Photo by ISIphotos.com
The U.S. men’s national team defeated Guatemala on Wednesday night, 1-0, in the opening match of the World Cup Qualifying group stage. It wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly for the Americans for the first 60 minutes of the match. Guatemala created chances, torched the American flanks, and gave the crowd every reason to go crazy.
Funny thing is Guatemala never did score. The ‘Chapines’ huffed and puffed but Tim Howard’s world-class form and Guatemala’s own finishing deficiencies kept the match tied until DaMarcus Beasley came in and pumped life into the U.S. team, delivering a perfect cross to a wide-open Carlos Bocanegra for the game’s only goal.
Twenty minutes of solid defending and impressive possession work later, the Americans were on the bus celebrating the U.S. team’s first victory in Guatemala in 20 years.
There is so much to discuss about this match, from Eddie Lewis’ eye (which I have a picture of) to Tim Howard calling out Carlos Ruiz to a downright hilarious press conference with Guatemalan reporters asking priceless questions.
Let’s get started:
First, let’s start with Eddie Lewis, who was in good spirits after receiving stitches in his right eye following Gustavo Cabrera’s malicious elbow attack on him. The Guatemalan media might want to look at this picture before they go on believing the Cabrera red card was a make-up call:
SoccerTimes writer Bob Wagman asked Lewis if he would still be pretty enough for the LA Galaxy, to which Lewis responded "I think they’ll still find a place for me." In a perfect world, Lewis would take Carlos Ruiz’s old number.
Speaking of Carlos Ruiz, Tim Howard pulled no punches when discussing Ruiz, who kicked him in the head during one sequence when Howard had already pounced on a loose ball.
“He caught me. He kicked me straight in my head," Howard said of Ruiz. "With Carlos, you expect that. You know what, he’s dirty. I wish I could say otherwise but I played in MLS and I’ve seen it. There is no place for it. It’s reckless. It’s there for everyone to see, but again, I kind of expect it."
Howard drew a yellow card for going after Ruiz and smacking his hand away after Ruiz "apologized" to him. Howard wasn’t buying the apology."
“I think you would rather have him come and man up and say, ‘Look, I don’t like you, I’m going to kick you and I’m going to do all that.’" Howard said. "You can almost respect it in a funny way but he has this way about him where he kicks and punches, he’s an asshole and he wants to come and be your friend. There’s just no place for it."
In other words, it sounds like Tim Howard has a little more respect for Cuauhtemoc Blanco than for Ruiz, who managed to smack Heath Pearce in the face and kick Tim Howard in the head and NOT get a single card. (This is where I would normally insert a wisecrack about the referee being hired by MLS, but I won’t after seeing Jair Marrufo perform so well at the Olympics.)
Another classic scene from Wednesday night was the post-game press conference with Bob Bradley where the first four question were from Guatemalan reporters who were clearly going with the ‘Guatemala robbed by the referee’ storyline: "Coach, what do you think of a big team like the United States needing the referee to help it win a game against Guatemala?" "Do you think the result was fair?" "What did you think of Guatemala’s red card, which was obviously a make-up call for the USA red card?" "How much did the United States pay the referee?"
Okay, so that last one was made up, but the others were actually asked. To his credit, Bradley answered them with bland answers that didn’t provoke much reaction. I couldn’t help but imagine Bruce Arena facing those same questions and delivering a wity retort like, "Well, if Cabrera did that in the United States he’d probably get arrested. Here they’ll probably give him a medal."
Kudos go out to the American fans who attended the match. It was a modest-sized but vocal group that held its own despite being severely outnumbered. The best was hearing the Americans chant "Your not singing over there." You could hear it clear as day, but probably because Guatemalan fans were busy trying to figure out what the gringos were saying.
Those same fans were lent a helping hand by the U.S. Soccer Federation after the game. A group of more than 30 fans were stranded at the stadium after their transportation failed to show up. U.S. Soccer officials arranged to have the national team’s charter bus return to the stadium after dropping off the team to pick up the fans and take them back to the team hotel. It was a great gesture for a great contingent of fans.
That’s all for now, but before I go I will leave with this last thought. I know that the 1-0 win in ugly fashion won’t be enough for some fans who think that Kenny Cooper and Freddy Adu could have made it a 5-0 USA blowout if only they had been called up, but anyone who assumes that Cooper or Adu would have made this game anything but the tooth-and-nail street fight it was always destined to be just isn’t living in reality. Cooper and Adu’s chances will come. Wednesday night just wasn’t the time to throw in players who haven’t been in that kind of environment before.
What did you think of the game? Think the referee was on the take?(kidding). Were you happy with the match? Were you disappointed? Think the Americans got lucky? Think the Guatemalans have only themselves to blame?
Share your thoughts on the match below.
“- Ruiz is a blot on the game. If the US has clinched advancement when the teams meet again, the players may put a bounty on him.”
I think if we see Jesse Marsch, Ben Olsen or Kerry Zavagnin called in for that camp, Ruiz may want to call in sick.
@ Mike,
Agreed on Italy. What I’m saying with the Italian example is that there’s more than one way to win. Clearly, we’re not Italy — the same way we’re not Spain. We’re finding our own style and its going to be interesting how it develops. I’d like to think you are right with regard to us being similar to Russia – and you may be. It seems to me that they have a bunch of good athletic players (most quite mechanical?) who were energized by one dynamic on form playmaker who gave everyone else on the squad space. But, I don’t think we have that dynamic player yet — which, of course, brings us back to your point about playing the kids.
Of course, we also can’t be quite like Russia since we occasionally play the ball into the air… 😉
Bottom line, root for our boys and hope our style is one you can live with once it fully develops — if it hasn’t already. I’ve become a soccer convert because it allows the players to play the game. Yes, the coaches have plans, tactics and strategies, but a typical player and team style seems to develop for every country and each has its own flavor. Ours may turn out to be bland when compared to others, but as long as its effective, fine by me.
@Paul
Yeah, I used to be a Ching hater, too. I still don’t think he’s great and I don’t think he’s the solution to our attacking woes, but he’s decent (and currently more worthy of a start than EJ).
“Cooper and Adu’s chances will come. Wednesday night just wasn’t the time to throw in players who haven’t been in that kind of environment before.”
Then someone need’s to ask Bradley what his son was doing out there. And Edu, too, had never seen that sort of intensity before. If Bradley shares that reasoning, then he’s a hypocrite and nepotist.
For all the Bob Bradley haters. Seriously, what is it going to take to please you? You just got one of the most significant road victories in American soccer history and it it still isn’t an enough for some of you. What is actually acceptable to y’all?
My two cents (sorry for any repetition, but I don’t have time to read 143 comments):
– Dolo (first yellow), Howard, and Dempsey rose to the bait, but otherwise the team showed good poise. Dempsey soon made nice-nice, and his “victim” got a yellow for faking.
– A real struggle for Pearce, who was repeatedly burned down the flank.
– If I see Donovan on the wing one more time, I will scream.
– Dempsey looked peeved upon being removed, but some sort of shakeup is needed with him (position? a stay on the bech?) He has been listless for too many games.
– I am starting to come around on Ching. He has a bit of McBride in him.
– Ruiz is a blot on the game. If the US has clinched advancement when the teams meet again, the players may put a bounty on him.
– The guy who floored Lewis should get suspended for more than one game.
I can’t remember who made the point about our defensive mids both being ball winners, but it was a great one. Mastroeni and Bradley are both capable players, but I think our midfield was lacking a Reyna type–a player who could hold possession and effectively distribute (note: I’m not pushing for a Reyna call-up). Feilhaber + Bradley worked pretty well because Benny could fill that Reyna role. Unfortunately, Feilhaber’s going through some difficult times finding playing time. I think that Edu move to Rangers was a great one. Hopefully (assuming he plays in the midfield) he can eventually fill that role for us if Feilhaber doesn’t make a comeback soon.
my problem is not that we won this one game in a dirty fashion, that’s totally fine and am glad we got 3 solid points, but my problem is that this sort of garbage win isn’t an exception, its the norm. BB has proven he’s not willing to change anything, and therefore we’re not moving towards sustained success, just some lucky wins based off of solid defensive efforts. that’s not enough for me, i’m sorry. im happy we got three points, but i feel all our wins are now this type, and that’s unacceptable. face the facts.
I think experience is a little overrated. Eddie Johnson scored 8 goals when he completely lacked experience…he’s scored 4 since the end of 2005. Experience counts for something, but so should form. Edson Buddle to start against Guatemala? No way. But I do think Cooper was more deserving of a call up than EJ. I don’t care how many caps EJ has–Cooper is scoring goals right now while EJ is battling for playing time at Fulham. I think form and fitness outweigh caps in this case.
I am definitely hoping the best. Even if we go into WC10 with 4 defensive mids on the field at all times, I’ll still cheer for us.
kpugs, then why is MB consistently called in for these games, what experience does he have that edu, adu, alitidore, and cooper do not have??
Im not expecting them to win 3-0. I do expect them to hold their own at least. Having the ability to score on set pieces is a great asset, but it shouldn’t be the only one. I think we have the talent to go and hold our own, create chances from the run of play and not go in playing for a draw just because we are on the road. We were lucky not to lose the game.
Anyone who doesn’t understand why choosing experience over youth for these types of gritty away qualifiers doesn’t have a brain, it’s that simple.
Save the young players for the cake games. There are several guys who played yesterday that would not be in a first XI for team USA, but simply put you need experience in these types of games.
Anyone still crying about Cooper, Adu et al is an idiot.
How young are some of these US fans? We haven’t beaten this team on their turf in 20 years (if we’ve beaten them at all there), and people expect our FIRST win on THEIR soil to be a 3-0 blowout. Funny…
Yeah, we could of played prettier, and we could of lost. Sheesh!
Mike C, I agree completely. I feel the tatics taht we employed last night were something we would have done qualifying for the ’98 world cup. We need coach that is a progressive, BB is a good coach. But he is not one that can take us past the first round in 2010.
One more Re:
I have been watching US soccer for 20 years, as well. I’m happy to see how far we’ve come, too. I’m ecstatic that we have one of the two most talented teams in concacaf (by far). Along with that progress and success over the past 20 years comes some expectations. More than just results (qualifying), I think we should be able to control any game we play against a concacaf team, no matter where we’re playing. Some things are out of our hands (refs, loud crowd), but that should stop us from enforcing our game on the opposition. I don’t think there’s anyone here who would disagree with that. I hope I’m not holding the team to too high of standard, but just in case I am, I will say this–I would rather hold them to a higher standard than one which is too low.
Re: tactics fine, roster dead on.
I’m sorry, but I don’t consider no possession or attacking opportunities “fine.” If we were content to rely on Guatemala’s poor finishing to keep the game at 0-0…hoping to steal a goal on a set play, I guess you could call the tactics “fine.” Personally, I’d like to see a little more out of my team. I think we’re good enough to hold a majority of possession and create more chances than our central american opposition, but maybe I’m asking too much.
I’ll say it again. I’m happy to have 3 points, but I think we were pretty lucky. I think it was a weak performance despite the win and it was nothing to get excited about. I cheered when Boca scored. I cheered when the game ended and we’d won. But I’m not willing to call this a “good performance.” It was more of the same, and I’m getting kind of tired of it…
Brett- I think I do have reasonable points about Bradley. Please reread my blurb on him.
Great point about Clint though. He has been downright terrible as of late and that is with both club and country. No one seems to jump on that and he seems to regressing in Europe vs. improving. At Fulham he is slowly becoming a fulltime observer and I do not believe Roy H. is sold on him at all.
Also Eddie Lewis had a terrible night and has not particulary effective since the England game for the nationals.He is getting older as we write and he was never fleet of foot to begin with so putting him on the wing and asking him to defend is never going to work.
Dolo should stay in Hanover for a while. He is another guy who has been haeding south lately at both club and country levels although he has been more consistent with his club.
Donnovan? I stopped talking about him a long time ago because I can’t be rational discussing him and that is unfair to all and bad for my blodd pressure. Let’s just say I would like to see him go back to Europe just to see what happens. Kind of like I like to watch my wife have discussion with a bunch of hard core pro lifers. It’s fun to see if the train is going to jump off the tracks and hit a wall or not.
while i do agree that guatemala got housed on some of the calls, the most notable being the break away from the left that was called offsides even though he was very much onsides, both red cards were deserved and ruiz was lucky to get away with what he did. at the end of the day the US, while lucky to get away with a clean sheet, put the ball in the back of the net.
@wahleyed
Italy created more than 0 chances in their matches in 2006. People talk about the Italians’ defensive style, but you can’t compare it to the US’. Italy controls the pace of the game and executes several well timed, well developed attacks with world-class precision. The US passes the ball around the back then tries to chip it over the top. Most games, our best opportunities (and certainly most of our goals) come off of corners.
The reason I compared the US to Russia and Turkey is because I believe those teams are of comparable quality. A more apt rebuttle would have been “Greece in 2004.”
To that I say, fine. If that’s really the style you want to see us play for the next 8 years of Bradley’s term, I guess I can’t really argue that. I’m sorry for thinking our team is capable of something a little better…
guatemala did exactly what they needed to try and get a result; eliminate any rhythym that could possibly be had and make it difficult to concentrate, by fouling and flopping around like a bunch of fools. i’m sure they would have felt like they won if the game had ended 0-0. you would like to see a better performance from the us against minnows like guatamala but, considering the circumstances, all is not that bad.
there need to be improvements, though. pearce looked totally out of it, as did lewis really. that right side was being burned all night. in fact cherundolo was having problems as well. people rag on hejduk, but he was an upgrade. as well as edu. i think if he hadn’t gotten so many frequent flier miles recently he probably would have started. and someone mentioned that dempsey and donovan shouldn’t be on the field at the same time and i was thinking the same thing last night.
Mike — I can see your points, I just think Edu is a much better link to the offense than Bradley. I agree they both break up the oncoming offense well, and are similar in that regard, but Edu will send a probing ball forward and play with vision. MB most likely passes the ball back or turns it over. In the most recent friendlies when Edu replaced MB our offense seemed to open up a bit, granted Adu had also come on, but I just haven’t seen MB make the passes that Edu had, period. I think MB is a great player and has a lot of potential, I just dont think he should be an absolute lock to start, Edu’s body of work would merit that over MB.
Maybe my message wasn’t clear. Not for a second do I think we are as good as Argentina, Spain, or Germany. But I don’t think we should consider 1-0 losses “moral victories” when we didn’t do anything special.
Look at our game against Brazil–a 4-2 loss. Great game. The Americans played good, attacking soccer and created chances. Yes, we lost the game. But I would take 5 4-2 losses like that and a 3-2 win over a series of 0-0, 1-1, and 0-1 results any day of the week.
Like I said, we’re capable of playing a better brand of soccer–I know we can because I’ve seen it done before. But too much of the time, we rely on negative, defensive styles
thom- if you have reasonable reasons for not liking MB then thats understandable… but the people who pose hate on the kid for no reason cept to vent frustration is simply uncalled for…. simply using the mistakes he’s had against him is folly seeing as EVERY USMN makes mistakes (excluding Howard, seeing as i cant really think of many)…
i see more bradley bashing then any other player… what about LD and Dempsey who went absent for a good portion of the game?? what about all the mistakes mastro had in the begining of the game??? regardless of how the team plays it seems more then half love to blame our problems on MB…. when he’s not the problem, its the team as a whole not working well together… blame that on BB if you must
personally there were only 2 problems last night… not enough offense and our left side… last night i saw some attempts to build up but they came way to late in the game when beasley came in…. if we had that build up all game the score would have been different
“-we’re good enough that we should be able to hang with the likes of Argentina or Spain or Germany.”
That’s right. We’re good enough to be able to HANG with Argentina or Spain, but we are absolutely not anywhere near their class. The only reason we’re able to hang with these types of teams is because we play well together and have the heart to scrape out results like we did last night. Anyone who thinks that we can play free-flowing, attacking, fluid soccer against Argentina or Spain and not get run off the pitch is fooling themselves.
I think the simple fact is, as much as we’ve improved, and as bright as our future looks, we’re just not as good as most US supporters like to believe we are. Of course, we’re not as bad as most non-US supporters/non-soccer fans like to believe we are either. We CAN make a run deep into an international tournament, we would just have to play near flawlessly and get lucky, kind of like what happened to Turkey. And it wouldn’t hurt if one of our young attacking players developed into a Nihat.
“I’m sick and tired of being told to accept mediocrity when I know this team is capable of much more.”
Me too Mike but I am starting to believe that the people telling me to accept mediocrity have a much more realistic assessment of our overall program and the talent in it then I do. So with that being said I am happy with the win because we are not going to change technical staffs unless we crap out in qualifying. And though it is depressing to say out loud or admit to people who love the game and this team like most all of you on this board I will take the latter when given the choice between not qualifying vs. bowing out after 3 game in the world cup I would still take the former.
“Until we learn to play good, attacking soccer instead of negative, defensive ball, we’re never going to go on a run like Turkey or Russia.”
Good point. Our goal should be to have an exciting little run like Turkey or Russia — and definitely not a defensive boring type of run like Italy in 2006…
Aatabaki – I don’t agree with you on Edu. I thought he played well last night, and I like his game a lot. But I don’t think Lil Bradley is as bad as people make him out to be either. He has a long way to go to be the player he is capable of being, but to me, he brings the most to the table in that spot. I think he’s a better choice than Edu, Clark, Mastro, Beckerman, whoever. Just my $0.02, many will disagree.
And I certainly don’t agree with Mike C. either. Question tactics and player choices when warranted, but the tactics were fine, and the roster was dead on. It’s a fact. It would’ve been great if we could have played better, but this is Central America during qualifying, it just is. I’ve seen it play out over and over again. And I don’t believe young guys like Adu or Cooper would have added anything. I’ll be concerned when we’re at home and teams like Guatamela or T&T are outplaying us. Then it’s time to ask questions.
And I hope to see a US team step on the field against Italy, Spain, Germany, whoever, and go toe to toe with them. But fact of the matter is we still have a long way to go and that’s fine. Maybe I’m older than most of the posters and I have the benefit of having seen the team progress over the past 20 years, and it’s amazing to me the progress that has been made. We’re not there yet, but when you see some of the young talent this team can put on the field it gives you hope.
And in response to “it wasn’t pretty, but it was effective”:
Not true! In fact, this is the problem! We won the game–good for us, but we didn’t control it. If it weren’t for a set play, we would have never scored a goal. We never held possession. We never created a dangerous attack. It was’t pretty and it was ineffective. We were fortunate to walk out with 3 points. I’m happy we did, but let’s start expecting a little more of our boys.
And for whoever said “this is just how WCQ goes”…no. This is how all of our games go. I would understand if this were a solitary mediocre game, but it’s not. We always play defensively and lack creative will and effective attacks.
I’m with “wrong” on this one–I’m tired of being blindly satisfied. Our team is capable of playing well. Let’s stop holding them to 1990s standards.
Overall, a win is a win is a win…and I’m glad that the game was led from the spinal rear, specifically Onyewu, Bocanegra, and Howard. I guess after watching the friendlies I forgot what it was like to go on the road in the World Cup…it’s just like Ives said, a street fight, and the togetherness and heart overcame some stupid plays (each of Cherundolo’s two yellow cards come to mind). It’s one of those games where a stronger USA midfield may have made the game much easier on the nerves, but Guatemala was fired up, so give credit where it’s due. Grit over style is sometimes necessary to get to the World Cup…after all, if the US had boatloads of chances and somehow drew or lost, how’d that taste? Great job on the win guys!
1. The ref was on our side? I believe Ruiz slapped Heath Pearce and kicked Tim Howard in the face and didn’t get a single card. Not to mention Guatemalans love diving but aren’t very good at it–several more yellows that would have been given out in any other country in the world. Maybe Guatemala should start focusing on developing some good finishers instead of whining about a red card for one of the most vicious tackles I’ve ever seen–elbow first, away from the ball, two seconds too late. This isn’t pro wresling–Lewis didn’t cut his own face for effect.2. I hate this attitude–we won, so we can’t question tactical decisions or player choices. This is the attitude that leads to Bruce Arena coaching for 8 years. This is the attitude that keeps the likes of Rongen in the USSF system. The win not being “pretty” has nothing to do with aesthetics. It has everything to do with us playing a style that prevents us from being blown out by better opposition, but doesn’t allow us to beat them, either. Don’t believe me? When’s the last time we beat a top opponent? “Top opponent” doesn’t include the Swedish B team, Poland, Switzerland, or Mexico. The answer: 2002 world cup–Portugal. Until we learn to play good, attacking soccer instead of negative, defensive ball, we’re never going to go on a run like Turkey or Russia. I’m tired of getting excited about draws or losses that “should have” been wins against good opponents. How about we start playing with a little pride–we’re good enough that we should be able to hang with the likes of Argentina or Spain or Germany. Let’s get excited when we do something spectacular by taking the game to them and actually winning.
Maybe you guys are happy stealing 3 points from Guatemala off yet another set play…I’m more concerned that they out attacked us…I’m more concerned that we couldn’t control the game…I’m more concerened that after we scored the go-ahead goal, we had trouble killing the game. Am I happy we got 3 points? Of course. But come on–as tough as an away game at Guatemala is, we should be able to hold possession a little more and create a few dangerous attacks.
I’m sick and tired of being told to accept mediocrity when I know this team is capable of much more.
Mark — My gripe with Lil’ Bradley is that he is not done anything to warrant being an unquestioned stater, yet every game he is there starting. What experience does he have over the other youngsters to play in that environment. Comparing bodies of work, Edu has surpassed him on the depth chart, yet we are always asking who is going to be starting next Bradley. It is almost a joke at this point.
Sushant Rao – “We complain too much and take too many stupid yellows”
Man did you get that right. Your whole blog is great even the parts I don’t agree with because it is well thought out.
Dolo got what he deserved for behavior like a child on first yellow. So many stupid, unnecessary yellows we get these days. I hate the Billy Big Boots stuff we seem to strut out now without the pedigree or results to back it up. I love the Boca, Gooch and Edu go about their business on the pitch. Shame the young ones aren’t following their lead.
“Feel free to whine and complain when you can play like Spain. Keep it calm and down low when you playing like the Faroe(s)”
That should be the new national team mantra.
Beasley is our best player. Period. He is the most composed player on the field using his head always to make the best play while simultaneously doing it with talent and speed, speed of thought and speed of body. Beasley needs to stay healthy for us to have any chance of competing, especially with the “power” teams.
Great result in a difficult environment. After reading a bunch of the comments in this thread I question how many of you have actually watched the US qualify in the past couple of cycles. Playing in Central America is extremely difficult, and it’s not unusual for talented players to look terrible in these conditions. So give it rest with the US plays with no style, Bradley is a moron, Bradly needs to answer why Cooper and Adu aren’t here, Pearce needs to be replaced, Lil’ Bradley is bad player, where was Adu. I could keep going. The roster was perfect for this game, as were the tactics.
We won the game, and are in the drivers seat to qualify. If we can get a positive result in our next game and can win our first game at home, we’re moving on. Then Cooper, Adu and the rest of the guys can get some great experience against opponents who need a result. And with different players we can try different things.
And hat’s off to Guatamela, they executed well and displayed a lot more skill than I’ve ever seen from that side. You add in the physical/dirty elements in a hostile stadium where they need 2k soldiers and cops to keep the peace, and you’ve got yourself a recipe to take points from a better opponent. Thanks to Timmy to saving our bacon when needed.
brett – one more thing. I am bashing him on his body of work staring with the Mexico friendly last winter and what I have seen become as player and his behavior ON THE PITCH in all his various natinal team duties in that same time period.
brett – his shooting I had nor have any problem with. It’s everything else.
“Cooper and Adu’s chances will come. Wednesday night just wasn’t the time to throw in players who haven’t been in that kind of environment before.”
I don’t agree with this statement. They are going to have to play in such an environment eventually. You can’t handle them with kid gloves forever. Sooner or later you will have to throw them into the deep end and find out if they can swim. We will need them in Mexico City…you’re telling me that environment will be any less hostile than last night?
ill take a MB shooting 35 yrds out just after it rained over continually passing the ball and never getting an opportunity…
come on guys, honestly, can we stop the constant MB bashing for a moment to realize some of our most dangerous opportunities came from him ripping a shot 25-30 yrds out?? while that obviously shows the lack of offense in the game, it also shows that he’s hungry for the goal… people constantly b*tch and complain about how BB doesnt play him in the right position and he needs to be up more…. then he goes up takes some quality shots, and people are b*tching and complianing about how he was taking 35 yrd shots…
id understand if they were rocketed over the goal or easy pickups, but they were blasts that typically forced the keeper to make a decent save…even if it was a routine save… with the rain, it opened it up for a miss-catch or even a deflection follow up…
sometimes i think you bradley bashers bash him for the sake of bashing someone….
I’ll preface my comments with the fact that I wasn’t looking forward to this game (more on that in a min) so I tuned in at a little past 50 minutes.
What I saw then was exactly what I feared. The US had no possession and no flow. Guat controlled possession and was killing us. Then Dolo gets a 2nd yellow (deserved) for arm tackling the player that dispossessed him. At that point, I was ready to turn off the TV. Then the stupid Cabrera acts like a free safety and takes out Eddie Lewis. At first I thought it was a yellow, but then watching the slow-mo, it was clear that he had his elbow up and launched himself at EL. I gotta give it up for the ref to hand out the Red (very deserved and should lead to a multi-game suspension). We seemed to get fired up after that but I was still wondering where we’d get a goal. Then comes the corner, too much attention on Gooch and Boca comes in clear for the header.
In the end, we got lucky. Here’s why:
– Our lineup was designed to get a 0-0 tie, which is the reason I wasn’t looking forward to the game. Seriously, could anyone tell how the goal was going to come with this lineup? My only thought was that BB hoped to get his team a goal off a set piece
– We had no possession and even when we tried it, we lost it and had to arm tackle to stop the counter the other way (that’s you Dolo)
– Cabrera was stupid to go after EL. He cost his team the game. At home, playing 11v10 and controlling posession, it seemed destined for a Guat win *until* Cabrera decided he was going to punish EL.
– I though MB was looking for a yellow/red with the tackle from behind toward the end of the game. Luckily, he got the ball cleanly. Even if he just gave up a foul, it would have been in a bad place. MB needs to learn not to foul when the defense is between the man and the goal.
– We get too many stupid yellows. I didn’t see Dolo’s first yellow nor Clint’s. Grant Wahl on SI has a great take on both the U23’s and MNT’s lack of discipline.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/writers/grant_wahl/08/13/us.nigeria/index.html
That said, a win is win. It’s clear that some of our more “experienced” players aren’t going to take us far. But we need them to man the ship until our younger guys are ready.
– Ching and EJ will need to give it up for Jozy, KC and possibly Davies (yes, based on only 13 mins 🙂
– The midfield needs Adu or someone like him to control the ball / make incisive passes in tight spaces. There’s no one I saw on the U23s that I liked. I’m still holding out hope for Johann Smith (yes, based on a U21 friendly with Argentina 🙂
– Edu and Bradley are a good Def-Mid combo
– Dolo is holding his spot for Wynne
– I didn’t see Clint play much and Donovan didn’t do much when I watched, thought LD did get the yellow called on the Guat player that was too close to the free kick.
We have talent coming up but the experience isn’t quite there, yet!
Other comments:
– I don’t think Ruiz’s poke at Howard was that big a deal. At least it didn’t look any worse than Adu’s poke at the Netherlands’ keeper (though Ruiz should have gotten a yellow, like Adu did)
– We complain too much and take too many stupid yellows. i wonder if that’s the reason why Clint got replaced. Since he already had a yellow, maybe BB thought it’s best to get him out of there
– I wouldn’t bet too hard on Pearce. I thought he did fine considering that he wasn’t getting much help from EL. With DMB in the game, Pearce looked much better.
– Out possession was much better with Edu in the game. With Adu and Edu, I think our possession will be much better
Last comment is that we need a WCQ scoreboard which tracks points vs expected points (credit to Grant Wahl who came up with this idea). Generally, teams try to win at home and tie on the road. So, if a team is playing at home, the expected points it should get is 3. But if they get tie or a loss, then they are behind their expected points. So, we are way ahead with 3 points vs 1 expected point. Guat is way behind with 0 points vs 3 expected points. This is a much better way of tracking how teams are doing.
Yossarian – you are right about Pearce. He got better as the game went on even though he was completely gassed from the heat/humidity. He gave up nothing. For my money Dolo was much worse on this particular evening.
If you feel the need to bash a individual my money is Bradley the player. He is getting consistently worse every time out and combine that with Benny/Adu like whinny behavior and in general punkish attitude on the pitch he should thank God he still has a team to go in Holland instead of belly aching about no PL offers of note.
Bradley is a yeomen type player and yeoman type player added to a bad demeanor = MLS/USL lifer. He better realize that before it becomes his fate and stop now with the Billy Big Boots persona he is displaying on the pitch. He has worked hard and had some good fortune with access do to his father’s profession but it seems to have all gone to his head.
The next time you here about a guy coming into the MLS who scored 20 goals with his club team in…say… Ecuador only to find out with time he does not have the attitude or right skills to succeed in the MLS and released 9 months later………………………………..well that is exactly the fate/scenario some EP club just escaped by not signing Bradley.
Anyone care to constructively disagree with that assessment ?
I dont think anybody can understand you guys, when you hit the other team players are divers, when you get hit ohhhhhh they are so dirty. shut up and man up bunch of little girls.
The reason that Donovan plays out of place is because Bradley insists on playing two D-mids for every game
First, I am glad we came away with the result. But I am tired of our team going into Concacaf matches on the road looking for a draw. We are going with a back four plus two defensive mids. If we are going to employ that tatic I believe that M. Edu is much better that M. Bradley. Edu has more vision to connect with the offense where Bradley either turns the ball over, shoots from 40 yards out or passes the ball back. Edu is just more quality on the national level than Bradley. The only reason that he is an unquestioned starter and everyone else rotates around him is because of his dad, who I am not imppressed with at this point and I doubt he will ever take us to a level where we all see the team going.
i would never have donated “just pennies a day” to those poor, hungry kids living in shacks had i known they would develop into cheap, diving, soccer players intent on maming our players. To the boys in navy blue err gray, way to pull out a tough one last night, you may not have deserved it, but hey neither did the netherlands. Cest La Vie.
The problem with Donovan is where he was played and the defensive responsibility he was given. I like Bob Bradley, but he keeps putting our most effective attacking player in his least effective spot.
yossarian
I agree about Pearce to a certian extent. If a healthy Beasley starts on that side, no one would be talking about him today. But he did show a lack of speed on a few occasions that had me concerned. On the other hand, he showed lots of fight and heart in the late second half. I think a mixed performance from him.
The Great Donovini. Off the screen he goes! Where did he go? Nobody knows! Seriously Donovan was practically invisible the entire night.(although the grey shirt with the horrific lighting might have had something to do with that) Donovan needs to be in the thick of it. however towards the end he really didnt have much choice but to play right wing due to red cards. What i loved was how calm Maurice Edu was. He even managed to get a shot off!( mind you it wasnt on target but its a sign of intent)
Beasley just shoved my words back down my throat tonight. Great service. Boca and Gooch(nice beard by the way) looked tough to get by. The only reason they were passed most of the time was due to slips on the messy pitch. Ching came up great. Showed that hold-up play he’s known for. Bradley does need a rest. He’s a regular for the Nats but I’m sure Edu (or Kljestan) could fill his spot. Hejduk was actually pretty impressive for most of the night. provided some good tackles and kept the right side in check.Only regret was that he didnt get to make one of his trademark overlapping runs. Overall a pretty scrappy win. Lets just hope things dont end up like they did in China…
im sorry that i want my country to do well in the future and in the world cup, and therefore am not satisfied with a lucky 1-0 against guatemala, scoring all of our goals on set pieces, being set in a lineup way too early, and not being able to hold possession at all. we don’t need to be argentina for me to happy, but we need to maximize our talent, which is strong. as ive said, i dont believe a team like russia or croatia is more talented than us. we obviously will qualify for WC playing like we did, but we wont be able to count on bunkered defense and set piece goals against the good squads. stop being blindly happy and put your patriotism towards wanting more, real success, because qualifying for the world cup in potentially the second worst region isnt enough. atleast not for me, sorry for wanting my team to succeed.
oh yeah, and guatemala city may be tough, but i wonder what Azteca is like? what about cuba?
Perfect line-up last night — you people clamoring for Adu, Altidore, and Holden might consider that last night was not the time to get them WCQ time. Maybe playing Cuba at RFK, but not last night.