<p>I don’t think that people understand the value of veteran leadership.</p>
<p>Would you leave Tim Duncan off the Spurs team right now? Or Iker Casillas off of the Spanish side? How about Gerrard off of the English? Or Diego Forlan off of the Uruguayan squad?</p>
<p>Or David Ortiz off of the Red Sox? It’s not just play that’s important. Xavi hasn’t played well this season but he got picked. Why? Because Vincente Del Bosque knows that he’s the one that the young’uns look up to and provides the calmness.</p>
<p>Who’s going to tell these newbies to chill when Ronaldo comes charging down the flanks? Or when they’re getting destroyed by Germany? Because Donovan won’t be there to tell them to.</p>
<p>Leaving Donovan off the Us Team is like leaving Eto’o off of Cameroon, or Drogba off Côte d’Ivoire. They are the leaders of their respective teams, and while their teams could still do okay without them, they’d still lack experience and leadership. That’d almost be like having a student teach a class; it just wouldn’t work out right. </p>
<p>I really want to see Neymar, Pogba, and Yaya Touré this summer. They’re really going to solidify their reputations. Especially Touré, I really think that he’s the one of the best players in the world, and definitely the most underrated. </p>
<p>Dempsey. Beasley. Howard.</p>
<p>If the US does terribly, everyone’s going to blame Klinsmann for leaving Donovan out. If the US does great, he’ll be praised. It’s all about perspective.</p>
<p>None of those teams are getting very far, and don’t really have the potential to do so.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Toure, but I’m looking forward to pretty much all of the young, exciting players. Hazard comes to mind, as does Pogba, and Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling, and Ross Barkley, as well as Sturridge for England.</p>
<p>But my Manchester United heart wants to see Adnan Januzaj start and wreck for Belgium.</p>
<p>Donovan isn’t the star for the USA anymore in my opinion. I’ll take Dempsey, Bradley, Howard, Jones, Cameron and even Zusi before Donovan. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a good player and one of the better USA players, but he’s simply not one of the best anymore. </p>
<p>As for young players, I can’t wait to see the Belgium team as a whole, along with James Rodriguez (Columbia), Luke Shaw and Sturridge (England)</p>
<p>Agree, but he is still one of their better players, which makes it baffling that he wasn’t chosen.</p>
<p>Don’t forget about Barkley in England, and Carvalho in Portugal. Future superstars.</p>
<p>My Chelsea inner fan can’t wait to see Christian Atsu breakout on the international scene</p>
<p>I’m excited for Hazard and I’m a Man Utd fan, I can’t imagine what Chelsea people are feeling about that guy.</p>
<p>Eden and his brother Thorgan are a complete dream. Eden is a future Ballon D’Or winner and Thorgan has the potential to be a superstar too. </p>
<p>I’m still a Januzaj believer. With good reason.</p>
<p>Januzaj has boatloads of potential. With the likes of Januzaj, Hazard, Lukaku, Dembele and Kompany (among many others), I give Belgium and legitimate chance at winning it all. </p>
<p>Imagine that same team in four years. Wrecking ball.</p>
<p>@afroninja26 Nigeria can beat Ghana. And Pogba won’t really get time to solidify his reputation if his country is knocked out by Nigeria in the Round of 16. ;)</p>
<p>@mrnephew yeah, Donovan is a leader, so to speak. But what would happen if the leader wasn’t fit for Brazil? Then what would happen? You also have to remember that he literally took a sabbatical in the beginning of 2013, and he’s been questioning his own commitment several times. But I agree with you and @afcwimbledon about Belgium, though. Even with Benteke out, they STILL look VERY dangerous. Vincent Kompany is one of the world’s best center backs, Witsel and Dembele are very astute in the midfield, Hazard is a deadly ass winger (Chelsea fan here :D) and Lukaku can be the ultimate target man. Belgium can definitely get to the final.</p>
<p>United States won’t beat Portugal, Ghana nor Germany’s B team. As seen before against Azerbaijan and Turkey, their defense is not good enough to cope with the powerful offense of Portugal, Ghana and Germany’s A, B, C, D…Z team.</p>
<p>I see that you view Portugal as a weak, one-man team but that certainly is not the case. Well first off, yes, Ronaldo is the stand out player and is probably capable of dismantling the United States team singlehandedly. Second of all, Portugal excels in almost every single aspect with a strong offense lead by Ronaldo, solid midfield consisting of Carvalho(who has been on fire for Sporting), Moutinho, Veloso and a stable defense lead by the absolute beast Pepe (literally a beast) and Rui Patricio, one of the most inform goalkeepers this season.</p>
<p>And yes, it was not exactly Suarez’s fault Gyan missed the penalty but still, if it were not for the cheap handball, the game would have been over and Ghana would have won. And yes, *Colombia </p>
<p>Furthermore, you cannot wrongfully assume that Klinsmann is a a better coach than Appiah just because of his illustrious career as a player.</p>
<p>Even if you may continue to say that US have the better coach, the players are what matter most and Ghana definitely has the stronger team.</p>
<p>Also, you cannot say Portugal is not good simply because they drew against teams like Northern Ireland and Israel while the United States, also, lost to teams like Honduras, Costa Rica and Jamaica during their qualifying campaign. Except for the fact that they drew a couple of times, they won every single game except a 1-0 loss to Russia who are definitely better than Honduras, Costa Rica and Jamaica.</p>
<p>Saying Ghana’s better than the US is a bit of a stretch, but it will still be a competitive match. The US is good enough to beat Ghana and Portugal. Germany will probably beat the US, but if they have first place locked up, the US could manage a draw or even a win against their B team.</p>
<p>I don’t see Ghana beating Portugal or Germany, and I don’t see Portugal beating Germany. Portugal might be able to get a draw though.</p>
<p>Not really. I have the US finishing last in that group, with Ghana third, Portugal second, and Germany first.
If you’re the US, how do you deal with Ronaldo and Coentrao on one side, and Nani on the other? (If he whips himself into form) And how is the US going to deal with the German B Team, which is still likely to have either Boateng or Mertesacker in defense, Durm, Khedira/Kroos/Schweini, Julian Draxler, and Miroslav Klose? </p>
<p>@lbad96 Pogba plays for France</p>
<p>@afroninja26 that’s my point. France and Nigeria would play each other in the Round of 16, and Nigeria would win 3-1.</p>