USA vs Jamaica 2012: American Strikers Must Step Up to Win in Kingston

A depleted U.S. Men’s National Team walks into National Stadium at Independence Park—or, as the locals call it, “The Office”—later tonight to take on the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica in a key qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup.

American standouts Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley are injured and will remain on the sidelines while Team USA's best player, Clint Dempsey, hasn’t played in a professional game in more than three months. How long Dempsey can go—and how effective he’ll be when he’s in the game—are daunting issues for Jurgen Klinsmann and Team USA to overcome.

That’s not to say that the Americans, who have never lost—or won—a world cup qualifier in Kingston cannot beat a quickly rising Jamaican squad that sits right below them in the Group A standings (with the Americans landing in first place due to a greater goal differential).

But without Bradley serving as the mid-field facilitator and Dempsey’s level of play unknown, the Americans will need their forwards to capitalize on their scoring opportunities, which could be few and far between.

American strikers Jozy Altidore, Terrence Boyd and Herculez Gomez have all shown promise in the past and the trio are off to good starts with their club teams—especially Altidore, who has found the back of the net four times in three games with AZ Alkmaar. Boyd has netted four goals with Rapid Wien and a total of six goals in all competitions after being in Austria for about six weeks.

The duo needs to carry that level of play and, more importantly, that level of confidence into tonight’s game.

Making good decisions with the ball and remaining aggressive will lead to solid scoring chances, and success, against Reggae Boyz’ netminder Dwayne Miller.

But should the trio fall back on bad habits, become tentative and indecisive, the United States will have a harder time with the Jamaican National Team than they expect walking into to tonight’s action.

And it could very well lead to, not only a historic loss to the Reggae Boyz, but continued skepticism and criticism over the current state of the USMNT.