The drama surrounding the Ukraine and USA international friendly match ahead of the World Cup has relocated the game to Cyprus and both teams are ready as the United States hopes to get their roster set for Brazil and the match will be streaming live online from Larnaca after the unrest and situation involving Russia and it starts up at 2 pm ET on ESPN2 on TV and WatchESPN online.
The United States has high expectations for the World Cup, so naturally they were drawn into the group of death with Portugal, Germany and Ghana, the team that has eliminated the United States twice and now they have the friendly against Ukraine. The first friendly against South Korea saw two goals from Chris Wondolowski and that gave him a boost in World Cup consideration from Jurgen Klinsmann and now that the match date is settled, the two teams are preparing for a tough battle. The Ukrainian players said they had in their minds what was going on back home, but they also said that they were focusing on the United States and their game on Wednesday.
Klinsmann added Jonathan Spector from Birmingham City to the roster for the match and he is going to get a good look after playing in Europe along with Tim Howard, who plays for Everton. Clint Dempsey came despite being in the MLS, which gets started this week in America and he obviously is one player that doesn't have to worry about making the team and he will once again be the primary focus of the offensive attack. According to ESPN.com, Michael Bradley and Mix Diskerud will not be playing, while defender Tim Ream also will not be getting onto the pitch.
The United States trained in Germany while getting ready for the match and everything had to be changed around after all the unrest in Ukraine and that pushed the match to Cyprus instead. Spector is back with the team for the first time since back in 2012 and Klinsmann said he wanted to bring on players that were establishing themselves on the highest levels. The last time he appeared with the team was back in February of 2012 against Italy.
This is a huge match for the United States, as they have one game left on the schedule of friendlies and that is against rival Mexico and that matchup will be in Phoenix. The next months leading up to the World Cup are huge for players and along with the game against Mexico in April, that same week will have the Champions League quarterfinals and the next big matchups will be the first group matches of the World Cup.
