Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns reports from Miami, where the USA meets Colombia in Miami, Fla., at 4:00 pm ET (ESPN2/Telemundo) on Saturday (Feb. 3): After the USAÆs practice at the Orange Bowl on Friday, it appears the starting lineup against Colombia will feature three changes from the 2-1 U.S. win over China a week ago. Chris Albright takes Brian McBrideÆs place on the frontline; Cobi Jones replaces Ben Olsen in midfield; and Greg Vanney moves in for Gregg Berhalter on the backline. STARTING LINEUP: Goalkeeper Tony Meola. Defenders (r-l): Carlos Llamosa, Eddie Pope, Jeff Agoos, Greg Vanney. Midfielders: Cobi Jones, Chris Armas, Clint Mathis, DaMarcus Beasley. Forwards Chris Albright, Landon Donovan. Q&A with DaMarcus Beasley SOCCER AMERICA: Tell us about the China game. DaMARCUS BEASLEY: It was good. It was, you know, my first cap; it was good that Bruce put me out there. China, they’re a good team, but it was a good chance for me to get out there and go one-on-one and beat some players. I thought I had a good first-time performance and hopefully I’ll get some more time [Saturday]. SA: So if you play against Colombia, that will be a little different, in terms of the space available … DB: Oh, yeah. They have a little more soccer background, they’re quicker, they’re faster and they press a lot, so hopefully, we’ll be able to get out of it. SA: Is this match as much a preparation for the road matches of qualifying as it is a warm-up for the Mexico match at home? DB: Yeah. There will be a lot of Colombian [fans], so it will be tough. We’ll get the boos and the whistles and all that stuff against us, and that can’t do anything but help us down the road. SA: What about this group — is it highly competitive in training? DB: It is real competitive. Guys are still trying to show Bruce they’ve got what it takes to make the trip to Columbus [for the first Hexagonal qualifier, vs. Mexico]. So everybody’s still fighting for a spot. There’s probably only two spots on the field that are sewn up right now — Claudio Reyna and Earnie Stewart, probably. The other spots are kind of wide open.
