photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
The U.S. Under-23 men's national team's hopes of reaching the 2012 Olympics have been dealt a serious blow.
Two days after routing Cuba, the Americans suffered a shocking 2-0 defeat to Canada at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday night in their second Group A match. Both goals came in the second half off of corner kicks, with Doneil Henry and Lucas Cavallini scoring after defensive mistakes from the United States.
The result was just the latest bit of bad news for U.S. head coach Caleb Porter, who earlier in the day found out that forward Juan Agudelo would miss the rest of the qualifying tournament with a meniscus tear in his left knee.
The United States' loss to the Canucks, combined with El Salvador's 4-0 win in the first match of the doubleheader at LP Field on Saturday, essentially leaves the United States in must-win territory in its final match of group play. Assuming Canada defeats already-eliminated Cuba on Monday, the U.S. team will need a win versus El Salvador in order to advance to the must-win semifinals game.
Canada earned the three points with a defensively-disciplined performance. The Canadians' midfield made things tough for the United States, who seemed to be out of sync offensively despite winning the possession battle.
Even so, the United States nearly opened the scoring when Ike Opara finished off a Freddy Adu free kick in the 48th minute. The headed strike was negated, however, as Opara was whistled for offsides.
That allowed for Canada to capitalize off a corner kick ten minutes later. U.S. goalkeeper Bill Hamid failed to punch the ball clear after the service was sent in from the right, and Henry jumped in front of him to head the ball home.
The stagnant United States offense, which started an ineffective Teal Bunbury in Agudelo's place, tried to respond, but the final ball was always lacking.
Adu was invisible for large stretches, Joe Corona and Mix Diskerud struggled to impose their will on the game, and Brek Shea repeatedly failed to find his teammates with crosses sent in from the flanks.
The faulty execution on offense cost the United States once again, as in the 83rd minute Cavallin scored off a diving header after breaking free from Opara.
The United States then picked things up on offense as the visitors sat back on their 2-0 lead. With substitute Joe Gyau providing a spark off the bench after initially failing to find the ball, the Americans created good looks on goal.
Unfortunately for the Americans, Canada goalkeeper Michal Misiewicz was up to the task on every shot, making a handful of fine saves in the waning moments of the match.
The win gave Canada four points and second place in Group A, while the United States dropped to third with three points. El Salvador is in first with four points and a better goal differential than Canada. Cuba is last in the group with zero points and is unable to advance to the next round.
The Americans will take on El Salvador in the final group game on Monday night at LP Field.
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What do you think of the Americans' 2-0 loss to Canada? What needs to change versus El Salvador? Think this U.S. team is capable of winning back-to-back games to advance to the Olympics?
Share your thoughts below.
give up already on the possession style and go back to the counter-attacking, physical play.
It suits the US strengths……just tweek it a little.
I like your post.
on Penny 2, man, I want to agree, but what I saw was a lack in the middle to create due to
1. Canada’s approach, and
2. USA players that seemed more tired than their opponents from jump in the midfield
Canada closed space relentlessly from all 10 like energizer bunnies and squeezed the middle from all angles. Canada knew our intentions on how we’d play and stacked their D to deny it and challenge other aspects
Perhaps if it was Game 1 the US midfield would have been better legged to deal, who knows? but they couldn’t create thru the middle but not for lack of trying, and the flank attacks to counter that Canadian tactics were constant, they didn’t produce
on Penny 1, maybe Gyau on the right. Have to believe that he starts this 3rd game in 5 days for sure tho.
Funny how US fans cry when fans of other national teams don’t give them credit for winning against a stronger side, yet USMNT supporters show their hypocricy when they basically do the exact same thing. Give credit where it’s due. Canada played a great game and their coach implemented a smart strategy to win this game.
not doomsday, but somehting that makes you sit up and take notice, yes?
Wow…. Absolute euphoria, proclamations of Porter as heading up the Nats, talk of Olympic medals. A day later it’s all doom and gloom and hand wringing. It’s life… full of obstacles, challenges, things that don’t go as planned… other teams that want to make the Olympics and will fight their hearts out. I say it’s much better to lose now… to have the wake up call while there is time to respond than a wake up go home call in the semis.
THE ASSIGNMENT HAS NOT CHANGED ONE BIT- YOUR PERSPECTIVE HAS!
Fact: from day 1- they knew they needed 2 wins to make the semis. From day 1, the semis was a must win game. Today it stands at- one more win in group, one win in semis. I’m confident they’ll recover and take care of business against El Salvador. Not an unreasonable to ask to advance. Can this team beat Mexico or Honduras in the semis? Hell yes. I don’t see either team bunkering down like Canada did, so the game should be more to their liking and if they do I’d suspect they’ll be better prepared.
So, the only question that remains is the same one asked coming into the tourney. You have the skills, but do you have the backbone and balls? I think Porter and the boys will respond… guess we’ll find out soon enough.
It’s certainly his fault for not correcting those bad habits…
Nonsensical?
“Agudelo is the answer” is a bit epigrammatic, I agree. But it’s not that random to say he is the “answer” (in an Allan Iverson, crucial player usage).
And Jozy is certainly available to play with the team in the Olympics. And he wouldn’t need to take up one of the veteran spots.
You forgot the “T” in your name, _wat.
enjoy the Canadians version of Benedict Arnold…may he lead the US to glory like Arnold did for the British!
It’s refreshing to see intelligent discussion on this comment thread that didn’t resort to name-calling or trolling. A credit to SBI readers.
Well Sapong is too old so he would have to be an overage player once the Olympics start.
Is it Porter’s fault that Hamid likes to catch crosses at his chest? Is it Porter’s fault that Opara cannot turn without slipping and sliding? No, but it is his fault for selecting, and playing them. I am baffled that MLS coaches have done so poorly with these young men.
Ahhhh it’s doomsday! We’re finished! And all that sh!t… Now, good news is we already beat Mexico 2-0, so if we do have to play them, it’s not the end of the world. Teams have bad games, but it doesn’t make them bad teams
Same as after the first game, people calling for more Gyau. He was courageous and silly kinds of fast but again totally unwilling – for the second game in a row – to get the ball anywhere near his left foot.
My two cents…Penny 1: if we need greater presence out wide, and Gyau is the guy you want to provide it, he has to play on the right side and cross instead of on the left side and cut in. All he did was further clog up the middle and lose the ball. Penny 2: the game didn’t, in fact, require greater width, it required creativity through the middle. Canada’s strength was their physicality – as demonstrated by the nature of their goals. Crossing the ball, which I see as the ultimate end of creating width, when we only had one presence in the box was never likely to be effective even if the crosses where coming. Which, of course, in light of Penny 1: they weren’t.
I have read many different places, USA fans comparing this U23 team to Barcelona and Spain, and comparing this result to the USA 2 Spain 0 game at confed cup. People claiming that Bob Bradley invented the bunker and counter attack game plan! Are these people that delusional? They really think the USA is that good? There are no household names or world superstars on this USA team. Why are the expectations so high? USA is not a world power!!! These USA u23 players are just as arrogant as their fans I guess…
Candid words from Porter. I’m still impressed with the guy. I hope the outcome of this tournament doesn’t change his approach to U23 play.
Neither of them really impress me at this time. Boyd’s technical game is really raw & Bunbury’s tactical side is really raw so they are 2 very incomplete forwards who really annoy me at this point in time tbh. Dont get me wrong, they arent bad but those sides of their game really hurt the team when they need them to do the simple things correctly. Missing Juan did indeed hurt us which makes me want to see Altidore in the group if we qualify for the olympics.
Sean Johnson would’ve made those saves. Am I the only one who isn’t buying the Hamid hype?
no it didn’t, showed the opposite
oh please, come down from on high
Snap Judgment? Teal’s holey game has been known and discussed ad nauseum, and what happened last night was simply the latest proof that he does not belong, nothing “snap” about it, rather a continuing resume’ of performances that speak for themselves.
what the H E double hockey sticks are you watching?
When I said Jeffrey and Mix could find no one to play to, it implied Corona, etal.
i don’t understand why Terrence Boyd didn’t get the start over Bunbury
I watched the whole game, and have watched a couple of other games where Bunbury got minutes. Compared to Agudelo he is brick footed, slow in his decision making, largely clueless as to how to link up with his teammates, and his shooting / finishing touch is also poor. In the game v. Canada he showed that he was very good at hurtling over slide tackles to avoid getting injured and that’s about it. Put Terrence Body out here.
thats exactly what i thought. i think some players rested on their laurels a little after that massive victory. overconfidence is like a plague in a locker room and it only takes a few players to be out of sync for the whole system to fall apart, which it definitely did last night
this
I sure hope not. My hope is Hamid was brought in to the seniors because he was always going to be the keeper on this team, that’s it.
No way is he better than Guzan, Rimando, others
Goalies get better with age, Hamid is just a kid still
OR at least incorporating some of that USA strenghts into the gameplan.
Geez, if the middle is clogged and the opposition backline is sqeezing everything forward, play a couple of balls over the top to the speedy forwards we have!
Most followers of USA soccer never liked the defense from day one.
Hamid has some very bad habits. I’m surprised that his pro coaches haven’t corrected them yet.
Why is right. It’s a 3 game tournamnet. One game is vital. Exactly what did you expect here today?
thanks for the laugh at least.
I agree, they will be playing for self respect, nothing more.
Correct, red card offense. That’s part of the CONCACAF learning curve for Caleb and some players.
Good idea tactically but wrong player taken out.
Agree, it’s not Bunbury’s training ground, and he doesn’t belong there. There are many cases where ‘favored sons’ get continued undeserved, call-ups
the problems came when Freddy was lipped inside…he’s no good in there. That’s when he disappeared because he can’t find the space he wants in there.
AND Canada was determined to make the USA play up the flanks, which used to be a USA strength, BUT, with the teams we field nowadays, is a weakness because there is no target forward to dominate the area on the crosses
Teal Bunbury scares no one, and it shows on the field. In fact, Canada looked SUPER psyched to punk him and make him pay for the turncoat, and they did
Hamid has some bad habits that were exposed.
not just Mix and Jeffery, Corona was troubled in there as well. I find it revealing that his missing game in the middle was not mentioned by you
Joe looked like a player with no legs to me
“Mexico has to like their chance versus Canada better than versus the US”
I’m not sure that is the case. Nobody would be afraid of the USA side that played yesterday.
I wish. CJ could have been on this team but the powers that be insist Teal is the guy.
no one agrees but them.
in AZ vs. Venezuela, once CJ finally saw the field and Teal the pine, the USA started playing good soccer up top.
did you see the pre-tournament games from this team? that’s why
How about a Salsa dance instructor for some of these chaps who can’t turn without falling down?
I’m glad to put Teal on the chopping block, and also those who insist on calling him up.
He gets called in repeatedly, gets the start, and can do NOTHING up top. He’s not a good hold up player and the USA refuses to play balls over the top to him so he can face goal and run onto balls into space–which is his lone strength!!!
I never understood him at the tip of the attack considering his skill set and this team’s stated intentions to play the ball on the ground.
The Canada goals came from poor footwork from Hamid and Opara. Hamid makes too many catches at chest level, a poor work habit? Opara is often unbalanced and slipping. He needed just a nudge to fall on the second goal. These are poor techniques that should have been corrected a long time ago. The offense was stymied because Mix and Jeffrey had little time on the ball, with no one to play to. Shea and Bunbury were toothless attackers, Shea because he was more interested in talking to the officials, and Teal because he’s in poor form
Hamid, should have been more assertive on the first one, but it is not all on him. Opara lost his mark on both goals and allowed two free headers from 4 yards or so.
Is there any chance that this makes Mexico even consider that 2nd place in their group may be better. Regardless of last night’s game—Mexico has to like their chance versus Canada better than versus the US (in KC). And by “consider” I mean throw out a back up squad that could lose a game…
I know that this is unlikely and requires the US to win Monday; but, it isn’t a crazy thought…is it?!!?
“Why did this loss surprise you guys?”
Because somewhere on the spectrum of talent between Canada’s U-23 and Barcelona lies the US U-23.
Can we call in a replacement for Agudelo? Sapong perhaps?
Comparing this team to Barcelona? Are you Caleb Porter?
Why did this loss surprise you guys? Beating ten man Cuba is not impressive, all the goals they scored except Adu’s were because of a soft Cuban defence. All I keep reading is, we are so talented, we are so skilled, how could we lose to Canada, they have no skill, its embarrassing. Your coach thinks he is Guardiola and your players think they are Barcelona, but in reality they are all crap. How did you not see this coming? You dont have the talent to play the Spanish brand of soccer, your players just arent very good.
Dear USA,
Thanks so much for taking Teal Bunbury off of our hands, that guy is garbage!
Canada
LOL Wear it USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Canada Go!!!