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Looking Ahead to the Continental Clasico

 I haven't heard anything official, but April 19th is definitely not a FIFA window. Which makes it strange that US Soccer would schedule a highly publicized friendly against our biggest rival in something dubbed "The AllState Continental Clasico" being played in the same stadium the Super Bowl was just played in. Add to that there will be plenty of Mexico fans in attendance, it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

I was looking through the schedule and Fulham plays Everton the weekend before and Leeds the weekend after. There's half of the US's starting outfielders you can go ahead and rule out of this game. I would guess anyone playing significant minutes with their European club would be out for this match and that's how I structured my roster prediction for this match:

GK (3): Matt Turner, Arsenal; Gaga Sloanina, Chelsea; Sean Johnson, Toronto FC

RB (2): Sergino Dest, AC Milan; Deandre Yedlin, Inter Miami

CB (4): Miles Robinson, Atlanta United; Walker Zimmerman, Nashville SC; Jalen Neal, LA Galaxy; Matt Miazga, FC Cincinnati

LB (2): DeJuan Jones, New England Revs; John Tolkin, New York Red Bulls

CM (2): Kellyn Acosta, LAFC; Johnny Cardoso, Internacional

AM (4): Eryk Williamson, Portland Timbers; Cristian Roldan, Seattle Sounders; Cole Bassett, Colorado Rapids; Quin Sullivan, Philadelphia Union

S (2): Brandon Vasquez, FC Cincinnati; Jesus Ferreira, FC Dallas

Forwards (4): Jordan Morris, Seattle Sounders; Alex Zendejas, Club America; Paxten Aaronson, Eintracht Frankfurt; Paul Arriola, FC Dallas

I'm guessing Turner, Sloanina, Dest, and Aaronson would probably get a pass from their European clubs to come to Phoenix for the game. Other than Zendejas and Cardoso it's an entire MLS roster. I like this team. I think this roster qualifies for the 2022 World Cup. You have a lot of experience on the back line with Zimmerman-Miles Robinson-Dest-Yedlin and then Acosta and Williamson are very serviceable midfielders. 

Up front you have Zendejas, Morris, Ferreira, and Vasquez who I think can definitely beat Mexico for a couple of goals in this match. I think this is probably pretty close to a roster you could see in the Gold Cup this summer as well. There would obviously be a few more European players sprinkled in (CCV, Chris Richards, Mihailovic, Booth to name a few) but overall it's a pretty good roster. Which speaks volumes to how much depth we have as a country. The above team is better than the 2017 squad that failed to qualify for the World Cup, and it's currently our B squad at best. 

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