4:15 PM ET: A big thank you to all of you for joining us here at VAVEL USA. We hope that you join us again soon for more live coverage of the United States Men's National Team. I am Matthew Evans, make sure to join me tomorrow night for live coverage of the kickoff to the NFL season as the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks host the Green Bay Packers. Keep an eye on @tenorman85 for news on when coverage of that game will start.
4:14 PM ET: The VAVEL USA Man of the Match is United States goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Rimando made four saves in the second half to secure the result for the United States.
4:13 PM ET: The United States finished with 51% of the possession.
4:12 PM ET: What a big result for this young squad of American players. Here is a look at the goal if you have not seen it yet.
90+4': There is the final whistle and what a win! It ends United States 1, Czech Republic 0.
90+3': Julian Green draws a foul at midfield and that should be that with seconds remaining.
90+2': The home crowd are letting the Czech Republic know how they feel as boos are echoing through the stadium.
90+1': Alfredo Morales goes into the book, the first card of any kind in this match.
89': USMNT finally able to relieve some pressure getting some possession in the Czech defensive third. Altidore draws a foul to slow the game down, a great play from the captain. Three minutes of stoppage time.
88': MISS!! Daniel Pudil fails to take advantage of a golden chance after a poor header from John Brooks. The corner kick was eventually cleared by the defense.
87': Another long ball from the Czech Republic looking to spring a runner down the wing but it is just too far ahead.
85': SAVE!!!! Rimando with a huge save on the half volley from Radim Reznik. Reznik then skies the rebound over the bar.
84': Emerson Hyndman with a poor giveaway but then a counter-attack saving tackle. Morales is later called for a foul in a dangerous position.
83': USMNT with a little spell of possession that is given away by Rimando. The Czechs are not able to get anything from it.
82': Rosicky slices through the defense before heading to ground looking for a penalty. The referee says no.
80': MISS! Daniel Pudil finds a cross at his feet but he launches the ball into the tenth row.
79': MISS! Vaclav Prochazka makes a darting run that ends with him firing a shot that is headed out for a corner.
78': A great job defending from the United States here in the second half as a desperate Czech Republic side look to level the match.
76': Greg Garza makes a great defensive play to deny a goalscoring chance for the Czechs, it is still 1-0 with 14 minutes to play.
75': Brek Shea with a darting run up the left side before being dispossessed. Shea earns a costless kick on his second run which comes to nothing.
73': The Czech Republic has finally started to press high in the American defensive end. They are intent to find an equalizer here.
71': The United States are starting to feel comfortable after all of the substitutions are said and done. Sustained possession is starting to become available for the Americans.
69': Daniel Pudil comes on for the Czech Republic.
68': Tonight is the International Debut for both Emerson Hyndman and Greg Garza.
67': The final substitution for the United States as Alejandro Bedoya makes way for Emerson Hyndman.
66': That was a scary bit of defending there from the United States. Krejci is called offside but the replay shows that he was held on by Tim Ream.
65': SAVE! Nick Rimando makes a great save after the ball bounces around the six-yard box.
62': Here come the subs: Chandler (Off), Greg Garza (In). Diskerud (Off), Alfredo Morales (In). Joe Corona (Off), Brek Shea (In)
61': Alfredo Morales and Brek Shea will be the next two subs for the United States.
60': SAVE! A kick save from Nick Rimando as Ladislav Krejci broke through behind the defense.
59': John Brooks with a dangerous challenge from behind on Daniel Kolar. That would have been a booking in a non-friendly game.
58': Tomas Rosicky did not get subbed off at halftime. The subs we were shown were wrong.
56': Julian Green with some great individual skill to costless himself and take a shot that is deflected out but the referee does not see it. A goal kick to the Czechs.
53': A nasty collision between Chandler and Petrzela but both players are up and moving around on their own power. They look to be just fine.
52': SAVE!!! Bedoya knuckles a shot that makes Cech nervous having to punch the ball back into the middle of the field.
50': Now we've gotten caught up with the subs, a maximum of six changes reported by NBC SN.
49': The four players subbed off for the Czech Republic are Pavel Kaderabek, Vladimir Darida, Tomas Rosicky and Vaclav Pilar
47': We'll see how the changes affect the pace of play in the second half.
3:21 PM ET: Here is a listing of the players coming on for the Czech Republic: Daniel Kolar, Milan Petrzela, Lukas Vacha and Radim Reznik. We will get the list of players coming off in just a moment.
3:19 PM ET: The United States will kick off going from left-to-right after we get the Czech subs.
3:17 PM ET: Another change for the United States: Tim Ream will come on for Michael Orozco.
3:15 PM ET: Nick Rimando is coming in for Brad Guzan just as Klinsmann had stated he would before the game.
3:13 PM ET: Here is a look at the halftime stats as the United States leads in almost all the main categories. Possession 53.6%-46.4% USA. Shots (On Target): USA 5 (4), CZE 2 (1).
45+2': And there is the halftime whistle with the score United States 1, Czech Republic 0. We will be right back with the halftime stats.
45+1': There will be just one minute of stoppage time here in the first half. The United States are playing keepaway in their own half but lose possession. Czech Republic are looking for something in the final few seconds.
44': The United States looks like the more dangerous side in the first 44 minutes of this match. You'd think that it was the visitors who were one match away from starting a qualifying campaign.
41': It is safe to say that will probably be the last time that Petr Cech distributes the ball in the middle. Looking at the replay, he telegraphed that pass to Darida. Diskerud made a great anticipated play and it paid off.
39': GOAAALLLLL!!!! ALEJANDRO BEDOYA!!!! Mix Diskerud picks the pocket of Vladimir Darida, he puts a shot on that is saved but the rebound falls to Bedoya who slots it home to make it 1-0.
38': Three consecutive corners for the United States that all come to nothing. They kept possession though off a poor clearance from the Czech Republic.
35': A world-class ball from Rosicky to find Krejci streaking down the wing. Krejci looks to cut inside and is dispossessed by the defense.
34': Joe Gyau is having a great game so far in his first cap with the National Team.
32': MISS! Czech Republic break out on a 3-on-2, Rosicky passes across the face of goal towards a charging Darida but the sliding midfielder cannot slide the ball in the open net.
30': Cries for a penalty after Gyau's cross strikes the arm of the Czech defender. It did not appear to be intentional from Kadlec, in a friendly that is not a penalty but it may have been called in a more competitive fixture.
28': Prochazka has quite a range with his passes, that is at least the third long diagonal ball that he has gotten to the wings.
26': Pilar cuts inside before firing a low shot that is easily saved by Guzan.
25': Wow, that was a great defensive play from Fabian Johnson, not only did he keep a cross from happening but the ball deflected off the attacker and out for a goal kick.
23': That's two Seattle Sounders references on the broadcast from Arlo White, the former voice of the Sounders.
22': Gyau challenges Limbersky one-on-one and is able to get a cross over but Cech is equal to it.
21': That was set up by a great pass from Vaclav Pilar from the center circle.
20': Krejci receives a throughball down the left side, he puts a low ball across the face of goal towards Matej Vydra but John Brooks is able to get to the ball first.
19': There is not a lot of energy in this stadium from the home fans. They seem to be sitting on their hands a bit.
18': SAVE! Joe Gyau shows some good strength to hold off two Czech defenders before firing a low shot saved easily by Cech.
17': U-S-A chants ringing through the stadium.
15': Yikes. John Brooks misses a clearance which goes out for a throw-in deep in the Americans defensive third.
15': Tim Chandler finds space to whip a ball across the middle but it is too close to Cech in goal. Czechs with possession now.
13': Czech Republic are now keeping a majority of the possession but they are unable to break through the American defense.
9': A good ball from Julian Green looking to spring Bedoya but nothing comes of it once again. The United States are looking fast on their attacks so far.
7': The USMNT are not forcing the issue but just keeping possession in an attempt to pull the Czech defenders out of position.
5': Fabian Johnson gives up the first corner of the game as Kaderabek whipped in a dangerous back-post ball.
3': Julian Green steals the ball after some high pressure. Nothing comes from it but good to see the Americans pressing high.
2': An early foul called on John Brooks but the costlesskick is easily cleared by the defense.
1': The Czechs are flagged for an early offside.
1': Czech Republic gets us underway, the USMNT are moving from right-to-left.
2:15 PM ET: That was really cool, great job on both of the anthems from that children's choir. The teams are shaking hands and we are now just moments away from the kickoff.
2:13 PM ET: A beautiful rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" from a Czech child's choir.
2:11 PM ET: It is now time for the National Anthems. As a note, the United States is wearing all-white.
2:09 PM ET: The teams are in the tunnel getting ready to come out onto the pitch. Captain Jozy Altidore will lead the team out. "I Believe" can be heard clearly through the stadium. Great job American fans!
2:06 PM ET: A good showing of traveling support for the United States.
2:03 PM ET: It seems that Klinsmann's choice to start John Brooks at center back is being questioned by folks on social media. Looking at the roster, it really should not be a surprise that Brooks is starting especially without Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez on this squad.
2:00 PM ET: The United States will be looking for a good showing to kick off their run to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. On the other hand, this is the final test for the Czech Republic before starting their Euro 2016 Qualification campaign.
1:59 PM ET: And we are back here at VAVEL USA. As we are now within 15 minutes of the kick of this International Friendly.
1:51 PM ET: We will be back in five minutes with the walk-out and the final build-up to kickoff in Prague.
1:44 PM ET: Another look at the Generali Arena from @BrianSciaretta
1:35 PM ET: The USMNT has taken the field for warm-ups
1:33 PM ET: Thank you for joining us here at VAVEL USA for today's international friendly between the Czech Republic and the United States. We are just about 40 minutes to kickoff from Prague.
1:26 PM ET: It is going to be very interesting to see how these young USMNT players face this game. As long as they can stay organized defensively and keep their composure then they should be fine.
1:13 PM ET: Here is the lineup for the Czech Republic, they will line up in a 4-5-1; GK: Petr Cech; DEF: Pavel Kaderabek, Vaclav Prochazka, Michal Kadlec, David Limbersky; MID: Vladimir Darida, Petr Jiracek, Tomas Rosicky, Vaclav Pilar, Ladislav Krejci; FWD: Matej Vydra
1:12 PM ET: The weather report looks beautiful with partly cloudy skies and mid-60s for the duration of the match.
1:05 PM ET: What are your thoughts on today's lineup? Does the lack of a true defensive midfielder make you nervous?
1:01 PM ET: The US Soccer tactical graphic confirms that it is indeed a 4-3-3:
12:56 PM ET: Jurgen Klinsmann has released his Starting XI for today's match which we will say is a 4-3-3. GK: Brad Guzan; DEF: Fabian Johnson, Michael Orozco, John Brooks, Timothy Chandler; MID: Alejandro Bedoya, Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud; FWD: Joe Gyau, Jozy Altidore, Julian Green
12:54 PM ET: The USMNT is in the building.
12:48 PM ET: Other notable friendlies taking place today include Denmark hosting Turkey, England hosting Norway, Latvia hosting Armenia and a big clash between Germany and Argentina.
12:45 PM ET: There is one other Friendly going on right now between Russia and Azerbaijan with Russia holding a 4-0 lead in the 82nd minute. Alexander Kerzhakov scored twice in the first 12 minutes to pace the Russians.
12:39 PM ET: Two players to look for the Czechs tonight will be the obvious ones; Petr Cech and Tomas Rosicky. They are the leaders of the leaders and have been for the past few years. Both of them will be looking for one last shot at glory as they are entering the twilight of their careers.
12:36 PM ET: We are about 40 minutes away from seeing a lineup from Jurgen Klinsmann for this international friendly. Usually with the squad list you'll have a good idea for what the lineup will look like but this is a whole different animal. With so many young and/or inexperienced players on the squad, it can be tough to project a lineup. The thought is that we'll see a standard 4-4-2 or possibly a 4-5-1 with Julian Green playing as an off-striker to Jozy Altidore.
12:29 PM ET: Along with your final scoreline, what are you wanting to see the most today from the National Team?
12:27 PM ET: USMNT defender Geoff Cameron tweeted his well-wishes to the rest of the squad about a half-hour ago, "Good luck to the guys tonight! Do work @ussoccer #USMNT #USAvCZE #bebacksoon." Cameron was called into the squad but will miss the match due to injury.
12:24 PM ET: Once again welcome to today's coverage of the United States Men's National Team. What are your predictions for today's match? Leave your final scoreline in the comments below or send me a tweet @tenorman85.
12:14 PM ET: The United States Men's National Team has three more matches scheduled in 2014. Their next match will take place on October 10th at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut against Ecuador. It will serve as the de facto testimonial for star Landon Donovan who announced earlier in 2014 that he would retire at the end of the 2014 Major League Soccer season.
The Americans will take the tour into the swamp four days later for a match with Honduras at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida. It is believed that Jurgen Klinsmann will call in a squad comprised of mostly Major League Soccer players for these two friendlies.
Finally the Yanks will end the calendar year with a friendly at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland against Robbie Keane and the Republic of Ireland. It should be a good test for the Americans as they look to gain some momentum heading into the 2015 Gold Cup.
12:13 PM ET: Tonight's match is taking place at the Generali Arena in the capital city of Prague. The 19,416-seat stadium is home to AC Sparta Prague of the Czech First League and also hosts a good number of games played in the Czech Republic by the National Team. The Generali has hosted 33 national team matches since the breakup of Czechoslovakia with the first match taking place on April 26, 1995; it was a 3-1 win over the Netherlands.
In total the Czech Republic has a record of 23 wins, six draws and eight losses at the stadium in international play. They have never allowed more than two goals by any opponent. Currently, they are on a three-match winless streak at the Generali Arena with their last win coming on November 11, 2011 against Montenegro in a Euro 2012 Qualifying Play-off match.
12:12 PM ET: The grouping at forward is also a sign that Klinsmann is looking towards the future as everybody except for Jozy Altidore will be looking for either their first or second cap with the senior National Team. If the formation is indeed a 4-4-2 then the biggest question will be who lines up next to Altidore? The favorite should be Bobby Wood considering that he is the only other forward with a cap to his credit but we will find out in just mere moments when the starting lineup is announced.
12:11 PM ET: It is very difficult to project what the starting midfield will look like for the USMNT mainly due to the abundance of wing players on the squad. The thoughts are that you will see World Cup veterans Alejandro Bedoya and Julian Green start on the wing with Brek Shea serving as the primary sub for one of those two players. As for the central midfielders though, obviously Mix Diskerud will start as he is the most experienced of the mids called in but who pairs with him?
On one hand you have Joe Corona, the 24-year-old Club Tijuana player is a jack-of-all-trades in the midfield having played at nearly every spot during his 11 caps with National Team. Corona is more of an attack-minded player though which would force Diskerud to play in the defensive midfielder role.
On the other hand you have Alfredo Morales, a 24-year-old player from FC Ingolstadt 04 of the German Second Division. Morales is more of a defensive player than Corona so if Klinsmann is looking for Diskerud to be more involved in the attack, he would be more likely to pair Morales with Diskerud.
12:10 PM ET: The USMNT defense took a blow before the first training ball was kicked. Center-back Geoff Cameron was injured last week during Stoke City's mid-week win over Portsmouth in the Capital One Cup. The injury was bad enough to keep Cameron out of Stoke's massive win away to Manchester City on the weekend. He was removed from the squad at the request of his club's medical team and no replacement was named.
His absence leaves Klinsmann with six available defenders which doesn't include Alfredo Morales who can play on defense if need be. The elder of the group is Borussia Monchengladbach fullback Fabian Johnson, the 26-year-old is likely to get the start at right-back with fellow Bundesliga man Timothy Chandler at the left-back position. The center-back pairing will likely be 21-year-old Hertha Berlin player John Brooks and Puebla's Michael Orozco. Do not be surprised to see Tim Ream from Bolton Wanderers get a half-hour of work in the second half.
12:09 PM ET: Jurgen Klinsmann announced on Tuesday that goalkeepers Brad Guzan and Nick Rimando would each play a half in goal. It is likely that Guzan will get the start considering he has been the immediate backup for Tim Howard over the last few seasons and is the heir apparent to the gloves once Howard retires for good.
The third goalkeeper is 21-year-old Cody Cropper from Southampton. The 6-foot-4 keeper from Maple Grove, MN has many people buzzing about him being the goalkeeper that eventually takes over for Guzan. Unfortunately, he has not seen much playing time with the first team during his time with the Saints but he did sign a one-year deal over the summer to remain with the club through the 2014 season. It is unknown at this point whether 2014 will be the year he breaks through to consistent first-team minutes.
12:08 PM ET: As you can see, the United States has struggled against the Czech Republic in the past and today should not be any different. Today is not about the result for Jurgen Klinsmann, it is about getting the opportunity to look at his European-based talent first hand. Moreover, this will be a chance for Klinsmann to get looks at the players who could be filling his roster in the future as well.
Nine of the 21 players called into the squad for this friendly have three or fewer caps with the Senior National Team; six of those nine will be looking for their first cap. The squad averages 23 1/2 years old with an average of 12.7 caps. Compare that to the Czech Republic who has 12 players in their squad with 13 or more caps. Given this American fans should not be disappointed with a loss as long as the team looks cohesive.
12:07 PM ET: Hartford, Connecticut would be the host of the third match-up between these two nations as the United States was in the middle of their "Send-Off Series" ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. It also marked the return of Oguchi Onyewu to the National Team after tearing a patellar tendon in his left knee during the final World Cup Qualifier against Costa Rica.
The only difference in this game from the ones that proceeded it was that the Americans actually held the lead at one point. Stuart Holden whipped in a costless kick from the left wing towards the back post. Petr Cech missed his punch attempt which allowed Edson Buddle to head the ball into the ground. A mad scramble ensued before Maurice Edu slammed a shot home from close range to give the United States the lead in the 17th minute.
Other than that though it was all Czechs as they cruised to a 4-2 win in front of a record 36,218 fans at Rentschler Field. Herculez Gomez scored the other American goal in the 65th minute.
12:06 PM ET: Similar to the 1990 World Cup, the two sides met in their openers for the Group Stage of the 2006 World Cup. This match was held just 1,219 km north of Florence at the now Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. 52,000 fans witnessed another brutal beat down from the Czech Republic as they defeated the United States 3-0.
Head Coach Bruce Arena was very confident in his side entering the tournament as they were ranked 5th in the world according to the May 2006 FIFA World Rankings. They knew the first match would be tough against the Czechs who were ranked 2nd in the World but looming ahead was Italy and a relatively unknown African side Ghana, who were making their debut appearance in the World Cup.
American dreams of building on their run to the quarterfinals in 2002 were dashed very early as 6-foot-7 striker Jan Koller put the Czech Republic ahead with a 5th minute tally. Arsenal midfielder Tomáš Rosický added a goal in each half (36th and 76th) to pace the Czechs to the 3-0 thumping. In goal for that game for the Czech Republic was Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech, he will likely get the start tonight as well which will earn him his 108th cap with the National Team putting him just 10 behind Karel Poborský for the all-time lead in Czech football history.
12:05 PM ET: It was the first match of the 1990 FIFA World Cup for both the United States and Czechoslovakia, it was also one of the first matches of the tournament having been drawn into Group A alongside Austria and the hosts Italy. 33,266 people packed the Stadio Comunale in Florence to get a glimpse of this match; the first World Cup match for the United States since July 2, 1950.
USMNT Head Coach Bob Gansler threw out a very aggressive-looking 3-4-3 formation to counter the Czech's very defensive-minded 5-3-2. Despite looking to play on the front foot, it was the Czechs who found all of the offense starting with 25th minute goal from Tomáš Skuhravý to make it 1-0. That would be just the start as Skuhravý added another goal late in the match to go with goals from Michal Bílek, current Qatar SC coach Ivan Hašek and Milan Luhový to pace the Czechs to a 5-1 win. Midfielder Paul Caligiuri would get the consolation goal for the Americans who also saw striker Eric Wynalda sent off in the 52nd minute.
The United States went winless in the group while Czechoslovakia advanced all the way to the Quarterfinals before being eliminated by eventual Champions West Germany on a penalty kick goal from Lothar Matthäus in the 25th minute. Current USMNT Manager Jurgen Klinsmann played ninety minutes in that match as well picking up a yellow card in the 28th minute.
12:04 PM ET: This will be the fourth meeting all-time between these two nations with the series dating back to 1990. The Czech Republic has won all three of the previous meetings by a combined score of 12-3. Two of those previous meetings took place in World Cup play.
12:03 PM ET: For the Czech Republic, this friendly will serve as their final tune-up before they start their qualification campaign for Euro 2016 on September 9th against the Netherlands. There is a higher chance of qualification for the European Championships this time around after UEFA expanded the competition to 24 teams but the Czechs will have their work cut out for them if they want to make it back.
Czech Republic were drawn into Group A alongside the Netherlands, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Iceland and Latvia. The top two nations will automatically qualify for the competition while the eight best third-placed nations will advance into a play-off. Out of this group only the Netherlands qualified for the 2014 World Cup but Iceland and Turkey will be motivated to make up for coming up just short in their own campaigns. Turkey finished a disappointing 4th in Group D behind Romania and Hungary; Iceland actually qualified for the play-offs for the first time in national history before falling to Croatia over two legs.
12:02 PM ET: The match also starts the run to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia for the United States. CONCACAF Qualification will not start until 2016 but the USMNT will have a full schedule between now and then to get themselves prepared for the rigors of World Cup Qualification. The summer of 2015 will bring the CONCACAF Gold Cup while the summer of 2016 will bring the Copa America Centenario.
12:01 PM ET: Today's match will see the United States square off against the Czech Republic in an international friendly from Prague. The match is the first for Jurgen Klinsmann and his men since their dramatic loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
12:00 PM ET: Good morning and welcome to VAVEL USA's coverage of the United States Men's National Soccer Team. My name is Matthew Evans (@tenorman85 on Twitter) and I will be your guide through this match. If you have any questions or comments, feel costless to leave them in either the comments section below or on my Twitter page.