Photo by ISIphotos.com
Santino Quaranta fought back tears as the national anthem played at RFK Stadium on Wednesday night. He was overcome with emotion at the chance he had worked so hard to get, the place on the U.S. national team that he looked to have lost forever.
Quaranta's battle with drugs, and successful recovery and resurgence in MLS was a happy enough end to the story, but he wrote an even better chapter to his comeback on Wednesday, scoring his first national team goal in his hometown stadium to help the United States post a 2-0 victory in Gold Cup action on Wednesday.
The Americans battled toe-to-toe with Honduras, which caused problems with its speed, but the American defense held firm and the U.S. attack received a major boost from second-half subs Benny Feilhaber and Charlie Davies to take over a game that looked to be in down with 25 minutes to play.
Quaranta finished off a Davies pass to make the score 1-0, and Brian Ching forced him the second goal off a great cross from Steve Cherundolo to give the U.S. team the victory.
There were several quality performances on the night for the U.S. team, from Feilhaber's classy passing, to Charlie Davies speed and vision, to Chad Marshall's rock-solid performance in helping shut down dangerous Honduran striker Carlos Costly.
While several Americans enjoyed solid nights, one who did not was Freddy Adu, who struggled to make a positive impact on the game and committed several turnovers in what turned out to be his final Gold Cup match (Bob Bradley revealed after the match that Adu was joining Benfica for pre-season in a pre-arranged move).
What did you think of tonight's performance? Who impressed you? Who didn't? Feeling good about the U.S. team's chances of three-peating as Gold Cup champions? Looking forward to the Haiti match on Saturday?
Share your thoughts below.
Congratulations to Santino on his goal, I am a fan from Baltimore and it was goood to see.
I really don’t understand the criticism of Beckerman. He has been solid in this tournament. Sure, he lost a few balls but the overall percentage was very low considering the very many touches he had on the ball. He showed up everywhere.His approach was calm and determined. His tackles were perfection. He may not make the WC due to the competition but I’m glad he’s playing in Gold Cup and look forward to seeing him in other matches.
Posted by: MUFC 223 | July 09, 2009 at 08:43 AM
I wouldn’t expect too much criticizing of Ching on this site in light of the admonishment we were given yesterday about criticizing him.
He had a bad game though. He made one ok pass (though it was a terribly obvious and routine one for any real forward.) Even crediting him with the goal looked generous to me. It looked like the ball went off the defenders shoulder after Ching whiffs on it. Looked like a straight up OG on the TV angles.
Davies was the real difference maker. The pairing of Altidore and Davies MUST be the one we rely on going forward. They looked good in the Confed Cup and both have actual athletic ability and footballing skills.
“After the Confed Cup, I thought it was reasonable to assume, that given the success of the 4-4-2, Bradley would make the players conform to that formation and find out now, in a throw away exhibition, who is able and who is not.
Instead we get Bradley dinkering around playing with formations that he thinks work best for this particular set of players, that’s short sighted Steve Sampson thinking.
Take them out of their comfort zones. Force them all to play attacking football. It’s time to find out who will sink and who will swim, not whether or not a 3-1-4-1-1 will work against Haiti’s B- squad.
Posted by: LansceArmstrong | July 09, 2009 at 02:52 PM”
Mr. Armstrong,
I must say your post contradicts itself.
4-4-2 seems to be their best formation but it is important to try other styles, such as 4-3-3 should the need arise. In the 2002 World Cup the US came out in a 3-5-2 that really seemed to fluster Mexico.
Better in the Gold Cup than in Qualifying.
First of all, for all those people that pile on the critical vitriol, cheers to you.
This isn’t Saturday morning U-7 soccer we’re watching. It’s the U-S-freaking National Team. Not everyone gets to play. Not everyone gets a pat on the back and a “good game”. What each and everyone of us should expect, nay DEMAND(even from our “C” squad players), is for them to give maximum effort, play organized, technically sound football at pace,and to display even a modicum of flare now and again.
After the Confed Cup, I thought it was reasonable to assume, that given the success of the 4-4-2, Bradley would make the players conform to that formation and find out now, in a throw away exhibition, who is able and who is not.
Instead we get Bradley dinkering around playing with formations that he thinks work best for this particular set of players, that’s short sighted Steve Sampson thinking.
Take them out of their comfort zones. Force them all to play attacking football. It’s time to find out who will sink and who will swim, not whether or not a 3-1-4-1-1 will work against Haiti’s B- squad.
Ives,
Can you start a topic on who the last few prospects Bob Bradley should be considering before finalizing his 2010 WC squad? Players that he hasn’t seen in the Confederation’s Cup or the Gold Cup?
Gremany wash-out J. Jones? El Tri wash-out Castillo? How about some rookies like Pontius and Wallace from DC United? What about hard-to-see yanks abroad?
i’m going to slowly sip the Quaranta kool-aid because i think he’s done a great job of getting his life back together and he did do really well last night even aside from the goal.
i’ve always been on the Feilhaber bandwagon and i’m glad he’s getting his game back. love him.
Look what just one month of Club playing time did for Benny..it got him into shape, and gave him his confidence back………I hope Adu is just trainning with Benfica and then he gets loaned out to a small club to play everyday and get back his top form; from the 07/08 season with Benfica.
And everybody complaing about specific traits within Adu…”not runnign off the ball properly” well when he was in form with Benfica he was doing that excellently…..including doing it on his goals with Benfica…….here is the first video to show it.. and the second video is his off the ball run into space and then excellent dribble in a very tight space and then a great headfake to trick 5 defenders and then a no-look cross to Cardoza…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCpIQalU2ao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prh3b8VSWkY
Just to clarify, I do not ever want a US player to fail. Truly I wish them nothing but success. I have never said that I don’t ever want someone to wear the shirt again — that is a ridiculous statement. If a player works hard and gets back in-form, then I’m all about second (or third or whatever) chances. In fact, I haven’t given up on Kljestan or even Eddie Johnson. Who knows — these guys could come still come good for us.
The problem I have is with people on this blog who relentlessly call for players like Adu and Cooper as if they are some kind of silver bullet for the team’s success. Then they can’t accept reality when the results on the field prove them wrong. I get really tired of hearing about how they’re rusty or Bradley isn’t giving them a proper chance. But hey, this is America, and healthy debate is a good thing, right?
Anyway, lastly, I will be more than happy to eat crow if Cooper tears it up on Saturday. I very much hope he proves me wrong. Peace out.
lastly, freddy adu. in my humble opinion, this has become a very simple situation with a simple solution. freddy has been given an opportunity with the USMNT in two games now, one game against mediocre competition and he has yet to shine. some might say, including me, that he left a lot to be desired wtih his performance against honduras. yes he scored against grenada, but he did not dominate in that game….and i think we can all agree that grenada is hardly strong competition. the bottom line with freddy is he needs to start producing…..and in order to be able to do that, he needs to be PLAYING REGULARLY. he should receive no more opportunities based on name, potential, or any other factor other than PERFORMANCE…..first and foremost PERFORMANCE with his club team. if he does not produce their, no more call ins. if his current club team is not an ideal situation for him, he needs to move somewhere that is, even if it means a move to mls. the fact of the matter is he needs to be playing….and for those of you that say he is too good or will not develop in mls, again, the bottom line is he needs to be playing to develop…..you have to crawl before you can walk….you have to walk before you can run. also, if memory serves me right, he did not exactly tear up mls before his move to benfica.
two very quick last thoughts about freddy, someone metioned being skeptical about his real age based on his lack of physical growth between age 14 and 20…..i am starting to wonder about his age as well. secondly, it is time for all of us to recognize that freddy is NOT FAST, he has QUICK FEET and a QUICK FIRST STEP, but he DOES NOT HAVE TOP END SPEED.
lastly, for all of you adu worshippers, due note, i am pulling for freddy BIG TIME, but i am first and foremost a realist and call it like i see it.
thats all for now….as you were
this is the first of two posts….
my random thoughts on last nights game and the individuals from this gold cup roster that have a chance to be rostered for the games versus mexico at azteca in a month.
good showing by the team last night. they were especially adept at being able to continue to grind away at honduras which, along with the subs of feilhaber and davies, contributed to the team being able to unlock the 0-0 score.
from this gold cup roster, i believe the players, as of this time, that have earned the opportunity to be called in for the next camp (read: training before mexico game) are marshall, rogers, holden, and quaranta. i do not mention feilhaber and davies as they are in based on the confeds cup. dolo and ching are in, as they should not lose an opportunity due to injury and based on their performances in the gold cup, look ready to compete for a spot again.
be back in a second with post #2.
The other thing I’d say is that results are not the top priority of this tournament. It’s fielding some guys to assess whether or not they might be able to help out at this level.
So calling for subs to be made at halftime, or wanting player x or y cast off the team for eternity is pointless. Thus far I think this has been a successful tournament as certain guys like Rogers, Holden and Marshall have shown they can play. Also nice to see Dolo back in action.
Last thing is that Heaps should see the field against Haiti. He’s been a good soldier and deserves what is likely his only cap in his home stadium. Of course Bob isn’t that sentimental of a guy, so you never know…
Fredua’s only plus skill is his creativity, but if he isn’t fit then dancing on top of the ball until it gets kicked out from under him is just embarassing. I can’t help but feel he has regressed. How is it he’s not fit? This is an incredibly important year for him. He should be preparing for his rare opportunities like a madman. The point is to show well in those opportunities like the GC so he can get more opportunities. Right now, BB is happy he can send Freddy off to training with Benfica, since he’s not ready to play in the GC. With all the positives in the last month, this has got to be the biggest disappointment.
I enjoyed watching the match. The teams were very even for most of the match until Benny and Davies entered the game and the US took their play up a notch.
Rogers had some good moments against better competition, so that was good to see.
Freddy just need some PT. Glad he got to spend most of the last month with the Nats otherwise he’d stink up the pratice field back at Benfica.
The thing is with players like Adu and Cooper, they like to have everything just so. They have to have certain kinds of players on the field, a certain position, a certain formation. Neither of them have any professionalism.
For instance, look at Donovan. The USA is having a problem at left midfield and Bob Bradley plays him there. Donovan does all the things that are required to play at that position, like helping defensively, while still displaying the traits of an attacking midfielder. That is true professionalism and neither Cooper or Adu have shown me that.
If I can interject something….
After every game, you’ll see a ton of comments from “fans” that will be along the lines of “I NEVER WANT TO SEE (INSERT INTERNET GOAT OF THE WEEK) IN A US SHIRT AGAIN!!!1!
Why not wish for these guys to work their butts off to raise thier game to a level to compete for a spot in this team?
Guys like Marshall or Quaranta who go YEARS between caps, and produce when they get there…. Or guys who wait patiently for thier opportunity to come (like Cooper and Torres are now), guys like Razov or Thorrington or Casey, who fill in when asked, even though they are not necessarily part of the big picture…. Why not watch EACH of those guys when they play, cheer for thier improvement and note the positives when they do?
Why hope for a Beasley, or a Pearce or a Kljestan to never wear the shirt again? This is really the highest honor these guys have as a soccer player.
I’m not sure how some of you folks function with that much negativity in your life.
You should try actually BEING a fan. It’s quite refreshing.
I had goosebumps seeing Santino in tears last night.
I wonder how many “fans” said, “great finish, but I wonder what Torres (or Adu or whoever) would have done.”
Posted by: EA | July 09, 2009 at 11:55 AM
I absolutely agree. The worst was when people started saying things like ” Beasley has NEVER contributed ANYTHING to American Soccer” that was just wrong.
I honestly think some people are being harsh on Adu.
Sure, he did not score. I was at the game last night, and he was playing more of a drop off striker, as if we were playing a 4-4-1-1. He consistently checked back to the ball, which was good since Beckerman dropped back a lot so he filled in the space.
I remember one instance where he did do a series of stepovers and he shook the guy twice, not to mention 2-3 flicks with the outside and sole of his foot to lead players into the box. Sure, he didn’t contribute to the final score nor did he constantly maintain possession, but it was not a bad performance. Worse I would give would be a C.
Regardless, the introduction of Feilhaber was vital…great touch on the ball. And having Quaranta score here in front of his home fans…amazing night.
We USA fans were VASTLY outnumbered, but we could not tell due to the chants down in our sections, and I’m sure the silence of the Hondurans fans helped as well.
Anyone else think Rogers MIGHT deserve a call-up for one game? He has tons of energy and pace on the left flank (where I would like to see Adu try one time eventually…)
I think it’s important to note Q’s addiction problems were due to taking pain killers for his injury problems. Yes he’s an addict, but it was borne from prescribed medications, not recreational abuse.
@EA
I totally agree.
People were ruthless after Beasley made that blunder against Brazil. Some people shouldn’t even call themselves fans. Totally classless.
If I can interject something….
After every game, you’ll see a ton of comments from “fans” that will be along the lines of “I NEVER WANT TO SEE (INSERT INTERNET GOAT OF THE WEEK) IN A US SHIRT AGAIN!!!1!
Why not wish for these guys to work their butts off to raise thier game to a level to compete for a spot in this team?
Guys like Marshall or Quaranta who go YEARS between caps, and produce when they get there…. Or guys who wait patiently for thier opportunity to come (like Cooper and Torres are now), guys like Razov or Thorrington or Casey, who fill in when asked, even though they are not necessarily part of the big picture…. Why not watch EACH of those guys when they play, cheer for thier improvement and note the positives when they do?
Why hope for a Beasley, or a Pearce or a Kljestan to never wear the shirt again? This is really the highest honor these guys have as a soccer player.
I’m not sure how some of you folks function with that much negativity in your life.
You should try actually BEING a fan. It’s quite refreshing.
I had goosebumps seeing Santino in tears last night.
I wonder how many “fans” said, “great finish, but I wonder what Torres (or Adu or whoever) would have done.”
@Patrick
It seems like half the people on here will bash a particular player while the other half will praise him. I think some people like to bash on players regardless. Like the guy above who trashed Kenny Cooper. It’s like he wants Cooper to start just so he can see him fail. What kind of attitude is that? A lot of people here have something against certain players and they can do nothing right in their eyes. Bugs the hell out of me. That’s why I usually stay out of the comments section.
I thought Beckerman played excellent last night as well.
BB NO MORE 4-5-1!
Oh wait. The last time I said that I was correctted that it is a 4-4-1-1.
BB NO MORE 4-4-1-1!
BB NO MORE 4-4-1-1!!
The game canged when Benny came on, because Benny is good, AND because we went away from the 2 defensive mids alignment that BB wants to cling to.
Looking at the starting lineup, I could not see where the goals were going to come from, and sure enough the chances in the first half were limited. Ching should have scored and Adu should have put his header away. Against a better side we would never have gotten a sniff on goal.
We never had a real big goal scoring threat so we need to have 2 forwards. The only way you have more forwards is less defensive mids. Once Feilhaber replaces Pause and Davies replaces the ineffectual Adu, we have our 2 forwards and a better attacking mid. Sure enough we were much more threatening.
Thoughts:
Pearce played well, I think he is a better player than Bornstein.
Marshall was a rock. MotM.
Beckerman was fine for the level of competition.
Rogers was just OK. not that dangerous.
Quaranta was fine, but Holden I think is better.
I will take Ives word that Ching is valuable, but he still cannot put fear into top defenses. He just is not a goal scoring threat.
Adu played his way out of SA 2010. Unless he has a real nice year in Europe, I just do not see him making the squad. There are better options.
I would have liked to see more of Cooper. Long range blasts are something we need more of.
Here is what I would like to see against Haiti.
—————Cooper—-Arnaud (Davies as sub)————-
Clark———-Holden—-Beckerman———-Quaranta
Pearce—–Marshall—–Goodson/Conrad—–Cherundolo
——————-Robles—————————-
Interesting that Ives doesn’t mention Ching as one of the players who was abysmal last night. A bit of bias there….no?
Posted by: MUFC 223 | July 09, 2009 at 08:43 AM
Probably because Ching wasn’t abysmal. However, even if we say he was, this being Ives’ blog I think it’s safe to assume that bias is allowed. Try trolling on a less Ching-friendly site if it upsets you.
Im surprised to see so much ill will toards beckerman. I thought he played well. He’s got an odd sense of calm on the ball and the balls he plays are usually weighted correctly and into space. I don’t think he’s going to take anyone’s spot on the WC team, but I was pleasantly surprised.
I also thought Rogers played excellent. I can’t count the number of times he spun on a defender, or got off a cross. They didn’t appear to be as effective since we were playing one forward up top, so there were less men in the box.
No, Tino isn’t the savior of the US team, but it is an amazing story that can’t be ignored.
He is a striker turned midfielder, an attacking midfielder. His vision was fantastic throughout the game, but he didn’t take on players and get behind them.
He’s not going to make a huge impact, yet. Don’t forget he was at the residency camp in Bradenton as a teenager, and was a phenom, until he lost his head. Now he is moving back towards where he could be, but making up for the lost time will be very tough. I hope he continues to get better and has a chance to make the World Cup squad with a good January camp next year.
Hopefully Cooper will get the start against Haiti so you fanboys will see how one-dimensional, slow, and soft the guy is. He is not a target, hold-up forward. He tries to use speed of which he is lacking. At 6’3, he plays like a much smaller man. OK, we all know Ching’s limitations (slow, somewhat clumsy), but he brings something which no one else in the MNT forward pool has (very strong in the air, good passer). I can’t stand Conor Casey, but I can see why he gets minutes — he’s the only other player who I see playing that target man role. Altidore doesn’t yet seem to be willing to do it, although hopefully he can learn. Bottom line, if Jozy and Davies keep improving, no one else can touch them, and they will be playing together up top for years to come.
Some impressions from Section 215 (where all the beer was being thrown at the end of the game):
THE POSITIVES:
– Marshall was darn solid; owned everything in the air, did a solid job on Costly, and was not outpaced much (I’ve seen the US defense get torched by fast forwards far worse than last night – anyone remember @ Guatemala in the last round?). Basically Gooch lite, as others have side. Buh-bye, Dan Califf.
– Beckerman was quiet but very solid. Good tackles and positioning, tidy passing, reliable if not especially dynamic distribution. Would like to see him show a little more vision in his forward passing, but otherwise very solid. Like a less athletic and less offense-minded Michael Bradley, without the brain-farts. Can Beckerman keep it up vs. better competition? Dunno.
– Cherundolo: looked solid all game. Never really got beaten, got forward well, decent crosser of the ball, very composed. I’ve wondered in the past what people see in him; now I’m starting to get it.
– Davies and Feilhaber: Subbing them in was like beaming in 2 guys from a different (and much better) planet. ‘Nuff said.
– Quaranta: started a little slow, but even in the first half showed skill, creativity and composure on the ball. Hope we see more of him.
THE MEH:
– Ching: best of the “meh.” Not a great game, and he’s clearly shaking off the rust, but still the best hold-up forward we have, capable of some perfectly-weighted passing with his back to the goal. Works hard, gets mauled every time he has the ball, never complains. But it sure would be nice if he could finish better, last night’s goal notwithstanding.
– Parkhurst: I guess his positioning was fine, but didn’t seem very composed on the ball, passing was mediocre at best and he picked up a silly card.
– Pause: who? I barely noticed he was on the field. I guess that’s OK from a D-Mid, but he didn’t do anything to either impress me or horrify me. Jury’s still out.
– Rogers: better than in the Olympics, but still seems like a headless chicken at times. Has some great tools but still needs to master them. I thought he improved greatly after the Feilhaber/Davies sub — I think he really needs someone skilled to combine with, and Adu wasn’t getting it done.
– Cooper: big guy who has some skill but doesn’t seem to know how to use his size. I like that he was able to find shots and put them on frame, but was shocked that he couldn’t win anything in the air and didn’t seem especially gritty.
– Perkins: very hesitant off his line a couple times, otherwise. One nice save off a free kick late in the game, though I thought he was out of position for it to start with. Congrats on the clean sheet.
THE SUCKY:
– Pearce: sorry, he sucked. He didn’t get burned as frequently as he sometimes does, but he’s too f’ing slow, and got turned a couple times. No coincidence that Honduras’ 1 really good opportunity (the breakwaway) came on his flank. Worse, he’s just atrocious when he has the ball — his passing is awful, his crossing is worse, and he picked up a moronic yellow after getting stripped. The Grenada game made me wonder if he was back – now I know better.
– Adu: I like Freddy, really I do. I think he has a great skill set, and even when he’s a little off, he can still dazzle at times. He didn’t last night. His runs were lazy, his decision making was poor, and he didn’t combine well with anyone. I know he’s not really asked to play much D, but c’mon, you can at least chase a little in the attacking third. And I wish he’d stop making these loafing diagonal runs off the ball, instead of busting ass to a spot and squaring up to the ball to receive it. He doesn’t seemt to understand that he’s not “open” when he makes those lazy runs – he’s just taking up space. I think Rogers especially suffered because of how Freddy played last night. Good luck back in Portugal, Freddy – I hope Benfica is, uh, beneficial.
THE FANS:
Aside from the end-of-game beerthrowing and an annoying set of guys in front of me who stood on their seats the whole game, I thought the Honduran majority (I’d say 60-70%) behaved OK. Lots of good-natured trash-talking, but nothing nasty that I saw. Of course, if I understood Spanish, I might feel differently, but put it this way – I never felt threatened.
DONT NEED TO BE A GENIOUS, to know that you need to take Pause or/and Adu out, But the subs should have been made at half time. I was screaming my lungs out, for those changes since the first half.
Quarterfinals are doubleheaders. I’m headed to the Dallas ones.
That line up looked awful last night. They looked like they had never ever met each other, let alone played a game together, which of course is true, but they’re supposed to be professionals and they have been practicing together.
Ching and Adu together up front, made Davies and Cooper seem like Rooney and Ronaldo in comparison.
After looking first class against Grenada, Rogers certainly came back to earth.
Do I ever have to watch Kyle Beckerman play again? He’s not as bad as I remembered but he brings nothing to the table.
Bradley continually fails to impress with his lineup combinations.
anyone see them sniff salt at the beginning of the game?