United States Squad Report: Rest before Belgium prep

The United States will likely rest their starters after their 0-1 loss against Germany, which saw them advance out of Group G after Portugal defeated Ghana. Last night the team flew back to their home base in Sao Paulo, where they’ll take advantage of an extra day to rest for the match against Belgium this Tuesday in Salvador.

It’s been a gruelling ten days since first beating Ghana in Natal, with thousands of miles of air travel, playing a difficult match at peak fitness in the steamy heat of Manaus, and then settling in for the rain against European powerhouse Germany in flooded Recife.

After facing two of Europe’s strongest teams and their old nemesis in Ghana, Belgium will be a welcome change.

And despite the 0-1 loss, there were positives in another hard-working, labored performance. It was a defensively disciplined match against what up to this point had been a free-scoring Germany. There was excellent play from DaMarcus Beasley at left back despite a rocky start, and it was a very good outing for the recovered Omar Gonzalez replacing Geoff Cameron in central defense.

Bob Bradley’s World Cup ended in perceived failure in the round of 16 against Ghana. Losing to an ostensibly beatable opponent in Belgium now will raise all the questions Jurgen Klinsmann managed to put off for another day. 

Following yesterday's match, he looked to the future in a press conference: “Now we can put this behind us. And once the group is done, a whole different tournament actually starts."

Indeed it does. The group stages have been among the best we’ve seen in a World Cup in years. And we’re only getting started.

Fixtures/Results

Group G — June 16 — Ghana 1-2 United States

Group G — June 22 — United States 2-2 Portugal

Group G — June 26 — United States 0-1 Germany

Round of 16 — July 1 — Belgium vs. United States

Squad News/Rumors/Injury Report

FW Jozy Altidore’s status uncertain ahead of Belgium round of 16 match.

MF Jermaine Jones will be assessed to see if he has a broken nose today.

DF Alejandro Bedoya, who also picked up a slight knock, should be okay for Tuesday.

Five Quick Notes

1. Landon Donovan drips equivocation and more than a little acid in between the praise for the United States’ performance thus far.

2. Clint Dempsey says loss to Germany “wasn’t a normal game.”

3. The president watched the Germany game on Air Force One, which I guess means whatever you want it to mean.

4. Matthew Doyle’s take again is worth your time.

5. Fivethirtyeight gives the U.S. pretty good odds against Belgium.