The United States Men's National Soccer Team has given itself one last prep for the Gold Cup to be played on American soil starting on July 7. The Yanks will take on Ghana in what should be a fair tune-up against a side comparable to a lot of what will be seen against the middling teams in CONCACAF's premier event.
This soccer duel will go down Saturday, July 1, 2017, at 4:45 p.m. ET at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. The match will be televised live on ESPN.
Odds Analysis
The Yanks are the de facto co-favorites to win the Gold Cup, and it wouldn't be surprising if they were favored and favored heavily in every match they play along the way, particularly if they don't run into either Costa Rica or Mexico. That said, this will be another one of these matches where the Americans will be the comfortable odds-on favorites. Figure to see the USMNT favored by around a goal on the Asian Handicap, knowing that this isn't really a good enough side to be considered a shoo-in for the 'W' over the course of 90 minutes against one of Africa's best teams.
Roster Analysis
What's most notable on this American roster isn't so much who is on the team, rather who isn't on it instead. Michael Bradley, Christian Pulisic, Darlington Nagbe, Bobby Wood, Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey… All not a part of the final roster for the Gold Cup. Bruce Arena is putting his trust in a much younger side, though he has sprinkled in a few of the older players like Alejandro Bedoya and Dax McCarty. Dom Dwyer could get his first ever cap for the national team on Saturday, as could Kelyn Rowe and Cristian Roldan.
This is a big match for the three members of the Columbus Crew who are on the Ghanaian team. Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah and Mohammed Abu have all been called up for this challenge, and they all figure to be in the Starting XI against the Yanks. Adam Kwarasey has had a tough year in net at all levels, but he's as good as the Black Stars are going to bring to the table.
The three men the Americans will have to watch out for the most are Asamoah Gyan, Jordan Ayew and Andre Ayew, all of whom played crucial roles in the Ghanaians knocking the United States out of the World Cup three years ago.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
This Ghana team isn't a joke, and if it plays its best possible starting side, it can win this match. The Black Stars have lost three of their last six matches dating back to the last match of the group stage in the African Cup of Nations, but this is going to be a motivating fixture for sure. This is a veteran side coming to the United States, and Ghana will have had a game under its belt against Mexico in Houston before getting ready for this one.
The Americans will need to be careful. They're going to be fielding a team of largely second-tier choices, and with so many of the top-notch players we're used to seeing at this level not being called upon for the Gold Cup to get some rest, this could take some time to pull together.
We'll most certainly take Ghana and anything we can get on the Asian Handicap, and we'd call for the outright upset as well, a loss that could send the United States into a very tough situation at the Gold Cup.
Soccer Odds: Ghana 3, United States 1
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