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Best of the rest: A recently-uncapped USMNT XI

Portland Timbers v New York Red Bulls

HARRISON, NJ - AUGUST 19: Darlington Nagbe #6 of the Portland Timbers and Dax McCarty #11 of the New York Red Bulls battle for a loose ball during the match at Red Bull Arena on August 19, 2012 in Harrison, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/Getty Images for New York Red Bulls)

Andy Marlin

November 2013.

It’s been a great deal of time since Eric Lichaj had a chance to crack the U.S. men’s national team lineup, but his Tuesday goal had us wondering what players would constitute a Best XI of players not to hear Jurgen Klinsmann’s call dating back to the World Cup.

Would it be strictly an MLS endeavor, or would Lichaj make the cut?

[ WATCH: Lichaj nets first Forest goal in 83 games ]

In a completely elementary level, with less than an hour’s composition and research, here’s a quick best guess. Feel free to put together your own. Again, I’m not claiming I’ve not missed an obvious player, but this is supposed to be fun:
Steve Clark

Eric Lichaj -- Bobby Boswell --- Clarence Goodson ---Edgar Castillo

Dax McCarty----Darlington Nagbe

Benny Feilhaber----Ethan Finlay

Chris Rolfe----Mike Grella

Bench: David Bingham, Tony Tchani, Will Bruin, Shane O’Neill, Harrison Shipp, Chad Marshall, Andrew Farrell

I wouldn’t go expecting the unit to topple Jurgen Klinsmann’s Best XI on a consistent basis, but I would like to see them try.

*Remember: Players like Matt Hedges and Sacha Kljestan, whether you’d agree they fit the bill or not, have seen token call-ups since the 2014 World Cup.

Follow @NicholasMendola