The last time the U.S. Men's Soccer Team took the field opposite of the mighty Spanish side they walked off the 2-0 victory in what has to be classified as one of the greatest wins in the history of USA Soccer. The victory in the semifinals of 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa earned Team USA its first-ever finals berth in a FIFA tournament. The American's would go on to lose to Brazil in the final game but the win over Spain was a watershed moment for a squad on the rise.
The two sides take the field again on Saturday in an international friendly just days ahead of opening match of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Spain will be without a couple of their big name players but overall they've selected 17 players from the team that won the 2010 World Cup. Missing will be Xavi Hernandez and Carles Puyol but there will be plenty of the top players at Foxborough, Mass on Saturday afternoon. Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro and David Villa are expected to play in the match. Here's the full roster for Spain:
SPAIN ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), José Manuel Reina (Liverpool), Víctor Valdés (Barcelona)
DEFENDERS (7): Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Carlos Marchena (Villarreal), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santiago Cazorla (Villarreal), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Bruno Soriano (Villarreal), Borja Valero (Villarreal)
FORWARDS (7): David Villa (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Chelsea), Pedro Rodríguez (Barcelona), Manu Del Moral (Sevilla), Álvaro Negredo (Sevilla)
Team USA's roster will include the biggest names in American soccer. Tim Howard, Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley and it is great to have Clint Dempsey back on the team after his horrific car accident. Here's the full roster for Team USA:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Eric Lichaj (Leeds), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Freddy Adu (Rizespor), Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (3): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
With the first game in Gold Cup Group Play on Tuesday, June 7 against Canada, manager Bob Bradley will have to make liberal use of his six subs and avoid playing his top flight players for the entire 90 minutes.
USA vs. Spain kicks off on Saturday, June 4 at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT with ESPN and Univision carrying the TV broadcast.