Jozy Altidore to captain the USMNT against Colombia

Jozy Altidore will captain the United States when they play Colombia at Craven Cottage on Friday. Jurgen Klinsmann told the media that Altidore will wear the armband, which comes as no surprise.

Clint Dempsey is the U.S. captain, but he is not part of the team for this week's friendlies. Normally, Tim Howard or Michael Bradley would take the armband, but neither are with the team for this week either. So with all three out, Altidore makes the most sense as captain.

Altidore wore the armband in September when the U.S. played the Czech Republic and the other three were out as well. He also took the armband from Landon Donovan after Donovan was subbed out against Ecuador last month.

The only other real candidate to be captain is DaMarcus Beasley, who has also worn the armband under Klinsmann. Beasley has 120 caps, far and away the most on this U.S. team, but he may not start. Altidore almost certainly will be in the first XI and with 74 caps, he is hardly short on experience.

The U.S. and Colombia will kick off at 2:45 p.m. ET and the match will be televised on ESPN. The Americans will then head north to Dublin for a match against Ireland on Tuesday.