In a media teleconference earlier today, United States National Team goalkeeper Tim Howard and coach Bob Bradley talked about preparations for Wednesday's World Cup Qualifier against Mexico at Azteca Stadium.
“There’s a little bit of a different attitude, because this summer I think both in the Confederations Cup and in the Gold Cup final, we’ve been in quite a few very tough matches as a group," Howard said on the earlier games in June and July. That can only harden you, and give you a lot of experience and our aim is to take the lessons that we’ve learned and put them to good use going forward, not just for the Mexico game but for the rest of qualifying. That’s why we play the big games, and hopefully we can learn those lessons.”
"I have had the good fortune of playing in a lot of pretty big stadiums in front of big crowds, and that’s what you hope experience is all about," Howard said on Azteca. "And we’ve got, not just myself, but a team of guys who at this point have played at a very high level. A lot of guys have played in Europe and played in big games, so we’re going to hopefully use that experience to our advantage. It won’t be easy, but certainly the atmosphere and the occasion is not going to be a hindrance to us.”
“I hadn’t thought about this as the best chance," Bradley said in response to media speculation giving the United States an edge. "I’ve spoken to so many players who have been part of past games, and talked about the challenges, talked about the games. I think we’ve tried to learn from that. Again, I’ve talked to Bruce, I mentioned the experience that others in our staff and in our team have had there. So when you put it all together, you know, we’re excited, and I guess in a way it’s a complement to the growth of our team and the things that have happened over the years in US soccer to think that this is our best chance and hopefully we can take advantage of it.”
Bradley also talked about the lack of altitude training for the United States, saying: “We have worked for a long time with different people, different experts, on altitude training, including many from the U.S. Olympic Committee. The research we have stuck with is one that says if you don’t have enough time to acclimatize, which can take 10 days or so, then going in late is your best bet. So that is the way we’ve scheduled things, knowing that in a single fixture date, players have only arrived on the last day.”
