- By Alessandro Schiavone
'The US have nothing to lose against England, we can surprise the world', says ex-American star
Exclusive interview by Alessandro Schiavone
All the ingredients are there for the stats to align as Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT take on England in Al Khor’s Al Bayt Stadium.
That is the view of former US striker Terrence Boyd ahead of tonight’s showdown which sees the Three Lions odds-on favourites to secure another three points.
Taking the gap in personnel and experience of either side into account, that is a bold prediction by 1.FC Kaiserslautern’s frontman.
Gareth Southgate’s men come into this game on the back of trashing Iran 6-2 while The Yanks are two points adrift, having thrown away their lead after Timothy Weah’s well-taken goal was cancelled out by Wales superstar Gareth Bale earlier this week.
The two nations last met in an official game at the World Cup 2010 when England keeper Robert Green let down a whole country by fumbling a routine shot from outside the box by Clint Dempsey.
The first and last time the Americans reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup was in 2002 while England made it to the semi-finals of the Russian tournament four years ago.
Speaking to Capital Football at Der Betzenberg in Kaiserslautern, he talked up his country’s chances of shocking the world thanks to a blend of talent and endeavour.
The German-born American, who amassed 14 caps for his country until 2014, said: “I think it’s a group of tremendous talent in the US team.
“This is a tournament, everything is possible. The US are number 16 in the world, it’s a good national team. But the US have nothing to lose and I can see them upset some teams at the World Cup.
“This is a team that’s going to fight for every inch, if they play up to their potential and do it from a tactical standpoint, I can see them going to the knockout stages and surprise the world.”
Yet putting all their eggs in the baskets of star men Giovanni Reyna and Christian Pulisic may hold them back from yielding the desired results.
But despite the US’s golden generation being packed with individual talent, they have to be up for it as a team and Boyd said: “Obviously with Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Giovanni Reyna, Sergino Dest, we have so many phenomenal talents.
“We have so many who are playing at the highest levels.
“Hopefully they’re gonna play up to their potential and represent the US well.
“At the end of the day of course you need those individuals to make a difference. I am very, very excited to see how they’re gonna perform.”
“But first and foremost, you need a working team that’s gonna produce, which allows those individual talents to shine."
