Although they may have won their first of three preparation matches, the USMNT was not all that impressive on Tuesday. They will look to be a little more creative on the pitch this afternoon, against a tougher opponent.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad was expected to take advantage of Azerbaijan on Tuesday, but the Yanks left it very late. Goals from Mikkel Diskerud and Aron Johannsson gave the Americans the 2-0 victory, but the performance will have been far from what the German manager and the fans would have wanted, or expected.
The level of competition in Brazil will be far superior to that of Azerbaijan, and this afternoon, the USMNT will face a stern test against Turkey.
After missing out on Tuesday’s fixture with a late injury, Klinsmann has confirmed that Clint Dempsey will be ready to go today.
“A lot of work yesterday,” Klinsmann told reporters in regards to Dempsey’s injury.
“We kind of make sure he’s not going sideways. That was kid of bothering him and worrying him a little bit. He’s all good. Today they have an easy regen day, travel day. So by tomorrow full speed in training. Everything is good.”
“There’s no reason why we should risk now anything. It was not really risk, but it was a lot of work they put in here the last two-and-a-half weeks, so we just decided there on the field, but he’s ready to go,” he added.
He will be hopeful that Dempsey can help spark some creativity in the offense, as they struggled to create very much against Azerbaijan. Going up against the likes of Ghana, Germany and Portugal, they will be up against much more organized defenders, making today’s match against Turkey a good test.
Despite failing to book their place at the World Cup, Fatih Terim’s men have been in good form. They were not as impressive during the World Cup Qualifying stage, as they finished fourth in Group D, behind Netherlands, Romania and Hungary.
They too are coming off a victory mid-week, after defeating Brazil bound Honduras 2-0, giving them a sixth successive victory.
With Klinsmann and the USA fans wanting to really see what their defensive unit has to offer, Burak Yilmaz may be the perfect opponent for that. The Galatasaray striker has been in fine form this season, and his ability to find the net, as well as create opportunities off the ball will be serious test for the USMNT.
Where to watch this match - live stream, start time, TV channels, live scores
In the UK at 19:00 BST on: BT Sport 2
In the USA at 14:00 ET on: UniMás, Watch ESPN, Univision, SiriusXM FC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN3
For full TV listings of this friendly match, please visit the USA vs Turkey match page.
