The center back pairing of LA Galaxy’s Omar Gonazalez with Sporting Kansas City’s Matt Besler was singled out for particular praise following the USA’sscoreless draw with regional superpower Mexico in a World Cup qualifier at the Azteca Stadium on Tuesday night. After the game, the MLS duo sounded confident.
“It felt really comfortableand playing with Bes [Besler] was great,” Gonzalez said. “Going down the line I think that could be a good pairing.” The 24-year-old attributed his understanding with Besler to the January trainingcamp set by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
“We have a great understanding of how each other play, a good partnership,” said Besler, who only found out he would bestarting at 11:30 AM Tuesday morning. “And I love playing with Omar. He’s a real easy guy to play off of. I just know what he’s going to do. He’s very good in the air and with his tackles and soas a partner of his, it’s easy to play off of him.”
Despite their calm and assured showing, Klinsmann was coy over whether he would stick with the Gonzalez-Besler combination in the future.”It gives us more options again looking forward into a very busy summer schedule,” the German said. “I think now having Omar Gonzalez growing and maturing and Matt Besler growing and maturing we havenow options to pull from.”
To Carlos Bocanegra: Thank you for years of service and leadership. You provided the base of professionalism and excellence that has now been officially handed over to the next generation. All the Best!
@ bill Here here….
I wouldn’t be writing Boca off just yet. I expect him to come back to the MLS this summer and challenge for a spot on the national team.