Graham Zusi: Why the U.S. Winger Might Be the Key to World Cup Qualification

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: October 9, 2012

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On Monday afternoon, United States men’s national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced his roster for the team’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Antigua and Barbuda and Guatemala.

While there were many surprises on Klinsmann’s roster, one name that was expected was that of Sporting Kansas City’s Graham Zusi.

Perhaps no man in the USMNT player pool has seen his stock rise more over the past year than Zusi, who has gone from a little-known Major League Soccer player to a potentially key piece of the U.S. World Cup qualification hopes.

In his college career, Zusi helped guide the Maryland Terrapins to two NCAA titles in 2005 and 2008, scoring the game-winning goal in the 2008 title game. His teammates from his college days comprise an impressive list of up and coming American players including Chris Seitz, Maurice Edu, A.J. DeLaGarza, Robbie Rogers, Omar Gonzalez, Zac MacMath and Casey Townshend.

After college, Zusi was drafted in the second round of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the then-Kansas City Wizards. Not possessing great speed, strength or size in a league still largely representative of physical prowess, Zusi’s MLS career started out slowly. He only started five games in his rookie campaign and four games the year after.

However, Zusi’s unique skill set, patience on the ball and tactical acumen just needed the right situation to flourish, and he found that in 2011 with a newly rebranded Sporting Kansas City. The team’s success dovetailed with Zusi’s individual success as Sporting won the Eastern Conference championship and Zusi started 25 games, netting five goals and picking up seven assists in a breakout season.



Zusi’s 2011 club success led to a call-up for the 2012 USMNT January camp, a camp traditionally used to suss out young talent for the national team player pool. In the January friendlies, Zusi started both...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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