10.25.13
ASN Morning Read: Julian Green to the US of A?
Jurgen Klinsmann may call the talented teenager into the United States camp when they play Austria and Scotland in November; the CCL quarterfinals are set; a scout's take on John Brooks.
BY
Jesse Yomtov
Posted
October 25, 2013
8:59 AM
A report yesterday out of Germany has Julian Green, profiled here by ASN's Brian Sciaretta, has being called up by the U.S. for next month’s friendlies. The 18-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder is tearing it up for the U-23s and did the same with the first team in preseason friendlies. Quite a coup if true, especially considering he’s played for Germany’s U-19 team recently. His dad seems to have confirmed the news on Twitter:
The L.A. Galaxy lost 4-0 to Isidro Metapán in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage finale. A win would have seen the team finish with at least the third seed, but the Galaxy ended up with the No. 6 seed in the eight-team quarterfinals. They’ll take on Tijuana, which should be a lot of fun to watch. Elsewhere, the Houston Dynamo lost to Árabe Unido, meaning MLS will not have four teams in the quarterfinals.
The matchups in the quarterfinals are Toluca-San Jose, Cruz Azul-Sporting KC, Tijuana-Los Angeles and Árabe Unido-Alajuelense.
Alex Labidou talked to a scout from a Champions League club to get a full report on John Brooks. "Midfielders know he can play that devastating line-splitting pass through the opposition, while strikers should always be alert to his ability to play longer driven balls forward,” the scout said. Brooks’ awareness and aerial ability are some things that need to be improved on, but the scout compares him to Jerome Boateng, who also began his career at Hertha Berlin.
Brian Straus has a nice piece on Chris Wondolowski, who’s looking forward to January camp to “make a strong case for Brazil.” It’s pretty difficult to imagine him ending up on the roster given the depth up top, but who knows where we’ll be in seven months or so. Wondo actually likes that. “It’s always been a big knock on U.S. soccer—great defenders and goalies, great center guys like Michael Bradley—but a deadly forward, let alone a depth of them? That’s something that’s always been missing. It’s great to see, and I’m excited.”
Geoff Cameron will likely sit tomorrow against Manchester United, still nursing the calf injury that kept him out of action last weekend.
