The U.S. national team returns to action for the first time since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup today when it takes on Slovakia in a friendly in Bratislava (10am, FSC).
The Americans are without Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, as well as the injured Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, but there are still plenty of starters who will have chances to show they can play without the team's top players.
They face a tough Slovakia side that has also qualified for the World Cup. Led by European-based stars Marek Hamsik and Martin Skrtel, the Slovakians should provide a stiff test today.
I will be providing commentary for (the second half) of today's match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action:
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FINAL- That's all for now. Share your post-game thoughts on today's match in the comments section below.
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FINAL– Bright spots for the USA? The Bradley-Feilhaber tandem looked comfortable together today and played well. Spector looked solid in central defense and just might have put his stamp on that position. Robbie Rogers didn't look bad today. Brad Guzan also looked very good in goal.
Not so bright spots? Bornstein got caught out a few times, and gave up the penalty kick. The starting forwards, Altidore and Casey, didn't make much of an impact today. Goodson didn't look good as a centerback option off the bench.
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FINAL- Slovakia 1, USA 0. The home team takes the match courtesy of a Marek Hamsik penalty kick. Not the prettiest match, but there were some bright spots for the AMericans to build on.
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93rd minute– How badly does the USA attack miss Landon Donovan today?
And how bad is the field in Bratislava?
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92nd minute– Two more minutes of stoppage time.
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89th minute– Cunningham draws a foul for a pretty decent long free kick chance for the USA. They took it quickly and Bornstein's low cross is pounced on by the keeper.
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89th minute– Nice touch and turn by Cunningham, but he's run down and dispossessed rather surprisingly.
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88th minute– McCarty has looked good since coming in. He certainly hasn't looked out of place. Goodson? Not so much.
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86th minute– Johnson with a decent run forward, but can't beat Martin Skrtel.
Spector has done well in central defense today. I wasn't sold on him being able to play centerback well on the senior level, but today I think he's proven he's a solid option there.
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85th minute– Jeff Cunningham gets his first cap since 2005. A well-earned appearance, now we'll see what he can do with the opportunity.
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82nd minute– Very good play by Feilhaber to steal a ball and draw a free kick.
Jeff Cunningham and Sacha Kljestan coming into the match, Jozy Altidore and Robbie Rogers come out.
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80th minute– Goodson has not looked good since coming into this match. You wonder if Chad Marshall's fitness is an issue. He did just recently come back from a knee injury.
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77th minute– Bradley and Feilhaber working well today in the second half.
Skrtel just took a hard hit and is down.
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74th minute– SAVE GUZAN!!! Looked like an offside play but no call and Sestak puts a shot on goal that Guzan kicks away. Nice save.
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73rd minute– I know there's been some criticism about McCarty's call up but the simple fact is that he enjoyed very good form for FC Dallas last season, particularly in the second half of the season.
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72nd minute– Dempsey and Bocanegra come out, Clarence Goodson and McCarty come in. This is McCarty's first national team appearance.
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70th minute– Bornstein with a hard foul from behind, no card.
Dax McCarty is coming into the match.
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69th minute– Still 1-0 Slovakia.
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65th minute– Dempsey's free kick hits the wall, setting up a corner. The Rogers corner is caught.
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64th minute– Eddie Johnson is getting his chance right now and it's definitely interesting to see how an Altidore-Johnson tandem might do together.
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60th minute– Marek Hamsik's 26th-minute penalty kick is still the difference in this one as Slovakia holds on to a 1-0 lead.
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54th minute– SAVE Guzan, Slovakia putting some good pressure on in the second half here.
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51st minute– Johnson with a good look but puts his shot into the side netting. Great pass from Dempsey to spring Johnson.
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HALFTIME– Eddie Johnson comes in for Conor Casey.
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37th minute– SAVE SLOVAKIA. Dempsey's long free kick forces a diving save. Well-struck shot from Dempsey on that one.
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29th minute– Nice passing sequence for the Americans, but Altidore's shot is saved. Better movement from the Americans.
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26th minute- GOAL SLOVAKIA!! Marek Hamsik converts the penalty drawn after Jonathan Bornstein committed a foul inside the penalty area. Slovakia 1, USA 0.
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25th minute– PENALTY! Jonathan Bornstein called for bringing down Vladimir Weiss. A closer look at the replay seems to show Weiss actually putting his arm around Bornstein's neck and then tumbling as soon as Bornstein got an arm up on him.
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2nd minute– USA corner leads to a few shots at goal that are blocked before an offside call. Very good chance there goes wasted.
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PRE-GAME– Spector gets the nod in central defense today. Chad Marshall is not in uniform today. I would have pegged him to get the nod, but he's out.
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PRE-GAME– Here is the USA starting lineup:
————-Altidore———–Casey——————
Rogers—————————————–Dempsey
—————Bradley———Feilhaber—————
Bornstein—–Bocanegra—-Spector——-Cherundolo
————————Guzan——————————-
USA snap judgments:
GK: Good
Defense: OK
Midfield: Good
Forwards: Poor
Dax definitely did well. Broke up a bunch of plays in the middle. And did well moving the ball along.
Amy,
Do you speak from personal experience?
That was not Slovakia’s best punch. You really don’t want them in our group.
Since Brian Ching left the scene, the people on this post seem to be looking for a new whipping boy. They forget this is a team not the Conor,Jonathan, and Clint + 8 show. The criticism borders on hysterical.
The US got a lot done today during what amounted to glorified scrimmage for both teams. They established a nice buildup rhythm when coming out of the back on offense, Rogers looked promising, Spector eased concerns over Onyewu’s absence, the back 4 seemed to be in better rhythm, Guzan linked up well with his defense and made me less nervous than Howard does.
All in all a good base to build on.
Umm its questionable because weiss had both his arms up around borensteins neck and wa falling down on his own, the contact as you say is 50/50. I think we can all say we’ve seen a similar call not been given
never say we dont need Onyewu again
its been a while since ive been impressed with altidore.
Some positives:
1) Central defense was solid. No major mistakes. Even when Goodson came in there were no major errors.
2) Cherundolo is a strong option for right back.
3) Overall the possession was good. The team played well in possession through the midfield. It was when they tried to go forward that mistakes were made.
4) EJ definitely has the pace we need up front, skill and finishing is still questionable.
5) Dax McCarty did well. Cut off the counter attack, worked hard and distributed well.
6) Robbie Rogers is another wing option.
7) It wasn’t a full strength squad!
8) Brad Guzan is another world class keeper (and not a bad second keeper for the USMNT).
Negatives:
1) Forwards played unispired. Couldn’t make penetrating runs through the Slovak d.
2) Sasha Klestjan should never touch the pitch for the USMNT. He took some good freekicks, that’s about it.
3) Dempsey needs to be pushed up top (although he made some ok passes when he pushed to the middle).
4) We still need to check out another left back (aside from his occasional good passing ablility, Bornstein is not going to cut it).
5) We miss Davies’ ability to get open and creativity up top.
Guess you missed the Confed Cup.
Yeah, what’s Dempsey’s problem? I guess he didn’t get the memo that right mids are supposed to help out left backs in defense.
See: USA vs. Spain, Confederations Cup
Holden brings end to end action from wing or middle, solid two way player. He can play wing and let Dempsey play up high which the offense desperately needs. He can also challenge Feilhaber and Bradley in the middle.
Exactly right. they look very poor, zero attack, Brazil walks in without a jog or sweat.
That’s another reason to play him higher as a second striker, the first is he has the best attacking skills.
Even if he just had basketball skills he would know how to receive the ball in the post. Jozy make yourself wide, keep your balance and keep contact with the defender, BB 101.
Ratings:
Brad Guzan – 7 – Was pretty good when you consider how far apart all the remarkable saves were. There wasn’t a lot to do about that penalty
Steve Cherundolo – 5.5 – Got involved early, but faded offensively and seemingly didn’t have a lot to do defensively. He did take a knock right at the end.
Johnathan Spector – 6 – Considering it’s his first time at center back for Bradley, he looked calm, and distributed sharply. He did keep Cestak onsides on his near goal. He might just be the fill in for Onyewu the USA needs, but Denmark should present a tougher challenge.
Carlos Bocanegra – 6 – Might have missed one or two tackles that led to some dangerous opportunities, but other than that, didn’t place a foot wrong.
Johnathan Bornstein – 4.5 – Didn’t handle Weiss well at all, which included more than just the penalty, as the winger, and his replacement, got behind Bornstein quite a lot. He settled a bit in the second half and got forward better, but we expected better from him today.
Robbie Rogers – 5 – Combined with Cherundolo for some nice play up the flank early and supported him well defensively, but Bradley played him because of the service he provides and his crosses were hardly up to par.
Michael Bradley – 6.5 – Made some good crunching tackles throughout the game and helped the USA keep possession with some good passes. However, he was dispossessed too easily more often as the game went on when the USA needed to create chances. Might have had a goal early had it not been for Altidore’s hand ball.
Benny Feilhaber – 5.5 – His willingness to sit back and let Bradley charge forward also contributed to the USA’s possession, but, like Bradley, he found himself getting stripped a lot and could dissappeared for long stretches at a time.
Clint Dempsey – 6 – Had ideas, made himself available, had some good shots, and it seemed like the USA’s best interchanges came when he pushed into the center from the left, but was missing the extra bit of quality the USA really could have used.
Jozy Altidore – 4.5 – Was just invisible for the majority of the game. He only really seemed to show flashes once Johnson came on for Casey. His early handball kept the USA from taking the lead.
Conor Casey – 4 – Didn’t move around enough and none of his ideas came off. In his defense, there were barely any longballs played that game which is an area he does specialize in.
Subs:
Eddie Johnson – 4.5 – Only marginally better than Casey, as he actually attempted to take players on, but he sent his only good scoring opportunity into the side netting.
Dax McCarty – 5 – Didn’t seem to have a problem dealing with physical play and only added to the USA’s ridiculous amount of possession with his passing. Not a bad first step for the Dallas midfielder
Clarence Goodson – 4 – Had one blemish that he made up for and didn’t really do anything Bocanegra didn’t do better.
Jeff Cunningham – N/A – He’ll thank Bradley for the cap, but didn’t do much to seperate himself from the bunch. Might have deserved a longer look.
Sacha Kljestan – N/A – Provided some good crosses but his passing continues to be an issue.
I always thought Spector’s greatest asset was his crossing ability. Playing CB kinda takes that away. He definitely played well today, I just like him more as a RB.
Gooch is the best CB the USA has ever produced. I think he’ll be ready for WC 2010 though.
Well I definitely missed this one because I was too exhausted from the Galaxy game last night. It sounds like we’re really missing Charlie Davies. Between EJ and Cunningham, who played better? I’m glad to here Spector played well at central defense. I like the option of starting him there, especially since Cherundolo is a damn good RB as well. Hopefully we get to see some of Castillo versus Denmark.
Gooch was awesome in the air, however his skill on the ball was the worst of our field players. I think we will be fine without him. I would like to see spector against Norway with Torres in Midfield and Castillo at left back. This is a good opportunity for Bradley to experiment while still fielding a strong team. Bring Demps up top with Jozy. No Sasha or Casey please!! They have no business being considered for 2010.
In what way was the PK “questionable”? Bornstein gets beaten like a rented mule, makes contact, PK. End of story. Even if the contact’s 50/50, when he gets beaten any contact he makes is going to be a PK, he’s got to know that. He was terrible today.
Yeah, hard to look good when *every* single move down the side goes at you because your wings don’t track back to help cover. Everyone screws up sometimes.
the reaction here seems to be more about US fans wanting to scapegoat someone for everything, meaning Bornstein is to blame for getting caught out with the penalty. It doesn’t matter how they looked the rest of the game, or their cumulative body of work. One mistake means they should go. It’s short-sightedness to a huge degree.
This is why if Bob ever calls up Orozco people will be screaming about how much he doesn’t deserve to be on the field. Disappointing.
Ives, you thought McCarty looked GOOD? How about when he was standing there not paying attention and the ball got played to him, late in the game? How about his consistently inaccurate passing and brutal lack of creativity? I’m sorry, but little Dax made no positive impact on the game whatsoever, except to add bad hair to the field. I don’t see how Goodson, despite one mistake, was that bad either. You new fave Bornstein, on the other hand, was atrocious today.
GOAL Brazil!
I thought our boys played well. Calm on the ball, good midfield play, great possession. The forwards left a little to be desired. But really after a questionable PK Slovakia was willing to pack it in and concede possession. It is tough to create scoring opportunities (exhibit A Spain vs US). It is difficult to break down an opponent who has everyone back and is simply doing an occasional counter. That being said I thought Bornstein, and Sacha were pretty bad. And none of the forwards really did anything. I was hoping for EJ to have an affect.
I’m starting to hear the “we’re better without Gooch” calls which means it’s time for me to bring out the shotgun….OK, I’m kidding……I don’t own a shot gun…
Anyways, I think that even though Spector had helped the USA keep possession out of the back, I think that what showed more than anything was the lack of chances on goal. Some of our good chances come from balls out of the back and while that may seem like anti-soccer, it’s better than a loss like this. I will say that Spector helping us keep possession out of the back would have been more effective had the two target forwards dropped back some.
well we don’t have alot of depth on the wings but yeah people pay alot of attention to his play in the gold cup
Also to be fair, after the questionable PK Slovakia pretty much packed it in. The accepted TONS of US possession and just stayed back. Penetration forward is tough with an opponent playing like that.
Wow. If Pearce had gotten on, it would have been bizarro FC Dallas, with McCarty, Cunningham, Goodson, & Johnson out there.
People started cheering for Holden several games ago… why did this happen? why is Holden such a necessity for this senior team? He did well against a some minor opponents, but for our A team we will have Dempsey, Bradley, Feilhaber, Donovan, Clark (flaky at times), Torres (way better than the pt he gets), Edu (hopefully), Jones (possibly?) and Beasley (joking…lol) I guess my point is I don’t see what others think Holden brings to the table that makes him a Must Have.
theyre actually all pretty stupid, and not funny. sorry pal.
Public Enemy #1 just revealed himself……
True, Bornstein was beaten quite a few times, but Dempsey barely ever dropped to help.
bornstein wasnt that bad at all.
Landon makes penetrations with the best of them.
haha i thought the ref was playing favorites a bit too. i think slovakia’s alright, they won their group so they can’t be that bad. hamsik and weiss looked good. it was really frustrating clearly seeing them timewaste and dive in an attempt to ensure the win. did they not realize it was a friendly?
I think it was obvious today that Spector in the middle is a better option than Marshall. Bradley needs to get our best players on the pitch. The US did well with what they had to work with today. With the exception of Sasha K and Casey having no business in the US team. Caseys performance against Honduras was awesome, however it was a bit of a fluke in my opinion. I would rather see Demps up front with Jozy.
I really don’t get the Dempsey bashing. He played fine. I definitely didn’t see a lack of effort. He was getting back on defense. I thought Bradley played fine for the first 75 minutes and just had a really crappy last 15. The back line played well for the most part. My only gripe is the lack of quality scoring opportunities. Dempsey needs to get a start up top. I want to see Cunningham more. Give Bradley a game off and start Kleistjan.
Is the Chad Marshall injury serious or will he be available for Denmark?
i don’t know what game you are watching but i see two teams that are showing the ability to pass crisply and accurately, hold up the ball with strength, good movement with and without the ball into space, well timed and composed defending, individual speed and flair pretty regularly, dangerous crossing and technical ability … of course that is unless you are a Brazil sycophant … then you are probably seeing Brazil “dominate” …
I agree. We looked good in the first half in spite of the goal and I think that was mostly due to the good pass work by the midfield. Our forwards didn’t show up today. 0IMO Jeff Cunningham was the most impressive forward today and he was far from great.
Please. Bradley got us to the final of the Confed Cup and the WC. This is the best selection available, which is a condemnation of our country, not Bradley.
England is getting dominated right now by Brazil. They are approaching nothing near creativity.
You’re forgetting the best one! Jonathan Spectator.
or Russia. But my point wasn’t that we weren’t as creative etc as them but that we were NOWHERE NEAR as creative etc as them. i don’t expect the US to be as good as brazil or england or even russia … but we looked like rec leaguers compared to them … and that cannot bode well for the WC.
Disagree with your first point. Feilhaber and Bradley did a good job of covering ground offensively and defensively. Did you notice that there was barely a single long ball played over the top by the defense( or anyone, for that matter)? That’s because Bradley and Feilhaber showed themselves and helped them play of the back. However, Altidore and Casey didn’t drop and attempt to receive any passes from midfield so a lot of the time Bradley and Feilhaber tried to play a ball that got intercepted, or would be dispossesed on the dribble. Our best interchanges came when either Dempsey cut central like he does for Fulham and played behind Altidore and Casey to link passes, or when we played the ball out wide for either of our wingers, as they weren’t as tight on the flanks.
I think this is a better formation for next Wednesday:
————–Altidore—-Dempsey————
———————Holden——————
————-Torres–Bradley–Feilhaber——
Castillo—-Bocanegra—Spector—-Cherundolo
——————–Guzan——————–
All in all, the USA didn’t play poorly as a team, but we expected better from players like Altidore, Casey and Bornstein, we didn’t get it, and it ended up being our downfall.
frustrating game to watch. no offensive continuity. either we lacked the touch or vision or both. at least we tried to keep possession, though, which is more than I can say for slovakia.
i kept thinking during the game that Altidore looked like some really athletic guy who had never played soccer before … seriously there were times he would get passed the ball with back to goal and a defender would come up behind him and with the slightest of nudges get him off the ball and take the ball away … pretty sad. i guess there is a reason he cannot even play at Hull.
Donovan and Holden are now must haves.
Really???? We aren’t as creative as Brazil and England! oh No!