EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — United States soccer fans have shorter attention spans than fans in any other country; they want to see goals.
A day before the U.S. coach Bob Bradley announces his final 23-man World Cup roster — when the U.S. lost to the Czech Republic, 4-2 — one of the biggest question marks the second winningest coach in U.S. history will have to answer remains: Who will partner Jozy Altidore, the leading Men's National Team goal-scorer up front?
The list is a lengthy one — Houston Dynamo's Brian Ching, Los Angeles Galaxy's Edson Buddle, Pachuca's (Mexican league) Herculez Gomez, Real Salt Lake's Robbie Findley, and Aris Thessaloniki's (Greek league) Eddie Johnson. Even outside winger Clint Dempsey, who plays at Fulham in the English Premier League, has been mentioned as possible option.
Before the horrific and tragic fatal car accident in October (killed the driver Ashley Roberta) that left Boston College product Charlie Davies badly injured (broken femur, broken tibia, dislocated elbow, lacerated bladder, bleeding from the brain) to the extent that he has not even seen the pitch in game action since, Davies was the obvious choice.
Davies, who was born in Manchester, N.H., and played high school soccer at Brooks School in North Andover, burst onto the national team scene at the Confederations Cup last summer, where he scored a goal in the team's 3-0 win over 2010 African Cup of Nations champion Egypt.
In his absence in 2010, the U.S. has struggled to find a reliable second option to Altidore, who scored six goals in World Cup qualifying, as the MNT have been mostly unconvincing going forward in a 3-1 loss to Honduras in January, a poor 2-1 win against El Salvador in February, and another lackadaisical 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in early March.
In fact, only one forward has scored a goal for the U.S. in 2010 — Ching.
Clearly there is a debate: Does Bradley go with experience or with who is hot?
Johnson (12 goals in 40 appearances) and Ching (11 goals in 44 appearances) are without a doubt the two most experienced guys. Johnson has not scored since 2008 for the U.S. and has really fizzled since scoring five goals in his opening year with the team in 2004. Ching has probably been the U.S.'s most reliable forward this year with much of the roster away in Europe earlier in the year, but he seems to disappear in big games.
Buddle, meanwhile, only has one career cap for the U.S. back in 2003 and, after recently turning 29, the time is now or never because he currently leads Major League Soccer in scoring with nine goals, and it is no small component that he plays well with Landon Donovan, one of the key U.S. players.
Gomez was the first U.S. forward to lead another country's top domestic league in scoring, enjoying a resurgent season with Puebla in Mexico by scoring 10 goals. The 28-year-old is finally recovering after missing nearly a year after an ACL tear in September in 2007. He, too, is virtually uncapped with just two in 2007, two years after his breakout season in 2005 with the Galaxy where he scored 18 goals.
But after scoring one of the MNT's two goals on the evening with a beautifully executed corner, Gomez has to be considered a front-runner now with the form he has been in to make this squad.
"It was fun, it was hard, it was a great feeling to be out there with those guys," said Gomez, who came on as a substitute in the second half. "You build those friendships during camp, you kind of get thrown in some turmoil with all the fitness, and it brings the guys together — they really area a great group of guys, and being out there was a lot of fun.
"I haven't spoken to (coach Bradley), but I'm a big boy; I know what I have to do. I knew coming into this I was going to have to show more than just being able to put the ball in the back of the net," Gomez followed up. "I felt I gave (the Czechs) a few headaches, got them on their toes, but they are a great team. Peter Cech (the Czech Republic goalie) is a great goalkeeper; he's not just anybody, so it was a good test. I'm just glad I survived the 45 minutes. It's out of my hands now."
Ching, who also came on as a second-half sub, felt like all the forwards showed quality in defeat to the Czechs, who have beaten the U.S. all three times they have played each other.
"You just try to go out and score goals," Ching said. "Good for Herculez; he scored a good goal. I thought we had some good combination play. I though the forwards all played well in my eyes, so hopefully it's a tough decision for the coach."
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To read more soccer commentary by John Shimer, check out redwhiteandbluearmy.com.
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