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Interview
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With Mexico and South Africa (2-0) in the books, the attention of the World Cup shifts to the other two host nations. First, Canada will kick off their tournament against Bosnia in Toronto before the spotlight shifts to Los Angeles, where the United States will face Paraguay. But who will feature in the starting XI for the US men’s national team? There is one man who might have some idea of how Mauricio Pochettino should line up his team: the legendary former USMNT goalkeeper Brad Friedel. Transfermarkt caught up with the 82-times national team goalkeeper to get his thoughts on the US team ahead of the World Cup.
"No surprises at this stage,” Friedel said when we asked him about his preferred line-up. “I would have Matt Freese in goal. I would start the game with a back three because you don't want to lose the first game of the World Cup. Antonee Robinson as the left wing back. Then Tim Ream — he's the captain, so he'll play — Chris Richards, and then either Auston Trusty or Mark McKenzie.” Whether Richards will be available to start the tournament remains to be seen, but Friedel isn’t too worried about his availability. “Miles Robinson is there as well,” Friedel pointed out. “They're all very, very good. Tim Ream has to play, Chris Richards, I think, has to be on the field if he's fit, and then it depends on where you want to attack from on the build-up. If you're going to attack more on the left, then you put in Auston Trusty; if you're going to attack more on the right, then it's Miles Robinson or McKenzie.
What about the other positions on the field? “For the right wing back, I would probably go with Sergiño Dest. Weston McKennie is an interesting one — I really like him, and Tyler Adams has to play against Paraguay.” That’s not too much of a deviation from the midfield three of Adams, McKennie and Malik Tillman that we saw against Germany. But what about the attack? “I'm good with either Folarin Balogun or Ricardo Pepi up front. Christian Pulisic would be on there. Tim Weah would be on there. And then Brenden Aaronson, as one of the first off the bench — he's had a really good season at Leeds, and I think he can be an impact player. You'd also have either Balogun or Pepi off the bench depending on who starts.”
Brad Friedel picks his USMNT: Market value revealed
With a squad value of €385.65m, the USMNT squad is ranked 17th at this edition of the FIFA World Cup. Friedel’s best XI has a market value of €231.15m. Using market values, Transfermarkt projected that the USA will be eliminated in the round of 16 by Argentina. But everything is possible at the World Cup, and while this isn’t the strongest squad at the World Cup, Friedel’s starting XI could certainly turn some heads.
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