The US Men's Soccer team is in action this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in Gillette Field, (Foxborough, Mass) for an international friendly with World Cup Champions Spain. The game will serve as a tune up for the US, who begin Gold Cup play in just three days against Canada. It's an interesting decision for the US to take on literally the best team in the world just days before beginning an important cup competition. That said, the level of competition they'll face with Spain, even in a friendly, is on another level than Canada and basically any other North American side they'll face in the Gold Cup.
Spain has brought most of it's biggest stars including Bracelona players like Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro and David Villa fresh off their Champion's League victory over Manchester United. In addition, stars like Fernando Torres, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos.
The sheer attacking force of Spain will be a great test for the US defense. Just to contrast how talented Spain is versus the US, look at the strikers each side has at their disposal. The US will field some combination of Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo and Chris Wondolowski. None of those players are anywhere near the level of most of strikers Spain will have at their disposal including David Villa, Fernando Torres, Pedro, David Silva, Fernando Llorente, Manu Del Moral, and Álvaro Negredo
Of course, that doesn't mean the US won't be competitive, after all they did defeat Spain 2-0 in a famous win at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey were the goal scorers in that game.