US National Team

U.S. Readying To Close Out Hex

The U.S. team is ready to close out qualifying.

Oct 13, 2009 7:33:59 PM

Carlos Bocanegra, United States, USA, U.S. (Ryan Heffernan / Goal.com)

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Carlos Bocanegra, United States, USA, U.S. (Ryan Heffernan / Goal.com)

Players

By Noah Davis

Washington D.C. -- The United States Men's National Team is reeling from the news that Charlie Davies is recovering from surgery after being involved in a single-car accident early on Tuesday morning that proved fatal to one of the passengers. But they still have a game to play against Costa Rica on Wednesday. After briefly addressing the striker's condition, head coach Bob Bradley, as well as team captain Carlos Bocanegra and Landon Donovan, took questions from the media at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington D.C. on Tuesday afternoon.

With one match remaining in the final round of qualification, the Americans sit on top of the group and can clinch first place with a victory over Costa Rica in RFK Stadium. Additionally, if the U.S. has any chance at earning one of the eight seeds in next summer's World Cup, they must beat the Ticos.

"We don't know for sure that it will affect [seeding], but we believe that it could and therefore in that regard it is important," Bradley said.

For Bocanegra and the rest of the team, Wednesday's match represents an opportunity to go out and play in front of the home fans with the anxiety of trying to reach soccer's biggest stage already behind them.

"It takes loads of pressure off because we're already through," the centerback said. "Now we can go out there and just play and go for a win."

Both the manager and Donovan discussed the U.S.'s ability to recover after going down a goal. In nine matches during the Hexagonal Round, the team earned 19 points, 10 of which came in games where the Americans fell behind.

"You can't always control what happens in the game but you can control how you react to situations," the Los Angeles Galaxy striker said. "I think that has been one of the big pluses for us during this whole qualifying cycle."

Bradley pointed to these matches as a sign that his young team is gaining valuable experience in winning games.

"The ability, if you do fall behind, to respond quickly, to respond with the kind of confidence that we know how to get back into this game, we know how to win this game, those are important qualities," he said. "I think that when you experience that, when you come out of tough situations with points, when you learn how to come from behind and win on the road, it's something that now starts to become important inside the team."

According to Donovan, Conor Casey leading the U.S. attack against Honduras was just the latest sign that the domestic league features a high level of talent.

"I think we can produce players that can play in the biggest tournaments in the world and I think we've shown that for at least the last two World Cups and most likely this one," he said. "There's not a massive difference between the best players in Major League Soccer and the best players in the world."

Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced that the team would play Denmark on November 18 in Aarhus.

"Denmark is an example of a team that plays... they attack, they play with a great deal of energy," the coach explained. "They've had a great run in this final round of their qualifying. The opportunity to play them there is one that I know in the team we're very excited about."

According to Bradley, there has been discussion of scheduling another friendly during the November break, but nothing is confirmed. The U.S. could play only one game and focus on a longer training camp, much like they did in 2007 when they played Switzerland in Basel.

"We had a good lead in to the game and it was a good opportunity for us to work together as a team."

Noah Davis covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com.

For more U.S. National Team news visit Goal.com's dedicated page.

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