Ireland and Team USA are playing live on the international friendly soccer schedule on Tuesday and the match for the United States is on TV from ESPN2 at 2:30 pm ET and streaming on WatchESPN live from Aviva Stadium in Dublin as the Irish host the US side and Jurgen Klinsmann is looking for the USMNT to get things going after a loss to Colombia at Craven Cottage and this is another chance to see where the team is heading into the 2015 after the World Cup success.
The US comes in looking to get things going after a strong year and Klinsmann is looking for players to step up as leaders for the next World cup cycle. The team had great success in 2014 and one could argue they should have been even better and had the team had Jozy Altidore, they may have been able to make a run. The US comes in after a loss to Colombia, who also had a very good World Cup and now USA will be looking to bounce back in this matchup.
Ireland comes in after a loss against Scotland and that game was for Euro qualifying and that was in Group D and was the first loss in the group for the team. The team won over Gibraltar and pulled a surprising draw with Germany last month and that made the loss even tougher and now they have to get things going leading into the next matchups.
Ireland historically has the better head to head record and the two teams have played multiple times, but not for many years and while it dates back a ways, it's only the ninth and first since 2002. The US has been getting much better over the years and Klinsmann has his team playing with plenty of confidence. Some players are in the MLS and are getting ready for the playoffs and the US will not have to worry about Robbie Keane in the matchup, as he is getting ready with the LA Galaxy for the playoffs. Keane was with the team for their last loss, but he will not be there for this matchup and he is the all-time leading scorer for the nation and that will make it tougher without him.
The US has depth and while Klinsmann did send some players back to the MLS after the loss to Colombia, he still has a deep group to pick from. The US blew leads against Ecuador and Honduras in their matches before the Colombia loss and now Klinsmann is looking for a winning effort. DeAndre Yedlin and Jermaine Jones are back and Altidore will be in as the captain for the matchup. Kyle Beckerman and Alejandro Bedoya played well in the last match and Klinsmann also has players like John Brooks and Matt Besler.
