Good evening folks. Tonight is the crucial second Olympic qualifying match for the U.S. national team, which is in dire need of three points after its opening match draw against Cuba.
U.S. coach Peter Nowak has made some wholesale changes to his lineup. Here is what tonight’s lineup will look like:
——————-Altidore——————
Gaven————-Adu—————-Holden
———–Kljestan—McCarty—————–
Sturgis——-Edu—–Orozco———Wynne
——————Seitz————————-
I definitely like this lineup better than the Cuba lineup. Gaven and Holden are far more adept at playing wing roles than Charlie Davies and Robbie Findley were. I also think that Kljestan and McCarty looked good in the second half against Cuba and have the vision to get some nice passes to Altidore. The back-line is a bit of an experiment, with Sturgis at left back and Edu playing center back, but Panama’s attack wasn’t exactly dangerous in its first match of the tournament.
I will be doing a running commentary during the match so feel free to share your thoughts and views on the match (and the U.S. lineup) in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match.
————————–
FINAL- A better performance for the Americans, including more promise from Jozy Altidore in the second half and great showings from Stuart Holden, Michael Orozco and Eddie Gaven. It will be interesting to see what starting XI Peter Nowak uses for the final group match against Honduras.
Thanks for following the match here. Please share your thoughts on the match below.
————————–
FINAL- Game over. USA 1, Panama 0. And the Americans have clinched a place in the semifinals. Now it’s a question of whether they can beat Honduras to top Group A.
————————–
93rd minute- Davies and Findley set to come on, they look like a law firm, the law firm of Wecant, Finish and Forsquat.
————————–
92nd minute- Sturgis with a yellow late.
————————–
90th minute- Not sure how much stoppage time is left. And a Panama forward, No. 18, is looking for a penalty call. The only call he’s getting is that he looks like the rapper T.I.
————————–
88th minute- There’s that Zizzo speed.
————————–
86th minute- Panama with a dangerous chance but Panama’s Aguilar sends his chance wide left. Scary moment for the Americans.
————————–
81st minute- Still waiting to see the speed from Zizzo we saw at the U-20 World Cup.
————————–
79th minute- Here’s a question. Will the Americans be able to beat Honduras in game three without some of tonight’s key players, like Altidore and Holden? Or will we see those players full another full match just two days after tonight’s match?
————————–
75th minute- Soft foul on Dax McCarty gives Panama a dangerous free kick.
————————–
72nd minute- Altidore with a great turn and run that draws a foul and yellow card on Panama.
————————–
64th minute- Zizzo in for Gaven.
————————–
63rd minute- Sal Zizzo coming in to the match.
————————–
61st minute- Panama with a dangerous free kick, cleared out for a corner kick.
————————–
60th minute- The number of unforced turnovers in this match is astronomical
Nice run by Gaven in the area, helps create a corner.
————————–
58th minute- Nice to see a referee not fall for a blatant dive. Panama with the yellow for diving.
————————–
56th minute- Wow, Adu gets punched in the chest and no official sees it. Unbelievable play. If that player is identified he has to be out of the tournament.
————————–
55th minute- Holden sends the free kick wide. Apparently a smidge is three yards.
————————–
54th minute- Adu with a nice move to draw a free kick. Dangerous spot.
————————–
52nd minute- Not a good game from Sacha Kljestan tonight. Too many turnovers.
————————–
50th minute- I think it’s time for an SBI drinking game. The next time Christian Miles says calamitous everyone has to drink.
————————–
46th minute- And there’s Gaven drawing a free kick. Good stuff from him tonight.
————————–
46th minute- And the second half is under way.
————————–
HALFTIME- And THERE’S Giuseppe Franco. Never fails.
————————–
HALFTIME- Hondurah. Apparently it’s a country. Who knew?
————————–
HALFTIME- We’re 10 minutes into halftime and haven’t seen a Giuseppe Franco commercial. Somebody called the Guinness Book of World Records.
And are there any AeroGarden’s left after all the potheads buy them? Seriously.
————————–
HALFTIME- You know who has played well tonight? Eddie Gaven. I know he gets so much flack from national team fans but tonight he looks pretty good.
————————–
HALFTIME- USA is up 1-0 at the half. Not a beautiful half but a better 45 minutes than against Cuba.
The midfield is playing well and the Edu (Maurice Edu, not the Christian Miles creation Freddy Edu) Orozco center back tandem is playing well. I must say that Marvell Wynne looks really awkward out there. I kept hearing how his skill had improved at Toronto. Not seeing it tonight.
And another thing, is Dax McCarty officially the Macauley Culkin of MLS? He looks like he’s 12.
————————–
45th minute- Is it me or is this Panama team pretty chippy?
————————–
44th minute- And yes, that was Eddie Gaven with the perfect floating ball that found Altidore for the breakaway.
————————–
42nd minute- GOAL USA. Freddy Adu converts the penalty kick.
————————–
41st minute- PENALTY. JOZY ALTIDORE draws a penalty on the Panama goalkeeper.
————————–
34th minute- Altidore isn’t having a good game tonight. He needs a second forward alongside him.
————————–
31st minute- It isn’t every day you see someone knock Jozy Altidore to the ground on a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge.
————————–
30th minute- Nice job by the Panama No. 10 trying to start something and then backing away hoping to get the ref’s attention.
The Americans are piling on the pressure now, with several chances in the area.
————————–
24th minute- The Americans with a little more productive possession but we’re still waiting for a serious scoring chance.
————————–
19th minute- The referee is handing out yellow cards like he’s getting paid by the dozen.
————————–
18th minute- Marvell Wynne with one of his trademark runs, and by trademark I mean when he beats two defenders who are amazed he doesn’t lose the ball only to lose the ball to the third defender.
————————–
14th minute- Marvell Wynne with a clumsy challenge, giving Panama a dangerous free kick.
————————–
12th minute- By the way, the definition of a good ball whipped in is NOT a cross that is blocked two feet from the guy delivering it. That would be a crap cross.
————————–
9th minute- Apparently the mini-mullet is the national haircut of Panama.
————————–
8th minute- Wow, Panama just missed a clear header on goal. USA dodged one there.
————————–
7th minute- Still waiting for the U.S. to come out flying. Okay, so it isn’t happening. I’ll settled for organized.
————————–
PRE-GAME- Yes, this is essentially a must-win game for the U.S. national team. Now that Honduras has two wins and six points, the Americans must get three points tonight to still have a chance at first place in the group.
————————–
PRE-GAME- FSC is showing the US lining up in this formation:
——————-Altidore——————
———Gaven————-Adu—————-
——Holde—–Kljestan—McCarty———–
Sturgis——-Edu—–Orozco———Wynne
——————Seitz————————-
This is a squad that is good enough to qualify, but will need some help in China.
Well, the US sits pretty well now. If they beat Honduras, they advance, if they lose, but Cuba loses or ties Panama, the US advances. The only way we wouldn’t would be of we lost or tied, and Cuba won, which is unlikely, given Cuba’s depleted squad.
I don’t know much about Honduras’ Under 23 side. Anybody have thoughts on our chances?
now that im done with that a few player opinions:
Adu: clearly has the ability and the knowledge, but he was getting thrashed by a less skill panamanian defense. every time he got the ball it was swarming and hacking. not to mention an occasional sucker punch to the gut O.o
Jozy: showed what he could do if he has help. Jozy is not a solo forward, why wont Nowak realize this? he (like most forwards) need someone to run off of. someone to prevent 3 v 1’s all night. But when he had players in the mix we saw top quality plays where their defense had to foul to prevent him from progressing
Dax: still love this kids work ethic. if only the rest of the midfield would work this tough, we could control the game completely. He does make careless fouls and weak passes from time to time, but he typically ends up getting back on it.
Holden: this kid showed that he wanted to be out on the field. He hustled and created. he took on his man and typically beat them. i EXPECT him starting again tomorrow.
Zizzo: PLAY THIS KID!
Sturgis: i actually liked how he played. decent defense and showed some flair moving up. however, like someone said it seemed that Panama exploited that fact a bit in the 2nd.
A win is a win, regardless of how ugly it was obtained. if the formation was changed to a 4-4-2, with a diamond midfield im sure we’d do better (adu as AM, and Dax at DM)
Brief note on the Adu/Edu pronunciation thing:
I’m quite certain that the one time I heard Freddy himself pronounce his last name (it was an FSC commercial, “I’m Freddy Adu, and you’re watching Fox Soccer Channel”–it was on a couple of years ago) he pronounced it like Edu. Seriously. So that tells me that announcers like Christian Miles should start using just “Freddy” or “Maurice” to distinguish.
CD- yes the ref made terrible calls both ways, but alot of the questionable calls happened against us. Dax had several calls against him that were nothing more then the Panamanian (is that right??) simply falling (dax not touching), lets not forget the missed foul on adu in the box and the sucker punch at the half way mark. not to mention adu’s phantom offsides call.
again, it went both ways, but we carried the bulk of them
Peter- we have some talented youth on the team, but outside a few (mainly the U-20’s) they just dont know how to play together. That, and they just arent playing all that great. I wonder what would happen to the chemistry if Nowak would just place a 2nd forward with adu slotted behind them. that way jozy wouldnt be forced to run the whole of the field
lets be frank, the US is not to a point to where we can play a solo forward. and frankly i dont like the set up. It’s slow, but meant for control, which we can do but we require people to move without the ball and i think with preseason conditioning that really prevents it from working.
Man, this US team just isn’t very good.
They do some things in spots, but overall a team with this much experience should mow over Panama, or at least put on a performance where they show they can break down a bunkering team.
“By the way, Andrew D. In CONCACAF every single referee favors whoever is playing AGAINST the U.S.”
Disagree, the ref was all around crap. He made bad calls for both teams on a regular basis. All night he was calling fouls that weren’t fouls. Both teams were looking at him all night with that confused look, like they had no idea why he called a foul.
To the few who care,
First half analysis from the telly (Yes thats a euro-phrase, whatever):
A few things I want to get out of the way.
1. There were close to 4,000 people at Ray J Stadio. You just couldn’t see them because FSC only showed the side that was blocked off, but that would explain the lively audio.
2. I had seen the 1st half from behind the Panama goal (as in I saw the Adu PK about 15 yards in front of me).
3. When Marvell Wynne recieved that yellow, they carted off that panamanian defender while he was agonizing in pain. literally a minute later he jumped off the stretcher, didnt even warm back up or stretch or anything, slugged water and screamed at the ref for taking too long to let him back on. It was just disgusting, and would explain the boos shortly after.
Marvell Wynne is way too far up. Could have told you that from the game itself, but seeing this on tv just makes me think of it more and more. Wynne was fortunate that we had good cover options and that Panama wasn’t very good at the counter-attack. The point I am trying to stress here is that he is way too comfortable going upfield. It’s not just going upfield, because I don’t discourage backs making overlapping runs and such, it’s the fact that he has stayed up there way too long. This approach will kill us in the future if we don’t address this soon, especially if we get into the semi-finals where teams will punish us for such mistakes. Plus, he just isn’t creative enough to constantly be going forward. Hopefully someone a little more important than yours truly will let him know
Another thing I’d like to mention is that I didn’t have as much of an idea of how much possesion panama had in the first half as I do now due to the fact that I was behind the panama goal for the whole first half . I will stick to my gun though in which they got forward by the flanks, and not much creativity in the middle. Maybe it was due to the previous statement?
Or maybe it was due to Nathan Sturgis. Showed some good combination play and flashes of good defending at the right back spot, but that is the problem: FLASHES. Those flashes would flicker in and out, and I feel he needs to find more consistancy if he plans to stay in the mix of defenders for our qualifying campaign.
Last but not least, Adu is not playing in a winger role. He simply is finding open spaces and trying to cover as much ground as he can to help out the team (and as you can tell, it’s working).
Thats all from me today. Maybe ill watch the 2nd half tomorrow or something. I’m exhausted, and my bed set just came fresh out of the dryer. You know what that means. Two fingers up, peace out.
Just to continue on the “Christian Miles is absolute crap who knows absolutely nothing and doesn’t do his homework” theme, Holden was sworn in as a citizen over a year ago. You can see a picture of it on the Texian Army website. And for anyone unfamiliar, this isn’t a David Regis situation, Stu has lived in Houston since he was very young, something like 3 years old.
P.P.S Would have liked to see a Robbie Rogers or arturo alvarez out there. I think both may have contributed significantly.
By the way, Andrew D. In CONCACAF every single referee favors whoever is playing AGAINST the U.S.
That’s just how it is. I am with you that it is disappointing as hell, but it’s not the least bit surprising. It literally happens in every match, from friendly to world cup qualifiers.
P.S. Zizzo did show some great pace, and I do think overall we can do much better.
cmiles@foxsportsworld.com
I’ve already sent two emails to this guy explaining his own professional responsibility to him (Adu vs. Edu, Zisso vs. Zizzo).
I encourage anyone who was as frustrated as me tonight to do the same. Don’t feel bad. It’s his JOB. A guy who makes his living covering soccer has no right to be stupid enough not to know how to pronounce names. I also begged him to stop bastardizing foreign words and names.
I’m totally serious about this, email him if you’re with me. I can’t bare another game like this one with him announcing, I’d rather listen to it in any other language to avoid the annoyance.
If my job was covering these games, I’d take five effing minutes and learn how to pronounce the names correctly, and I most definitely wouldn’t stereotype two names as one when they are clearly two different first letters.
Ok, after going and seeing the game live, i’ve come to a few conclusions. I can’t say that these are my final opinions as I plan on catching at least the first half of it again when it re-airs on fsc at 3am.
But, from what I saw tonite, I think:
1. Holden is a beast. He has such a great work ethic, and it seemed like he made the most of every ball played to him tonight. Made a good free kick or two as well. The 2 drawbacks I saw however were that he’s small (which isn’t always a disadvantage [see Lionel Messi,Diego Maradona]), and he doesn’t have much pace. I really want to say that he has tons of potential, but after seeing Panama’s left and right-backs blow past him on quite a few long balls, it’s a little hard to say. He did have a very good game though.
3. Dax McCarty will provide tons of depth for many years to come at the center mid spot. It seems like he won every ball he possibly could tonight. Once again though, the drawback I see is that he isnt that big, and that might affect his development because of the style he plays at center mid. He will be a great asset to our team for years to come though.
4. Eddie Gaven played well, but the fact that he wasn’t all that mobile kind of turned me off. Every time he got the ball he seemed kind of stiff. He did however play some very good balls, including the one that led to the PK.
5. Sacha Klejstan and Altidore should have been subbed anywhere after the 75th-80th minute. While altidore had a chance or 2 in the dying minutes, it just seemed like both him and klejstan were doing just enough so nobody would complain. They looked tired, and you never know what could have happend had we plugged a Findley or Davies in a little earlier. They both however played decent beforehand, and they both impressed me with signs of keeping possesion with some handy mechanics.
6. Panama played classless. I remember the first panama player to be carted off (I believe it was Marvell Wynne who fouled him) early in the game, they carted him off and less than a minute later we saw him springboard off the stretcher, grab water, and wave down the ref for about a minute trying to get back on the field.
7. While Marvell Wynne didn’t totally screw up the game, he didn’t do much to help it either. There were many times where I saw a wide open adu or holden on the flank, and he ended up switching fields or dropping back instead. And then with Ives comment, it did seem like he tried a little too hard to beat multiple defenders 1v1 a few times. Being a defender himself, I was kind of confused.
8. I liked the Edu-Orozco pairing at centre-back. That was kind of refreshing, yet staunch at the same time haha.
Overall the biggest disappointment was the ref slightly favoring the panamanian side, and Nowak only using 1 of his subs effectively. Past the 75th minute many of the players seemed gassed, and it showed with panama looking much fresher in the dying minutes (from the angle I was at I thought for sure that last shot by panama was going to go in).
Oh, and sal zizzo looked pretty good. Thats about all I have until I watch it on tv.
Rogers, Rogers, Rogers-sorry coach you blew it! Need at least one other skilled player on the field besides Adu. USA lucky to get this one.
Am I the only one that though Sturgis was caught out of position in the second half… they ran all of their attacks at him.
Just got back from the game and it was certainly a better display for the 300 people in the stadium. As some have pointed out the US looked much better up top, but I thought the service was quite poor at times. Also Edu needs to be in the midfield asap, because I thought the US looked especially weak there against an inferior team. We need somebody solid like Edu or aheemmm benny holding the ball up. Soon as Spector arrives Edu needs to be pushed forward.
On another note I was sitting near Nathan Sturgis’ parents and it was so funny to watch his dad watching his son out there. It was just like any dad watching their 7 year old run around and react when he gets bumped or knocked. He spent the 90 min literally on the edge of his seat gripping the arm rest. He can be proud his son did well….(except for the late foul which led to a free kick, other than that)
We are a virtual lock for the semi’s but we haven’t qualified yet… if Cuba somehow beats Panama by 3 or more goals and we lose to Honduras then we are out of the next round. Odds of that happening are not great, but it’s still a possibility.
Gaven – 1 good ball, otherwise I can’t be bothered to ever watch him play again.
Sasha – tried to orchestrate things, I liked the way he knocked the ball around, got stuck in a couple tackles, and won headers
Zizzo – needs to get more time on the pitch. He has technique and speed.
Altidore – I am frustrated by his hold-up play. His touch back to midfielders is frightening. He showed some flashes of strength that makes him special.
****
Overall impressions – ugly match but the US got the result. Panama was fighting for their tourney lives, so but underestimate the effort they gave and how that effort made this match a bit rough and tumble.
Another win and the group is ours.
Aristotle, I agree if this was soccer I wouldn’t be interested in the sport. I wouldn’t watch and support it loyally despite the meager attention and interest it gets in the States with major criticism.
This was the exact opposite of playing sexy. I was completely bored with this game and I’ve been waiting for these games for months.
Frankly, if this is how our best young players play, then they don’t know how to play this game. Fortunately I’ve seen most of them play better, but I’m at a loss to describe the performances, strategies and level of skill displayed in the past two games.
If this is the effect Peter Nowak has on the team, then US Soccer needs to find a new coach before the fans leave in droves.
How have we qualified for the semifinals? If Cuba wins against Panama, it will have 4 pts as we do.
Also, HOW THE HELL CAN BENNY FEILHABER NOT BE IN THIS SIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ARGHHHHHH
I dont know if we are expecting to much from this team, but I know I am disapointed after 2 games. After 2 games we can only score 1 goal in play. Did we not see that the lone striker did not work for us in the World Cup. Nowak needs to put another striker up with Altidore and stop playing a boring deffensive game. I think we have a strong enough midfield that we could move Adu up with Altidore. I just hope Nowak goes for the win Saturday and not play for just another 1-0 win or a draw to get the team through. I will say it now, after the Olympics I want Nowak out. Hell I wouldnt mind seeing Arena take the job. He did a great job with our senior sqaud when they where younger, and at the college level, maybe thats where he belongs, with the younger players.
At least its a W.
Jozy looked good in the 2nd. Gaven had a great through ball on the breakaway where Jozy got pulled down. Other than the thru ball I still say he looks too slow and loses the ball in our end too much. He almost gave them a clear shot on the 6 with a header in the 1st.
A lot better play down the wings tonight, especially when Zizzo came in. But I still think we are missing something (a good lefty crosser). Difference between Gaven & Zizzo. Zizzo can run FAST. And is up & down the wing.
We need a better ball winner in the middle. Dax struggled tonight after a good game the other night.
Edu looked good and he is our best center back on the team. Him & Specter in the middle will be very solid.
Replace Dax & Sascha in the middle with Benni & Bradley, we win 3 or 4 – 0.
Seitz has to come off his line with more confidence and may get burned at some point here.
Orozco looks fiesty and I like his spirit but didn’t do much, he needs to get involved more. Same with Sacha.
Sturgis looked shaky and gave at least 3 maybe more chances down his side. Marvell did well on the other side.
Fire Nowak…seriously-the guy was smiling at the end of the game. If he is happy w/ that performance then he may actually be crazy.
4-5-1…AGAIN!!!the balls on this guy. I really can’t even believe it after the other night-2 dismal, pathetic performances from the US.
Jozy left alone up top, the link-up play just not there, I mean COME ON, is this guy watching the same game?
We should really be beating these teams 5-0 w/ the quality we have, I’m stupified.
Orozco was a strong addition out there… solid all the way through. Altidore just needs some help around him, tough task running out there with little timely support.
Not sure how you thought Gaven had a GRRREat game. Great ball, but after that he really did nothing but vintage Eddie Gaven.
There were moments when the team had some quality play.
The interesting thing is the tactics both Cuba and Panama are using is a pack ’em in tactic. There was not much room on the field in the final third. It opened up a little in the 2nd half and we got to see Altidore involved in the game.
But I agree with some of the comments, these 2 games have been a little ugly. When are we going to see some quality?
does this mean we have already qualified for the next round?
CONCACAF is wrong with their decision on Cuba.
11 vs 10 is not fair to Cuba
wasn’t pretty but we got the points and get to the semis, if we can take it Honduras all the better
did i just really watch a U23 game or a tickling competition?? that was atrocious..
everybody was kung fu fighting !!
#17 from Panama is the one who hit Adu…but it all seemed ok…saw them acknowledging each other at the end of the game.
I think Honduras will beat the U.S. unless there is a sudden drastic change.
Now I understand why the seats are empty. (LOL)
Aristotle you are right on. I don’t think I’ll watch the game on Saturday. We are playing awful, and the formation was kinda off. Once again we have very poor chances. And what was Klejstan doing out there. I barely noticed him, and every time he got the ball he got rid of it immediately. Holden was the bright spot on the team tonight. He has a lot of heart. I was nice to see Jozy play better, but the midfield didn’t give him many chances.
I guess a W is a W?
I would love to be able to hear the thoughts in referee’s heads as they referee U.S. games. I think it would be pretty shocking.
Looks like Zizzo grew a couple of inches. Nice to see him not be hindered by whatever growth deficiency Adu has.
I’m not sure i want to watch any more of these games. If this was soccer, I would not like it at all.
Looks like Zizzo grew a couple of inches. Nice to see him not be hindered by whatever growth deficiency Adu has.
Looks like Zizzo grew a couple of inches. Nice to see him not be hindered by whatever growth deficiency Adu has.
Some of these foul calls against Jozy are mind boggling. Its like the ref has decided that, since he gave him a PK anytime Jozy comes near an opposing player he has to call a foul.
Nice nutmeg by Jozy with his back-turned and good run from Freddy on the endline. Other than that, it’s been pretty ugly.
IVes it was #17 from Panama who punched Freddy Adu. Can’t believe no official saw that and red carded him.
I am utterly disappointed at how the U23 team has played the last two games. They don’t look good at all and I wonder how much of this poor play is a result of the Coach’s lineup compared to the team’s form.
The only thing that can save my opinion of the U23 team’s play is a legit goal.
bleh.
Paging Fernando Torres, 4-5-1 in need of lone striker
Seriously, I haven’t seen a single real soccer play this entire game.
We need Michael Bradley, that’s all I can think of.
Anthony, join me in my anti-Miles quest. I already emailed him to explain that they are two different players with different names:
cmiles@foxsportsworld.com
Anthony, join me in my anti-Miles quest. I already emailed him to explain that they are two different players with different names:
cmiles@foxsportsworld.com