Good evening folks. We’re close to kick-off of tonight’s USA-Cuba Olympic Qualifying match. I will be providing a running diary of the match and you are welcome to follow along with the match here and share you comments below.
As a reminder, you can watch the match on Fox Soccer Channel at 8pm, as well as on ESPN360.com.
Enjoy the match and follow the commentary after the jump:
————————
FINAL- That’s all from me. Thanks for following along and be sure to check in to SBI for all your U.S. Olympic qualifying news.
————————
FINAL- USA 1, Cuba 1. A thoroughly disappointing result and Peter Nowak’s squad has to know it threw away two points today. Nowak will also have to answer for his decision to pull Altidore at halftime. I’m sure it had to do with fatigue, but Altidore’s absence allowed us to get a good (and ugly) look at the options behind Altidore.
On the bright side, the Americans still control their own fate. Wins in their final two matches will lock up first place in the group, but playing like they did tonight won’t win them a single game in this group.
And before I forget, you can book this one: The Cuban goalkeeper today will be starting in MLS by 2010. Just a hunch.
————————
93rd minute- A flurry of chances in the area go begging for the USA and the match is OVER.
————————
92nd minute- Another US corner and another Cuban player down with "cramps". Hopefully the young referee adds to the stoppage time.
————————
91st minute- Adu’s free kick misses wide right.
————————
90th minute- A great free kick chance earned by Edu.
————————
88th minute- Barrett has been just plain awful.
————————
86th minute- Kljestan with a great header chance off a good ball from Adu, but it’s deflected out for a corner. The corner produces nothing. The clock is ticking.
————————
82nd minute- An Ianni head goal is disallowed for offside. Good call.
And Cuba just lost Linares to a second yellow card, for of all things, kicking a ball into the net during an offside call. Terrible, terrible decision by the referee.
————————
80th minute- Nice work by Gaven on the left flank to earn a corner kick.
————————
77th minute- Eddie Gaven is coming into the match for Findley.
————————
72nd minute- Okay, so McCarty is starting to grow on me. The kid is showing good hustle and skill. The Americans are awake now. We’ll see if there is enough time for them to find a game-winner.
————————
70th minute- Nice run and shot by McCarty, who has been much better in the second half, but another great save by the Cuban goalkeeper Miranda. The U.S. team is starting to find a good rhythm.
————————
63rd minute- Cuba with a dangerous chance but the shot is saved easily by Seitz.
————————
62nd minute- Edu has been much better in the past 10 minutes.
————————
61st minute- Barrett coming in for Charlie Louganis, I mean Davies.
————————
59th minute- Looks like Chad Barrett is set to come into the match.
————————
55th minute- Findley scuffs a wide-open look on goal after Adu springs him with a beautiful pass. Those chances simply cannot be squandered.
————————
53rd minute- I must say that Maurice Edu looks a bit shaky, committing some bad turnovers.
And Freddy Adu misses just wide with an 18-yard blast. Nice pass from Edu on the play.
————————
51st minute- Another wasted free kick from the Americans.
As for the tactical changes. the clear purpose is to take control of the possession battle. Will it work? If it doesn’t I don’t see the Americans winning tonight.
————————
48th minute- Here is how the lineup looks now.
———–Davies———Findley——–
————-Adu———Kljestan——–
————McCarty——-Edu—————
Freeman—-Ianni——Sturgis——–Hill
———————Seitz——————-
————————
46th minute- Sacha Kljestan comes in for Altidore. Apparently Altidore was worn out playing as the lone striker. Not sure how the formation shakes out now.
————————
HALFTIME- Linares of Cuba was the goal-scorer, the same player I said looked like Sammie from Prison Break. Speaking of Prison Break lookalikes in this game, McCarty looks like LJ Burroughs.
————————
HALFTIME- What changes could Nowak make at the half? That’s a good question. I haven’t really been crazy about Dax McCarty so far and wouldn’t mind seeing Sacha Kljestan get a look. I wonder if Cuba will start looking to go after Hill on the right flank. He looked a bit vulnerable the final 20 minutes.
————————
HALFTIME- We are tied at halftime and Peter Nowak CANNOT be happy with the effort in the past 15-20 minutes. I can’t help but wonder if there just aren’t enough ball-winning defensive-minded types on the field. Other than Maurice Edu, Nathan Sturgis and Patrick Ianni, who in the lineup is winning challenges?
Adu started off strongly, but faded. Altidore can’t get service and the wingers (Davies and Findley) haven’t gotten much of the ball. Not much is going well.
On the bright side, the Cuban defense looks ripe for the thrashing. Now all he Americans need to do is get the ball to Altidore in the final third and the goal will come.
————————
45th minute- We are tied and this game has a strange feeling to it. The U.S. team has lost any sense of control of this match. This is the type of game Maurice Edu and Freddy Adu need to take over and they have been barely visible the past 15-20 minutes.
————————
42nd minute- GOAL CUBA. It was bound to happen. Cuba with a nice passing sequence leads to a tap-in from close range. The U.S. team just got too lazy. USA 1, Cuba 1.
————————
40th minute- A yellow card for Kamani Hill, who commits a foul right on the edge of the penalty area with a high boot. Hill has looked shaky the past few minutes.
————————
39th minute- Charlie Davies with a horrendous attempt at a dive in the penalty area. If he had just stayed up the US team probably scores a goal. Apparently that gets called in Sweden.
————————
38th minute- I like what I’ve seen from the Cuban goalkeeper, who looks like he could be Benny Feilhaber’s long-lost brother.
————————
36th minute- Cuba is knocking the ball around pretty well at this point. No chances yet.
————————
33rd minute- Cuba forces a save out of Chris Seitz after a forward who looks like the bad guy from Prison Break tries a bicycle kick.
————————
31st minute- The subsequent corner is terribly defended by Cuba but the American’s can’t convert it. The set piece defending has been pretty bad by Cuba so far.
————————
31st minute- Adu’s curling free kick forces a diving save by the Cuban goalkeeper.
————————
30th minute- Altidore catches an elbow to the head, drawing a dangerous free kick. A rough day so far for Altidore.
————————
28th minute- The American fullbacks have looked good today. Kamani Hill is doing well on the right and Hunter Freeman has been solid at left back. You wonder if Juan Carlos Osorio will consider him a candidate to play the left-sided defender role on his team (I doubt it, Osorio loves Freeman’s passing from the right too much).
————————
27th minute- Still waiting for Altidore to make an impact, someone needs to get him the ball first.
————————
24th minute- Somebody tell Christopher Sullivan to stop pretending to be Ricky Ricardo, saying Coo-bah. The American English pronunciation is Q-bah.
————————
23rd minute- Imagine being a fan at this game who bought their tickets months ago to beat the rush. Okay, so maybe nobody did that but it would be funny if they did.
————————
22nd minute- Still waiting for a second U.S. goal. The midfield needs to do a better job of keeping possession.
————————
16th minute- Nice to see Patrick Ianni getting the start today. I wonder if he’s still seeing Gamba Osaka forward Bare in his dreams.
————————
15th minue- Nice job by Findley to lay the ball off to Adu, and a good job by Charlie Davies to jump out of the way of Adu’s shot, which left the Cuban goalkeepers screened.
————————
13th minute- GOAL USA. Freddy Adu curls in a shot from the right flank that looked more like a low cross than a shot. USA 1, Cuba 0
————————
12th minute- Still waiting for the midfield to start stringing some passes together. Part of it is the grass but the U.S. midfield could do better.
————————
8th minute- Adu with a long-range blast the forces a diving save. Cuba’s midfield looks non-existent early on.
————————
7th minute- Altidore gets in behind the Cuba defense but his shot is saved. Altidore is going to score at least one goal today.
————————
4th minute- The waterlogged field isn’t helping the speedy squad Nowak is using.
————————
PRE-GAME- Here is the US lineup, which boasts SERIOUS speed:
——————–Altidore—————-
Davies————–Adu———–Findley
————McCarty——-Edu———-
Freeman—-Ianni——Sturgis——–Hill
———————Seitz——————-
————————
PRE-GAME- Looks like a packed house at Raymond James Stadium (kidding).
Nelson:
Fox was showing at least one replay, I didn’t see if they were doing anymore.
Honestly, unless you are a Cuba fan, I don’t think you would enjoy this game too much. It’s very sad. It was like Portsmouth vs Man UTD in their recent F.A. cup tie, except without the skill or excitement. It could be used as a training film for years to come, demonstrating how NOT to play the game.
hey..
has anyone been able to find highlights to this game?
i missed it cuz of class, and i really wanted to see these guys in action.
cant find it in the usual places either :/
thx
I agree that Nowak made some strange decisions and deserves to be questioned on it. However, the U.S. did not blow this game because of Nowak. What does Nowak have to do with Altidore missing a great chance seconds into the game? He wasn’t tired or beaten up at that point. Perhaps Nowak shouldn’t have played him? I like Altidore, but why is he so untouchable to so many of you?
Then there was Sacha’s missed close range header where he decided to head the defender’s head instead of the ball. Should he have been playing?
Adu had a great game and one poster said: “Take that Nowak!” What does that mean? Wasn’t it Nowak that picked Adu even though people would have you believe he hates him.
Adu was very unlucky not to score more than one goal. Maybe Nowak should have known this and not picked him.
Seems to me a lot of people have been asking for Charlie Davies to be given a chance on the full national team, but now he doesn’t even deserve a chance at this level?
I think the worst thing is the attitude this team has. If they don’t want to play, let another group play. Obviously there were a few exceptions, but just a few. I expect a HUGE change in desire and attitude in the next game, and this might be an area where Nowak could be very helpful. He doesn’t seem like the kind of coach who would tolerate this kind of attitude and I suspect several players will be gone next game, and not just for their performance.
excuse me, for my grammar, it should be ‘hanged’
I wouldn’t say “disappointing” so much as DISGUSTING, HORRENDOUS, DESPICABLE (hooray for Daffy Duck!!). If the Senior team had accomplished this tremendous feat, Bob bradley would be found hung in the middle of downtown LA the next morning. I am disgraced to be American right now.
Frank- lol, one bad game in a span of a years compact schedule is nothing to spaz out about. He’s a solid player with tons of potential. and lets not forget he’s only 18. every player has a bad game from time to time.
as forward, sometimes its not how many touches you get or how many excellent plays you create that defines your game. in mexico, he spread out the field and the defense. Similar to Wolff in the Brazil game. He may have not gotten many touches, but he opened the field for others to make the runs which is something a good forward will do
I think Altidore is overrated. He did nothing vs Mexico except finish the excellent cross that most would finish. He did nothing last night. For a kid that has been linked to Real Madrid it was a pitiful performance as you would expect him to take over the game.
therealfan- yes his touches were dreadful, yes he fouled, but pls point out more then 4 players who didnt do any of that
Altidore’s touch was terrible. alot of that comes from him being the only one to run in a 60×60+ box by himself, but after that crap tackle he went absent.
Davies and Findley didnt do anything special.
why is Barrett’s bad game so standout?? when all the “better” players failed in the same game?? everyone seems to be expecting barrett to fail, so biased goggles are being worn. Outside of Dax, Adu, Kljestan and perhaps Hill, noone had a grand game. Stop pointing out one players flaws when he was no worse then 80% of the players on the field
If Altidore was tired from jogging around for 45 minutes then he’s going to be a flop when he moves to Europe that’ll make Fraddy look like Messi.
Settle down people. One game. Not the coaches fault. Delusions of grandeur for the boys not called in. Szetela? You’re kdding right? He hasn’t played a game that matters since he left MLS (where he wasn’t a steady starter). Come on!
If our precious Jozy finishes a breakaway we win going away. Players fault not the coach!
Mark,
I think Barrett suffers most from a lack of confidence and playing alongside Blanco certainly hasn’t been good in that regard. I’m just waiting for Blanco to punch Barrett on the field after screwing up one too many scoring chances.
Nowak was awful,
Come out in 4-5-1. Play Altdore up top all by himself then let him get tired.
Sub our best player and goal scorer at half, then switch to 2 fowards.
Again, we have no left mid on the team without Rogers and Alaverez..
Left our 2 best outside mids on the bench the whole game, Holden & Zizzo.
No clue on what to do in the attacking half… everything was down the middle or crosses from 20-25 yards out. Take the ball to the baseline boys. All I saw was that puzzled look on Nowaks face instead of giving instructions.
The only thing a national team coach has to do is select the right players & put the right players on the pitch in the proper formation.
Nowak screwed up both of these… If the US fails to qualify, I’ve said it before, fire this idiot.
Gents,
Most are overreacting to this result. USA dominated the match and wasted good chances. The players on the field should have won the match. What does Nowak have to do,…lace up his boots and score the goals himself?
Forget Benny, Robbie and Arturo. The team Nowak selected should be able to win this group and qualify of for the Summer games. Let’s not forget that many of these young men are highly paid professionals.
One quick note on Barrett,….the kid is obviously not a sophisticate when it comes to playing the beautiful game,…BUT when a team is struggling to put the ball in the net sometimes a high energy, direct player can ‘force’ the ball over the goal line. I, for one, totally understand his inclusion in the team and Nowak’s decision to play him last night.
There are far too many Monday Morning Quarterbacks on this page.
Yeah, I think my main overall issue was the personnel choices. You can say Jozy deserved to be subbed out, but I think it was made into a game not suitable for him as much by Nowak’s lineup. For the U-20s, why was he so good? Well, Fredward coming right through the middle, combined with amazing wing MIDFIELDERS (NOT FORWARDS) that could cross the ball brilliantly onto his head definitely set him up nicely. And yet, we seemed to want to bypass the midfield for about 2/3 of the game last night. When we started getting crosses in, we had Davies and Findley (not the finest aerial threats) in the box. It just seemed so idiotic to play SO MANY people out of position. I really considered Stuart Holden automatic to start (and then at least sub in) and yet he chose Barrett and Gaven over him (Gaven looked good though I thought). I mean it just didn’t make sense. Yeesh. (And yes, while Dax has played better, tonight he was definitely out of his normal role and seemed to be better than Edu at it).
There are quite a few comments already, but I want to draw one parallel, particularly after watch the game a second time: does this type of line-up selection seem similar to anything in years past? How about Bruce Arena and World Cup 2006? Nowak made the same mistakes in keeping players off the field and the same mistakes in leaving important players off the team. I realize Bradley can’t be there, but Feilhaber, in my opinion, would have made an impact last night. If they keep playing like this, West Ham won’t NEED to release Spector.
This was an awful performance.
Brett:
Barrett was dreadful. His touches weren’t aweful, but he was a fouling machine. Knocking everyone down around him, throwing away precious minutes at the end of a tie game. Add to that poor positioning and I hope we don’t see him again.
hate to post again, but did some rereading of the posts:
our original formation seemed like it would’ve been very offensive minded, which it was, but the Cubans ended up controling the midfield. altho they had VERY LIMITED options once they got into the offensive third.
our nation is not built for a solo forward, its truely not how we play. Italy can do it, merely b/c they can counter with the best of them, but we have shifted play to more of a control style, and the solo forward is not cutting it. It also doesnt help when we had 3 of our 4 listed forward in at the begining (2 of which were out of place). by the end of the game we were dead on the attack, leaving all hopes on Dax and Adu (who sparked 90% of the attack all game anyhow).
i dont care what formation we have, but we need to have at least 2 up top. One reason i thought jozy did so poorly is he had NOONE to work with or work off of. hopefully Nowak keeps the players in their respected positions. and even tho i defend Barrett i truely think he is 4th in the pecking order and will see less time b/c of it, but dangit i want to qualify and we need rested players (with all our games being so close)
im getting tired of reading all the same crap….
Adu and McCarty were one of the only bright spots of the game.
Hill and Kljestan did well in my opinion.
why didnt Edu play?? oh wait he was out there???
now to the big point id like to make…
everyone seems so willing to bash Barrett. what did he do that all the other forwards didnt do?? Altidore had JUST as many mistouches and JUST as many bad passes. after that crappy challenge, Altidore vanished (hence y he was subbed). Davies and Findely were terrible as well. Findley had some good looks, but his best was thwarted by a dive >.<
so keep bashing Barrett, at least he produced some things. Had a couple good passes to progress play and a couple good crosses (one of which looked like it wouldve been hit in if a defender didnt sneak in just in time)…. Barrett was NO worse then any of our attackers last night
Our weakest link out there was our left side for the first 45-50 min of the game. Cuba ran ragged all over there and werent challenged… McCarty actually had to go over there and play defense for awhile, having to mark at least 2 guys. His frustrations showed.
The wing play was horrible last night! Davies dives all the time and Findley was a waste. They both blew wonderful scoring ooportunities! I’m more angrier than ever that Nowak released Alvarez and chose Gavin who wasted another great scoring chance and then just disappeared which is his modus operandus.
Freeman was lousy and allow the entry pass that lead to Cuba’s goal. He choked up the ball time and time again, but Davies was no help on the left wing because he is a natural forward. Rogers and Alvarez should have been in there!
Sacha brought life to the midfield and was dangerous. Freddy was great and carried the team. Dax had his moments with two great shots from beyond the box….with Dax and Freddy when was the last time you saw American players shooting so well from beyond the box? Freddy should now be the designated dead piece taker instead of Landycakes Donovan – the year in Benfica has improved his game!
Jozy should have done better, but the lone striker alignment has never worked for the US because we don’t have the wingers who can perform as withdrawn strikers to support him. He got too tired and banged up by halftime. He also should have scored on the breakway!
Peter Nowak has done a horrible job selecting his final 20 and it definitely showed tonight – Eddie Gavin and Chad “Lead Foot” Barrett as your subs?
@Posted by: Steve | March 11, 2008 at 11:14 PM
I agree the finishing was terrible and it’s up to the players to finish. But we didn’t put ourselves in a position to CREATE nearly enough chances. THAT is a coaching problem. Also, Nowak allowing the team to devolve into Brit-ball/Long-ball fever at the end of the second half was our undoing and again is TOTALLY his fault. When he sees that he needs to be shouting his ass off from the sidelines until they fix it. I barely heard him at all and it wasn’t hard to heard given the small audience.
Cuba is not a good team. They should have been beat by a ton. There is really no reason that they were able to play anywhere near as close as they played.
@Posted by: gride | March 12, 2008 at 02:03 AM
I agree Nowak has to cut through the bunkerballers we are going to face but playing a lone striker and 4 in the back is not the way to go. If you want to rip these teams apart (who you should be ripping to shreds) you can’t go in with a half assed 4-2-3-1 and expect to get it done.
Germany play with 3 strikers and 3 in the back when they play the San Marinos of the world more often than not and a d-mid usually isn’t part of the plan either. Granted we aren’t Germany (few are) but the idea is the same. If you want to rip a team to shreds you f’n do it. A lone striker and essentially 6 in the back is NOT the way to do it. You can’t beat bukerball by playing bunkerball-lite