developed pretty good chemistry on the younger National Teams, and would love to see them play together against the Mexicans. It will also be young Bradley's first shot against Mexico, as he sat out the Gold Cup Final with accumulated yellow cards. Feilhaber, on the other hand, seemed to fare quite well against El Tri in the Gold Cup Final...

One more note before returning to our regularly scheduled Shaq coverage: Watch out for the youngsters on Mexico as well. Giovani Dos Santos is only 18 years old, but already is playing for Barcelona, one of the best club teams in the world. And he's playing well. He and fellow 18-year old Carlos Vela make a formidable scoring punch, with Dos Santos' Barcelona teammate Rafael Marquez the ever-steady man in back for Mexico.

In the end the game doesn't mean anything, which is precisely why i would love to see the kids get some major minutes. The game will have the feel of a clash of heavyweights, but won't ultimately affect any standings. Let's get the kids some experience, and hopefully continue the American dominance in this rivalry this decade...