I think the loss of Eddie Pope is huge. Who do you think Arena will start in central defense with Onyewu next Thursday?

EDDIE LEWIS!!!!


(..good god I hope not)

id prefer Albright over Lewis to be honest

What about Conrad? He played today. Can Boca or Berhalter play in the center?

I wondered if Pope's red was an accumulation of fouls. He committed several in the first half that could have easily resulted in a second yellow before the red card was shown to him. But I never saw a yellow/red. It appeared the ref went straight to the red.

I thinking and hoping it will be Albright to replace him.

If Albright gets into this World Cup..without us getting 22 red cards.. or 22 broken legs.. I'll be very disappointed.

KEEP THE APE ON THE BENCH!

btw: Where is everyone watching this one? Sucks that it's so early..

Edit: ..seems as though we are destined to disagree!

I saw the yellow. It was a yellow followed by the red. It was not a straight red.

has to be conrad i think. gibbs injury really hurts.

why is this even a question? It will be Conrad. He played a wonderful 40 minutes today when he could not have possibly envisioned playing. It was his first world cup appearance and he seemed to slide in right alongside Onyewu very well. I would expect to see the back four that ended the game start the game...Dolo, Onyewu, Conrad, and Bocanegra.

Not only will the US have 2 players suspended for the match with Ghana. So will the Black Stars. Gyan and Muntari, the goal scorers against the Czech Republic, both picked up their 2nd yellow of the tournament and will have to sit out Thursday's match.

Jack, this board would be incredibly boring if we all agreed. Whoever is in the mix, they will be facing a quicker offense (individually speaking) than either we've faced so far.

albright? are you kidding? he is awful!

I'm glad Pope is out. He's soft! We'll get to see how deep this team really is on Thursday.

I dont know if I would call Pope soft. I think he is just on the downside of his career. Too many injuries throughout his career does not help.

Does anyone else realize how much this cup resembles the last for the states, but in a different order. We tied a korea team that missed a pk. While we definitely deserved a point if not three against Italy, I dont think anyone would have given us a chance playing 10 v 9 before the match. We got blown out in one game in group play, Poland 02/CZE 06. We lost a starting centerback in group play and had to rely on a backup with limited international experience. Hopefully things will continue and we will beat Ghana 3-2 and advance.

Conrad will get the start, but will play on the outside look for Bocanegra to move inside with Onyewu.

I think Boca is more effective on the outside. Didn't Conrad play in the Center when he subbed in on Saturday?

Conrad will not move outwide. he has always been a central defender. Boca has the ability to play both roles in club (when he was in MLS), but not at the international level. If that was going to be the change, then bruce would have made that when Pope was sent off. instead, conrad came on as a centerback.

I knew we should have put Agoos on the roster. He would be the best choice.

ha ha ha, thats funny cabj12, you arent serious are you?