Bendtner Will Miss US Friendly; TV News
Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner will miss Denmark's November 18th friendly against the US due to a groin injury. Bendtner, who scored 3 goals in UEFA qualification (including 2 against Portugal) picked up the injury in Arsenal's 3-0 over Tottenham last weekend.
The presence of the 6'4'' forward would have allowed Bob Bradley to gauge the performance of his centerback replacement of choice against a quality opponent. He would have provided a solid test for what will be a new centerback pairing, as well. So, though a Danish side without Bendtner is certainly less dangerous, it would have been nice for player evaluation purposes if he played in the upcoming friendly.
But while Denmark might not provide a strong striker to test the new backline, Slovakia certainly will. Their leading front man, Stanislav Sestak, scored 6 goals in qualification and is currently plying his trade at VfL Bochum of the Bundesliga, where he has an impressive strike rate. With Chad Marshall, Clarence Goodson, or Jimmy Conrad likely to pair up with Carlos Bocanegra in the center, it will be interesting to see how well they can hold their own against such a talented forward. Bob Bradley will want to use these friendlies to start to identify who can help add depth to a depleted centerback position.
So while it would have been preferable to have Bendtner test the defense, USMNT coaches and fans can take solace in the fact that the US' other opponent that week, Slovakia, will definitely have some offensive weapons to throw forward.
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In a related story, it is being reported that the match against Slovakia on Saturday, November 14th will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel (time TBA), while the Wednesday, November 18th Denmark friendly will be shown on ESPN2 at 2:30 ET. In a year that featured two TV nightmares for USMNT fans (we're looking at you mun2 and Media World...), it'll be nice to watch the last two games on the schedule in the comfort of our usual networks.
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1 comments:
As much of a nightmare as the two TV situations were, I think in the long-run it was a good thing because it was a slap in the face. I would have liked to watch the USMNT clinch a WC berth on my TV, but the questionable internet feed was better than nothing. FIFA should adopt international television rules so that as many people can watch a match in the respective contries as possible. This is best for the sport. Using TV rights for spite is bad for the game.
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