This is it, people. The U.S. men’s national team battle Uruguay tonight at Arrowhead Stadium in the biggest game of this World Cup cycle to date by a wide, wide margin.
As U.S. players have said repeatedly over the last few days, a win gives them the best chance to advance to the knockouts. But really, a big win is the only thing that gives the U.S. the best chance to survive the group stage. There's pressure on the United States, no doubt about that. They failed against Panama. Now's their chance to dig themselves out of the hole.
But will they?
To help prepare for tonight's game, I'm giving a set of predictions ranging from Gregg Berhalter's lineup to the flow of the game to the final score.
The lineup
4-3-3: Horvath; Scally, Richards, Ream, Robinson; McKennie, Adams, Reyna; Pulisic, Balogun, Wright
Could Matt Turner start against Uruguay? It's possible. He was a limited participant in the team's two training sessions here in Kansas City.
But with such a quick turnaround from Thursday's game in Atlanta, I'm skeptical that the U.S. No. 1 will be ready to go. Berhalter said in his press conference yesterday that they’ll “monitor his status” ahead of the match – if Turner isn't at 100% (and he clearly isn’t, otherwise he would’ve been in full training), Horvath will step in.
Further upfield, I believe the nine outfield players who aren't suspended for this match will be the same as they were in the first two group stage games. In Tim Weah's place, Haji Wright has a great chance to slot into the frontline.
