James Rodriguez, Robbie Keane Among United States' Opponents To Watch

Fans of the United States men’s national soccer team simultaneously will delight and dread the sights of Robbie Keane and James Rodriguez lining up opposite Team USA.

Those scenarios are almost unavoidable, as the United States concludes a busy year of action in the coming days with exhibition games against Rodriguez’s Colombia on Friday in London and Keane’s Ireland on Nov. 18 in Dublin.

Team USA’s opponents have named their squads for the upcoming games, and they include Rodriguez and Keane, as well as other stars of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and England’s Premier League.

Let’s look at the United States’ opponents below:

Colombia
Striker Radamel Falcao will not be with Colombia as he recovers his fitness and form with Manchester United, but the Cafeteros squad has other players who can trouble Team USA. Teofilo Gutierrez and Jackson Martinez, stars with River Plate and FC Porto respectively, will provide genuine attacking threats.

Rodriguez can start and finish moves from the midfield, as can winger Juan Cuadrado. Defensive midfielder Carlos Sanchez will protect the back line, and 21-year-old Juan Quintero could provide a spark on the bench.

AC Milan defenders Pablo Armero and Cristiano Zapata will marshal Colombia’s defense, and Santiago Arias will add an attacking dimension from his right fullback position.

Colombia squad:
Goalkeepers: Camilo Vargas (Inde. Santa Fe), Jose Fernando Cuadrado (Once Caldas), Leandro Castellanos (Inde. Medellin)
Defenders: Pablo Armero (AC Milan), Cristiano Zapata (AC Milan), Santiago Arias (PSV), Eder Alvarez (River Plate), Jeison Murillo (Granada), Pedro Franco (Besiktas), Brayan Angulo (Ludogorets), Daniel Bocanegra (Atl. Nacional)
Midfielders: Abel Aguilar (Toulouse), Carlos Sanchez (Aston Villa), Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina), James Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Alexander Mejia (Atl. Nacional), Juan Fernando Quintero (Porto), Carlos Carbonero (Cesena), Edwin Cardona (Atl. Nacional)
Forwards: Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate), Jackson Martinez (Porto), Adrian Ramos (Bor. Dortmund), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla), Yimmi Chara (Tolima)

Ireland
Keane, Ireland’s all-time leading scorer, will face some of the same players he torments on weekly basis as a striker with Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy. Other familiar faces in Ireland’s squad include veteran goalkeeper Shay Given, who backs up likely U.S. starter Brad Guzan at club level with Aston Villa.

Everton quartet Aiden McGeady, Seamus Coleman, Darron Gibson and James McCarthy will join Hull City trio Robbie Brady, David Meyler and Stephen Quinn to give Ireland head coach Martin O’Neil a host of options from which he can form a midfield that Premier League fans will recognize.

Strikers Shane Long and Kevin Doyle are proven goal scorers at international level. Anthony Stokes also could trouble U.S. defenders.

Ireland squad:
Goalkeepers: David Forde (Millwall), Shay Given (Aston Villa), Darren Randolph (Birmingham City), Rob Elliot (Newcastle)
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), John O’Shea (Sunderland), Alex Pearce (Reading), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Stephen Ward (Burnley), Richard Keogh (Derby County), Cyrus Christie (Derby County)
Midfielders: James McCarthy (Everton), Darron Gibson (Everton), Aiden McGeady (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Derby County), Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City), James McClean (Wigan), Stephen Quinn (Hull City), Robbie Brady (Hull City) David Meyler (Hull City)
Forwards: Robbie Keane (L.A. Galaxy), Shane Long (Southampton), Jon Walters (Stoke City), Kevin Doyle (Crystal Palace), Anthony Stokes (Celtic), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich Town), David McGoldrick (Ipswich Town)