gold cup 2011 schedule

Martin Rose/Getty ImagesMichael Bradley, left, may be a regular on the U.S. national team, but Clint Dempsey has become its leading man.

June should be a telling month for the United States national soccer team.

On Saturday, Bob Bradley’s squad travels to Foxborough, Mass., to take on Spain, the No. 1 team in the world.

Three days later the Americans will square off against Canada in their first match of the Concacaf Gold Cup, a tournament the U.S. federation very much wants to win. If the Yanks make it to the June 25 final, they will have played seven intense international matches in the space of three weeks.

Many questions about the U.S talent pool will be answered along the way: Is Freddy Adu really back in the mix for the national team? Do the veteran defenders Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu still have something left in the tank? Will someone step up and stake a claim as Jozy Altidore’s strike partner?

Here are 10 observations about the U.S. Gold Cup in the build-up to the tournament.