Things went much better for the US against Turkey. (Getty Images)

Its been a couple days since the U.S. National team faced Turkey in their final send off game in Philadelphia. I’ve watched a little bit of the replay of that game to look deeper at the team to see a few things.

I’ll be brief in my thoughts though since two days has nearly passed.

The Good:

- Jose Torres was a great addition in the midfield in the second half. He helped bring some flare and creativity to a midfield that really lacked a punch in the first half. Also things seemed calmer in the second half with him there. Sometimes calm is what you need in the midfield to get your attack going.

- Clint Dempsey was well…as impressive as I’ve seen him in recent years. I know Landon Donovan is vital to our success as a team but I think at times having Dempsey going strong is even more vital. Dempsey gets Donovan more in the game it seems than Donovan gets Dempsey. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks this way but right now for me this team moves when Dempsey moves.

- Jozy Alitdore needed that goal. I say that because strikers need to score to remain confident and that was a great time for him to get a goal. He needs to be 100% confident in himself for this tournament and scoring right before really helps.

- Robbie Findley proved me wrong, time and time again. Then again he proved a lot of folks wrong. Is he the answer as far as a starter goes? I doubt it he’s a full 90 minute guy just yet but you start him then bring either Herculez Gomez or Edson Buddle off the bench to replace him and you don’t miss a beat in terms of pace and energy. It may just have to be like that because Altidore alone up top just didn’t work in the first half.

- I think the back line was better and the starting four will likely be Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit.

- Philadelphia was a great host. Why haven’t we had more games there in the past? It seems like a perfect location for a very pro-US crowd.

The Bad:

- Left back as always was an issue. Jonathan Bornstein and Jonathan Spector failed to impress in the back.

- Benny Feilhaber did little to impress on the wings.

- Ricardo Clark and Michael Bradley together just don’t work against teams that have quality countering and speed. Clark didn’t track back enough on the lone Turkey goal leaving our defense wide open when Spector went forward in the attack. With these two it just didn’t seem like there was enough going forward in attack.

- Probably due to the issues in midfield Donovan seemed to be very impatient on the wings in the first half. He drifted inside a bit much and didn’t seem to mesh well with the group on the pitch.

Steve Goff is reporting this afternoon that the US is set to finalize their World Cup tune ups on home soil against some strong competition. The first match is likely set for being at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., against the Czech Republic. Goff goes on to say that after a game in Hartford the US will likely head to Philadelphia to play either Turkey or Ireland at Lincoln Financial Field.

Even though nothing is set in stone the possibility of these matches already blow 2006 out of the water. Let’s not the US will also be playing in Holland soon too. Playing strong competition to tune up things before the World Cup is a smart way to go in my books. Already the thought of facing the Czechs who saw Slovenia in qualifying makes sense.

It will be interesting to see where the third location is and who the third opponent will be for the US. Hopefully the US is lined up with some African country for a tune up match. We’ll see.

Update: The game in Philly will be against Turkey on May 29.

Its not that I’m not jazzed up for it (because I totally am), its I don’t have enough time or energy right now to preview it like Ives or someone else out there.

As for who I’m rooting for…well seeing how I am a Swede, the boys in yellow will be the ones I will follow closely but once they exit the tournament (which they will probably after group play) I will probably lean towards Portugal or Italy winning it all. Everyone is high on someone like Croatia or Spain, but I’m still hoping Sweden can be that dark horse if their defense holds up.

Who are you all rooting for? Let’s hear it.