International Soccer is coming to Tampa, FL this weekend Sunday when the US Men’s National Team take on Ecuador as Uncle Sam’s Army (as well as the team) begins its buildup for this summer’s tournaments.

Usually an International Friendly is time to give new faces a chance to play at the highest level; however, as Ecuador is also participating in the Copa America this summer, the game on Sunday takes on a different light as each team will be looking to establish the momentum and roster to carry them through.

You can expect the game to be a physical contest as the Americans will look to disrupt a speedy and skillful side in Ecuador (if judging from their recent World Cup performances in Germany). Ecuador will not be as pressed to “win” as the US, so look for the Ecuadorians to rely more on their skill than their work ethic, which could play into the hands of the Americans (as it usually does).

It will be interesting to see the defensive lineup for Bob Bradley, who will be making changes due to the retiring faction of US players. For the Americans, this is obviously a time to challenge the waters and solidify a spot that usually has already been groomed and engrained for untouchables.

However, I think every US Soccer fan will have it wrong if we only focus on the narrow view of a win on Sunday. Really we should be asking ourselves if the leadership from the top down has what it takes to raise our slipping level.

It would seem almost impossible now to name a new coach to the fold as we are only a few months away from tournament play. It looks like Bradley will have to weather the storm.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 at 7:15 pm and is filed under Soccer World, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.