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.
