USA vs. GUA: Live Blog from Colorado

5:50 p.m. - Well, the teams are off the field, and that means it's time for us to sign off! We'll be back after the match!

5:48 p.m. - Just a reminder: Guatemala needs to win tonight. Los Chapines are three points behind Trinidad & Tobago, so they'll need a win and a T&T loss to have any chance of advancing to the Hexagonal. In Group 2, Mexico, Honduras, and Jamaica are still fighting over two spots. There's still much to play for in these last games of the semifinal round.

5:46 p.m. - More highlights from today, with England beating Germany 2-1:


5:45 p.m. - Brad Guzan has had enough, and he's marched back to the locker room. The team should follow pretty soon.

5:43 p.m. - Looks like we're wearing our whites tonight, with blue shorts and white socks. That may sound fairly straightforward but actually it wasn't - there was a bit of a snafu with some of Guatemala's gear getting here, so we were not quite sure what colors the teams would be wearing. Anyhow, looks like it's going to be the U.S. in white, and Guatemala in blue

5:41 p.m. - The stadium soundtrack has reverted back to its traditional form: The Boss' "Born to Run" is playing now.

5:37 p.m. - Sean Franklin and Matt Pickens are inactive tonight.

5:35 p.m. - Tonight's referee crew is from Mexico, with Benito Archundia taking the whistle as the center ref.

5:33 p.m. - Apparently the Snake Pit was goin' off! Here are some pictures from the pre-game festivities out in the parking lot.

5:26 p.m. - Out come the U.S. and Guatemala for warmups...

5:20 p.m. - Some Guatemala fans have arrived and they're making their home behind the near goal. They've got their blue and white streamers out already...

5:16 p.m. - Here come Brad Guzan and Troy Perkins, they're the first players out on the field as they walk across the pitch to the far goal box.

5:14 p.m. - The players should be out any minute now...There was a full slate of international games around the world today. Perhaps most notable was Diego Maradona's debut as head coach of Argentina in Scotland. Argentina grabbed the 1-0 win for their new coach.



5:10 p.m. - Here's how the U.S. will start tonight's game against Guatemala:

Guzan; Thorrington, Goodson, Parkhurst, Bornstein; Mastroeni (c), Clark, Adu, Kljestan; Cooper, Altidore

That's a 4-4-2, though expect Clark and Mastroeni to operate a bit behind Adu and Kljestan, who will use the wings to get forward and support the strikers.

Six players make their first ever starts in World Cup Qualifying: Thorrington, Goodson, Parkhurst, Bornstein, Clark and Cooper.

Four players retain their places from the previous game against T&T: Guzan, Adu, Kljestan and Altidore.

5:08 p.m. - In case you haven't seen it yet, here's today's pre-game video:


5:05 p.m. - Currently The Killers' new single, Human, is playing over the loudspeaker. Um...Where is "R.O.C.K. in the USA?" Where is James Brown's "Living in America?"

5:03 p.m. - Our U-20's got off to a great start in the World Cup today, defeating France 3-0. Alex Morgan opened the scoring before substitute Sydney Leroux added a brace to nab all 3 points.

5:00 p.m. - We've put out the lineup over on the U.S. Soccer Twitter. Go check it out! Or just wait here if you want, we'll have it in a few minutes.

4:58 p.m. - Pre game sprinklers are watering the field. At this time of year, usually the grounds crew wouldn't water the field - since the ground would freeze. It's unseasonably warm here, almost 60 degrees! That'll cool off more into the tonight but it shouldn't be nearly as cold as we (or probably Guatemala) expected.

4:55 p.m. - The team arrived a few minutes ago, but nobody is on the field yet. A few coaches and players walked out onto the pitch to check it out. Jozy Altidore, Ricardo Clark and Freddy Adu trotted out to the center circle, along with assistant coach Mike Sorber.

4:50 p.m. - Hello from Commerce City, Colo! We've settled ourselves in the press box and we'll be here live blogging up until kickoff.