Overconfidence?

Mexico's players are dropping like flies as Andres Guardado joined a suspended trio who won't be in Columbus for the US-Mexico game. Rafa Marquez may also miss the game.

Missing such star power has led some to speculate if the US will be overconfident, given that the US is in relatively good shape and playing at home where they've not lost to Mexico in nearly a decade.

I asked Brian Ching whether or not he thinks the US team, and more specifically a Bob Bradley team, will be overconfident. This is what he told me.

"There’s no chance that we’ll ever be overconfident. They could have 11 other starters injured and we still wouldn’t be overconfident just because of the gravity of the game. It’s the first World Cup qualifier from this round, it’s in America and we want to start on right. Regardless of who we play we’re going to come out with the same attitude and I think Bob’s done a good job of drilling that into us ever since he got here.

"He wants us to be ready for every game regardless of our opponent and not take games lightly. A good example would probably be the Barbados game. I think he got a little frustrated with us that we didn’t keep our shape towards the end of the game. He kind of harped on us.

"They have a few injured players but they have a deep roster just like we do."