By IVES GALARCEP
The U.S. Men’s National Team will play its lone tune-up match before the CONCACAF Gold Cup tonight in San Diego with a friendly against Guatemala (11pm, NBC Sports).
The Americans are fielding a Gold Cup squad featuring some new faces, and some old ones, but is also a team without most of the full senior team’s top stars. Landon Donovan makes his return to the national team fold tonight, as does Oguchi Onyewu, as both look to re-assert their places in the U.S. National Team pecking order.
They face a familiar foe in Guatemala that will look to pose a good test, and get their own act together as they look ahead to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
SBI will be providing live commentary on tonight’s match, so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Tonight’s SBI Live Match Commentary is after the jump):
Are we on crack? Guys are Speedy Gonzalezing all over the place right now. Guatemala looks like a U12 team against high schoolers.
Ha!
Seems like everyone is riding a wild adrenaline ride and everyone wants a goal.
Stu is balling outrageous right now. I cannot contain my excitement!
FROSTED TIPS!
UNLEASH THE BREKKEN!
Stu looking excellent so far spraying it around…awesome to see him get his step back…this is huge for the nats.
Gol!
On replay that was never a penalty. Lol what a flop. He has been playing with Robbie Keane for too Lon.long
I’m usa but bad call.
Landon!!
D*mnt I like penalties but that was a huge Keane flop from him.
Eh. GOLLLLL
Stu and Mix–so much hair style in the middle of the pitch.
Holden and Disekrud > Beckerman and Torres
This.
Our play so far in the 2h is tangibly more fluid. While we outplayed Guatemala in the first half – minus the chip from Torres – the center mid duo really did zilch to spark creative or dangerous play. While possession is nice glad to see we have in Stu and Mixx center mids that want to play forward.
There is no doubt having Mix and Stu, even though Stu is no giant, was being “Daft Punk” in the 2nd, ie bigger, faster, stronger.
Very true, it was such an instant change.
Stu is looking swag right now. I couldn’t care less what happens the rest of this match.
He’s looking comfortable and that makes me happy.
Nice to see corona playing well.
STU’S FIRST P@SS WAS COMPLETED
DFJSDKLJHFUHJKRHEJSHREHSRESFHDJKSHF
Philly.com’s soccer guy just tweeted this…
Jonathan Tannenwald @thegoalkeeper 7m
P@sses per player: Torres 67, Beckerman 48, Beasley 46, Goodson 44, Onyewu 36, Corona 31, Castillo 26, Parkhurst 21, Donovan 15, Gomez 6.
Most of those Torres / Beckerman passes were useless.
It’s like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. It’s chaotic. (Except for kicking the ball side to side or backwards.)
Disagree. For a B team with little time playing with each other it’s been quite good.
For the B team of the USA playing against Guatemala, they should be playing like they are now in the second half. This is how they should be playing!!! Stu/Mix are bossing this thing!!!
When’s the last time the USA B team played like this against anybody? Yeah, never. Amy’s right.
When’s the last time the USA had this depth? The first half was give away, pass back, give away, pass sideways several times, give away. Torres/Beckerman didn’t cut it at all.
No, I’m not expecting a 6-0 rout but up til about 40 minutes, Guatemala had more chances than we did. That’s crazy!!!
Corona is really doing himself a favor with his off-ball movement. He’s constantly in the right place and making the right run.
Gomez is, as always, in great position.
Gooch looked… old and slow.
Beasley is just awesome. He and Castillo were really causing problems down that flank. They overlap so well.
The p@ssing and focus on maintaining possession and looking for the smart balls is making me SOOOO happy.
Anyone note after Gomez goal he wave his hand exact like Dempsey “they can’t see me”
Not hard to see why Klinsmann said people are ahead of Donovan skillwise now. Dude has been Casper this first half.
And NBC just claimed he was responsible for the goal that literally did not involve him in any way. So hard to listen to when players like Gomez and Corona are really playing well.
So the goal involved Castillo to Torres who hit a ball in that Corona made a near post run for and Gomez made a far post run for…
And Arlo White’s comment? “In no small part thanks to Landon Donovan.”
Garbage commentating.
The point was the donovan’s movement and speed helped stretch the play and get our momentum going.
Trying not to be combative here, but Donovan has not shown any of his trademark speed. He was pushed back outside and Corona moved inside before that goal happened (hence Corona’s near post run on Torres’ ball).
It was about his changing the momentum, not the play itself. However, I see your point, up until then he had not played great. He finished brilliantly!
He found the game in the second half no doubt.
Those of you with DVRs…go watch how many times Castillo turns the ball over…no less than 10 times
That’s cool.
Donovan has like 6 or 7 despite being way less involved. Noticed you didn’t ask to check him out on DVR.
Never said Landon was playing well but seriously there was a 5 minute spell where he gave the ball away 5 times in a row. Awful first touch..
Sorry, NBC’s boner for Donovan is making me irritable.
I think it’s more the pitch than anything else. Really watered and cut short–he plays really quick too so I can see that being thrown off. If you’ve seen Castillo in Liga MX he has a great touch.
How do you like me now? Another day, another brace…
Donovan is a god when he gets going and has some TALENT around him, Castillo passes at Maurice Edu level.
Castillo is giving effort and running around, but he must have one of the worst first touches I have ever seen. Nothing is within a yard of him on the first touch. And he won’t get much practice, since he is playing in front of Beckerman, meaning he will not receive any service from him.
Completely agree. Castillo does not have the touch necessary to play international soccer. It’s like his feet are made out of stone, no ability to cushion a pass.
I hope the experiment of playing him in the midfield will be over sooner rather than later.
Can we please have a center mid turn and p$$s the ball forward at some point in this half. Glad to see Beas continuing to show pace and positive play.
And kudos on that nifty chip to set up the Gomez goal. I’ll go snack on a little crow now.
+1000
Beas is looking great!!!
Spain’s D-team would have been up 4-0 with 9 men on the field
Stop being ridiculous. We never blow out teams in these sort of games. See the first team struggle to beat antigue barbados.
btw, I may be wrong, but SP(BARC) have recently gotten crushed. tk tk is not physical enough. I know things are fluid, but muscle and fast break speed are gonna win the next WC.
http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html
“We’re owning them” … WHAT GAME ARE YOU POSSIBLY WATCHING?!
Both teams suck. The soaked field is owning the game.
The game where we’re owning them.
I’m confused at what match some of you are watching.
We are completely dominating this match right now in all facets with a B team. 70+ percent possession? Good chances.
Even with Donovan looking like a 1950s truck left out in the forest for decades, we’re owning them.
If the object is keep-away, we are doing great!
Still think that? Haha you epitomize the saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.
All it took was those 2nd half subs!! Mix and especially Stu made the difference.
Corona settling into the game nicely, most of the best stuff coming from him or up the left. Torres and Donovan badly needed.
Why do they even bring trash like Beckerman and Parkhurst? Add to that list Gooch and Goodson and you have the 4 guys on the pitch tonight who should NEVER don a US jersey again no matter how trivial the friendly.
Parkhurst plays in the Bundesliga–the best league in the world. Oneywu is on an excellent Malaga team, where he goes against amazing teammates in practice on a daily basis. Goodson has always been solid for the USA. Stop being ridiculous.
You lost me at Goodson has always been solid for the USA.
(although he was tonight)
Well this isn’t fun.
BUSH LEAGUE from Team USA so far
but getting cocky
the left is rocking
D^mn I was expecing a Donovan-of-old fast break right there!
Jeez he’s really lost a lot of pace.
Castilo and Beasley have been running wild down that left flank.
Our distribution out of the back is going to be scary….Beckerman will have to practically take the ball off their feet.
And that was why Donovan was not called for the senior team from a playing standpoint. He looks a day late and a dollar short right now.
Still early dude, there’s no flow right now but it will open up…keep thinking those positive thoughts, maybe Landon will put one in just for you.
Hope Holden gets some run in where Corona is playing.
nice left action
Is it me, or does the field look very narrow? Does it meet FIFA requirements?
What’s the point of playing at home if your own grounds crew makes a field that hurts you?
Is this a regulation field? it looks like kc´s old high school field.
Yeah, looks like they’re playing in a hallway…very narrow.
Not even 5 mins in and not liking the Torres-Beckerman duo. Lots of back passes and square balls.
Jesus it’s a Landon Donovan turnover festival.
usa control vs fast break
Eddie Pope needs to make a comeback.
Love Guatemala rocking the Umbro uni’s!
so i am not understanding something about nbc sports live extra website. says free stream, but nothings happening. i don’t see a login link, or a ‘create account’ link.
i am missing something….
wow. as they trot out I can heard the gravel in some of those knees.
Do you guys think Carlos Llamosa should have been called in?
To be fair, he’s behind Bradley, Jones, Cameron, Edu, Williams, Beckerman, and Holden. Don’t see anything wrong w/ him starting this game.
If you are listed as being behind Beckerman, you must be bad.
Why does Torres continue to get looks? He’s never looked good for the US
One of the better players in the first half.
I would say my one criticism is he plays slow. His passing is very accurate though. It’s just that the time he takes to make his reads and slot the passes is not going to be available to him against better teams. He needs to pick up the pace.
Welcome to US soccer, when did you start watching, the end of last year? Go back and watch him against Turkey in 2010, against Mexico in 2011, Costa Rica 2011 (man of the match according to US soccer), Belgium 2011, Scotland 2012. He was one of the better players for the US against Jamaica last fall even though no one looked all that good in that game.
Torres is the easily one of the most technical players in the US pool. He should be getting more minutes with the first team. The few games you have seen him, he was probably played out of position. Try watching him for Tigres.
haha i havent missed a game since 2006. I watched him choke in a world cup when it matters. Most technical?????? hahahaha not even close. Bradley, Jones, Dempsey, Holden and Cameron are all better than him. Even Mixx looks better than him. There’s a reason Torres hasnt gotten euro interest, hes simply not good enough
I called you out on a statement “He’s never looked good for the US”. You obviously have not watched since 2006 if you are going to stick by that.
He contributed very little in his entire 45 minutes of World Cup time but he hardly choked. Bradley had a strong second half but was no better than Torres in the first half.
The only player who is more technical out of the ones you listed is Dempsey. I will give you the Holden of a couple of years ago and probably again very soon.
Torres plays for the best team in the best league in Concacaf. I’m sure he is capable of contributing to a decent European team. Did you actually watch him in any of the games I listed or have you actually seen him play for Tigres?
He had euro interest on two occasions from teams in Spain. The first major one was Deportivo La Coruna and their was also a second team who scouted h before his drop in form at Pachuca.
I’d rather see LD on the left flank, but he’ll link well with Herc.
Excited to see Carona on display. Always been a fan.
If your that big a fan, you should spell his name correctly.
I’ve never seen first row not have a stream, but they don’t this time. can anyone help?
google ‘myp2p’ one of their sites will have something
wait….I was wrong, nevermind