Group C
Manager: Bob Bradley
Star Player : Landon DonovanOguchi Onyewu, Michael Bradley
Best result: Semifinals (1930)
All-time record: 25 games played, 6 wins, 3 draws, 16 losses
Goals for: 27, Goals against: 51
Biggest victory: 3-0 vs. Belgium and Paraguay in 1930
Biggest defeat: 7-1 vs. Italy in 1934
Top scorer: Bert Patenaude (4 goals)
Most appearances: Cobi Jones and Earnie Stewart (11 matches)
Hosted the World Cup: 1994
LIVE STREAM United States MATCHES :
June 12, 2010 @ 19:30BST Group Stage Group C
England vs United States
at Royal Bafokeng Stadium
June 18, 2010 @ 15:00BST Group Stage Group C
Slovenia vs United States
at Ellis Park
June 23, 2010 @ 15:00BST Group Stage Group C
United States vs Algeria
at Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Short Team History : USA
FIFA member since: 1914
Team nickname: The Stars and Stripes
All-time caps leader: Cobi Jones (164)
All-time leading scorer: Landon Donovan (42 goals)
Notable achievements: CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007)
Legendary Player: Bert Patenaude was a key member of the 1930 U.S. World Cup team that reached the semifinals. He is credited with the first hat trick in World Cup history.
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Provisional Squad USA:
GK Brad GUZAN
GK Marcus HAHNEMANN
GK Tim HOWARD
Jozy ALTIDORE
DaMarcus BEASLEY
Alejandro BEDOYA
Carlos BOCANEGRA
Jonathan BORNSTEIN
Michael BRADLEY
Edson BUDDLE
Steve CHERUNDOLO
Brian CHING
Ricardo CLARK
Jay DeMERIT
Clint DEMPSEY
Landon DONOVAN
Maurice EDU
Benny FEILHABER
Robbie FINDLEY
Herculez GOMEZ
Clarence GOODSON
Stuart HOLDEN
Eddie JOHNSON
Sacha KLJESTAN
Chad MARSHALL
Oguchi ONYEWU
Heath PEARCE
Robbie ROGERS
Jonathan SPECTOR
Francisco TORRES
Appearances at finals
1930: Third place
1934: First round
1950: First round
1990: First round
1994: Second round
1998: First round
2002: Quarter-finals
2006: First round
Overall record at finals: Played 25, Won 6, Drawn 3, Lost 16.
Best performance: Finishing third at their first World Cup in 1930. The Americans opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Belgium and added another 3-0 win over Paraguay before losing to Argentina 6-1 in the semi-finals.
Most appearances at finals: Cobi Jones (1994, 1998, 2002), Earnie Stewart (1994, 1998, 2002) - 11.
Most goals at finals: Bert Patenaude (1930) - 4.
World Cup high: Beating England 1-0 in the first round of the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. USA went into the match on a seven-game losing streak and it is said that readers in England assumed the score was 10-1 and had been misprinted. The match has been labelled the 'Miracle on Grass'.
World Cup low: Having failed to qualify for a World Cup for 40 years after the 1950 event, USA made their return in 1990 and were promptly thrashed 5-1 by Czechoslovakia. They lost their other two group games by one-goal margins to Italy and Austria.
World Cup legend: Bert Patenaude scored four goals in three games at the 1930 tournament, including the first ever World Cup hat-trick in a 3-0 victory over Paraguay. Despite only winning four full caps, he scored six goals for his country.
The story so far: Despite a 40-year absence after 1950, USA has become a regular fixture at World Cups since 1990 and South Africa will mark their sixth consecutive tournament.
Their best result came in the first World Cup as they finished third, losing 6-1 in the semi-finals to runners-up Argentina. It's still the best showing for any team outside the European and South African confederations. However, they were unable to repeat the feat in 1934, exiting after a 7-1 defeat against hosts Italy in the first round.
After missing the 1938 World Cup, USA returned in 1950 when the competition resumed following World War II and were drawn against England, who bookies had rated as the 3-1 tournament favourites. USA, meanwhile, were rated as 500-1 outsiders and had lost seven games in a row by a combined score of 45-2.
In one of the biggest shocks in football history, USA won 1-0 thanks to a 37th-minute goal from Joe Gaetjens, although both sides failed to escape the group stage.
In their next tournament, in 1990, there would be no miracles. USA lost all their matches, first going down 5-1 to Czechoslovakia, 1-0 to Italy and 2-1 to Austria.
There was hope for the sport in America, however, as they earned the right to hold the 1994 World Cup. The venues were East Rutherford, N.J., Detroit, Orlando, Dallas, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Pasadena. The average attendance for the tournament was 69,000 with a total attendance of 3.6 million.
The hosts enjoyed a good showing, drawing with Switzerland, beating Colombia - with the help of Andres Escobar's ultimately tragic own goal - and lost to Romania, sneaking into the second round as one of the best third-placed sides. In the knockout stages, they lost 1-0 to eventual champions Brazil at Sandford.
Bringing the World Cup to American soil was supposed to generate more interest in the sport and, although it took some time, it seems to have had the desired effect.
After making the second round in 1994, they endured a miserable France 98, losing all three games including a 2-1 defeat to Iran. They bounced back in 2002, though, with a shock 3-2 win over Portugal before drawing with co-hosts South Korea and then losing 3-1 to Poland. Having made the knockout stage, they beat local rivals Mexico 2-0 before going down to a 1-0 defeat to finalists Germany.
Again, though, they were unable to build on a successful tournament as, despite a 1-1 draw with Italy, they finished bottom of their group, losing to Czech Republic and Ghana. However, there are high hopes for a successful tournament in 2010, and there is a genuine expectation among many Americans that Bob Bradley can lead the side into the quarter-finals and perhaps even go further.
Qualification: USA finished first in the final round standings in CONCACAF, one point ahead of Mexico, but it was not without drama. Trailing Costa Rica 2-1 in their final qualifier, defender Jonathan Bornstein scored an equaliser deep into injury time to ensure they topped their group.
However, they had already booked their place in South Africa when they edged out Honduras four days earlier, winning 3-2 as a Conor Casey brace and a crucial goal from Landon Donovan proved enough.
Qualifying record: P10, W6, D2, L2, F19, A13, 20Pts.
Qualifying record: - P 10, W 7, D 1, L 2, GS 22, GA 8, Pts 22.
Most appearances: Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley (15).
Top goalscorer: Jozy Altidore (6).
Team Profile USA:
With typical efficiency, the United States reached the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ by qualifying in first place in the final six-team Hexagonal phase of North, Central America and Caribbean Zone qualifying. Under the careful guidance of coach Bob Bradley, a well-drilled Stars and Stripes' blend of proven internationals and up-and-coming stars never looked in danger of missing out, and will be keen to build on their second-place finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009.
The road to South Africa
After putting nine goals without reply past minnows Barbados in Stage 2, the USA found themselves drawn with Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala and Cuba in Group 1 of Round 3. Bradley's charges held firm to win five of their six encounters in the penultimate group stage, their only defeat a 2-1 reverse in Port of Spain against the Soca Warriors with progress to the Hexagonal already in the bag.
The United States kicked off the decisive final phase in the best fashion possible by beating arch-rivals Mexico 2-0, a result they followed up with a 2-2 draw in El Salvador. A comfortable 3-0 victory over T&T was backed up by a 3-1 reverse in Costa Rica, one of only two defeats in the final section. The other came by a score of 2-1 in Mexico's fortress-like Estadio Azteca, though the Stars and Stripes kept their nerve to stay on track and clinch their South Africa 2010 ticket with a 3-2 win in another of CONCACAF's toughest grounds: the Estadio Olimpico in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.
The star players
In recent years, the name Landon Donovan has been synonymous with the US national team. The Los Angeles Galaxy attacker has often saved his very best performances for a USA shirt, and there is little doubt that Donovan will once again be one of his team's leading men at South Africa 2010. Providing an impressive supporting cast are the likes of Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey, all of whom are plying their trade on European soil.
The coach
Bradley was originally appointed national coach on a caretaker basis, though a run of ten games unbeaten quickly convinced the powers that be that he deserved the role on a permanent basis. And anyone who doubted his credentials would have been silenced by events at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, where the USA ousted favourites Spain in the semi-finals before going down to a narrow 3-2 final defeat to Brazil.
Previous FIFA World Cups
• The United States have taken part at nine FIFA World Cups, with Mexico the only CONCACAF team involved in more editions of the showpiece event.
• The Stars and Stripes' best finals performance came at Uruguay 1930, when they exited at the semi-final stage.
• South Africa 2010 will be the United States' sixth consecutive finals appearance. At Germany 2006 they bid farewell to the tournament at the first hurdle.
Records
• The United States' 2-0 victory over Spain at South Africa 2009 prevented La Roja extending their 35-game unbeaten run, a record they hold jointly with Brazil.
• The USA had enjoyed a 58-match unbeaten home streak against CONCACAF opponents until July 2009, when arch-rivals Mexico thrashed them 5-0 in the final of the Gold Cup.
• Altidore, currently on loan at English Premier League outfit Hull City from Villarreal, was the Stars and Stripes' six-goal top scorer in qualifying.
What they said
"We're very proud to have finished at the top of the final Hexagonal. It was a great effort and required a great deal of determination on our team's part. Every time we took the field we spoke about proving to the world what we were capable of and I think we did just that." Bob Bradley, USA coach, after his side claimed top spot in North, Central America and Caribbean Zone qualifying.
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