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USA 3, Sweden 2: The Highlights

Sacha Kljestan 2 (ISIphotos.com) 

                                                                                        Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team got 2009 off to a good start on Saturday night as Sacha Kljestan's hat-trick helped propel the Americans to a 3-2 win against Sweden at Home Depot Center.

If you didn't get to see the match, or if you just want to watch the highlights again, here are some match highlights:

There were plenty of highlights, and some great performances, as well as some disppointing ones. Which performances stood out for you? Which players surprised you? Disappointed you? Whose stock do you think went up the most?

Share your thoughts on the U.S. national team's 3-2 win against Sweden in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Liked what I saw from Sacha and Rogers in the match. Rogers showed he can play defense and proved he is truly two footed with those wicked corners. We saw glimpses of his speed and trickiness in the second half. I see alot of upside for that kid.

    Sacha gets a 10 for the match. Rogers a 7.

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  2. Good performances: Kljestan, Ching, Parkhurst, Clark

    so-so: Boornstein, Wynne, Califf, Thorrington, Perkins

    Bad performances: Davies, Cooper, Rodgers

    The rest, unremarkable.

    For all the Perkins haters out there, take a look at the video of those goals again, either from the field or from behind the net if you can find them. Both headers were well placed and Perkins was in exactly the right position. I would like to have seen Troy come out and pick off the cross on the second goal, but it was 8-10 yards out so his decision was not wrong, just different. This guy is a legitimate #3 for the U.S. and should get more call ups.

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  3. Obviously Klijestan and Ching’s stocks went up. That goalkeepers stocks sunk. Bornstein’s rose just a tab ensuring him of subbing for Pearce. Califf’s went up a bit. Wynne’s went up enough so that he will hopefully sub for Dolo in the future.

    Clark’s stayed the same.

    A great game.

    To me, on this day, Dempsey’s stock rose the most for me, then Klijestan. Donovan’s went up equally a couple of days earlier. I’m looking forward to seeing the first team play next month!! This has the makings to be the best USMNT yet. We actually have some international stars.

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  4. why is everyone hating on cooper? from what i saw while sitting on the field, cooper was pretty damn good. he gave 100%. and a lot of you are loving marvell wynne, but at times he really showed how inexperienced he is and why he only deserves caps for friendlies.

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  5. Rogers was by far not the “worst” player on the field. Did he have an amazing game? no.. Overall rogers did OK for his first cap. Don’t count out the fact that he took all the corner kicks.. and they were all very good corner kicks. Did I expect him to play better .. absolutley… is he ready for Mexico.. umm No, not yet. But he is a starter for Gold Cup. He was also suprisingly decent defensively.

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  6. The good- Sacha Kljestan, Brian Ching, Michael Parkhurst, Danny Califf. Sacha was the force that made everything happen on the field. He created with his passing and was one of the few people on the field that possesed the ball well. Ching’s assist on Kljestan’s 3rd goal was world class. I am a believer in Cooper, but not against Mexico. More so in the future. In my mind Ching just secured his starting spot against Mexico. Both Califf and Parkhurst were very much invisible throughout the game, but in a good way. They made the plays they needed to make in the back, and both goals came off of poor marking from the wing backs.

    The Not So Good- Kenny Cooper, Troy Perkins, Marvell Wynne, Jonathan Bornstein.

    Wynne did show some good flashes in tracking back after getting beat, and won a lot off balls, but he will have to do better at marking up when it comes to playing against the world’s elite wingers. Both goals came against poor marking. Perkins got beat on his near post and looked slow at his reaction in what seemed to be a weak header. Cooper just looked out of place playing, although did have 2 chances to score; I felt he was uncomfortable and didn’t gel well with this squad. No worries, everybody has an “off” day.

    The Bad- Robbie Rogers, Charlie Davies.

    I dunno if it was nerves or what, but both these two looked like they were playing out of their league. Yeah, Rogers put in some decent corners, but we have a bunch of people that can put in quality crosses. Robbie’s touches looked like his feet were made of stone. He had multiple turnovers and even dribbled the ball out of bounds unchallenged. Davies made some bad decisions in the final 3rd several times that could have lead to goals with the right pass. He had good hustle but that is about all. More friendly caps are needed for both before any significant playing time is given.

    Jason’s post earlier is spot on with starters for Mexico:

    ———Ching———————Donovan———-

    DmB——Bradley——Kljestan——Dempsey

    Pearce—Bocanegra—Onyewu—Cherundolo

    ———————–Howard————————

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