photo by Joe Toth/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
It may have only been a draw, but for the U.S. national team, the 1-1 tie it posted against England surely felt like a victory.
After giving up an early goal to Steven Gerrard, the United States pulled level in the 40th minute when Robert Green fumbled a Clint Dempsey shot into his own net.
The draw wasn't just a result of luck. Tim Howard put forth his latest incredible performance, saving several shots, including a couple from close range.
The defense also impressed, as it played an organized game against England's talented group of attackers. Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes for the first time since injuring his patellar tendon last October.
Not all was perfect, though. England got off to a great start in the 4th minute when Emile Heskey played a through ball to Gerrard, who finished easily from close range after losing Ricardo Clark with a well-timed run.
The U.S. team responded with multiple opportunities, including headers from Onyewu and Jozy Altidore, but none were directed towards goal.
Things looked to take a turn for the worse for the underdogs, however, when Howard went down in pain after a collision with Heskey. Howard received medical attention for a few minutes before staying in the game.
The Americans then equalized when Dempsey created space against Gerrard and unleashed a shot from 25 yards out. While it looked like a routine ball, Green mishandled it and watched in agony as it slowly rolled into the back of the net.
Altidore almost put the U.S team ahead in the second half when he rounded Jamie Carragher and saw his shot saved by Green before it bounced off the post.
The U.S. attack cooled down towards the latter parts of the second half, but the defense continued to play physically, giving Rooney a hard time to leave his mark on the game. The solid defensive play, combined with huge saves from Howard, saw the U.S. team pull out a point as England threw numbers forward in the waning moments.
The draw not only puts the Americans in prime position to advance out of Group C, it also gives the United States a 1-0-1 record against England in World Cup play.
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What do you think of the United States' draw with England? Impressed by the team's performance? Confident it will get out of the group stage?
Share your thoughts below.
Not sure if people are still reading this thread but I’m still not sold on Clark. He continues to have big blunders in major games, though he has apparently ditched cards for falling asleep. He does make the game more ragged with his defense, but when we had the ball it was like playing with 10 men. Still, I won’t dispute he helped us get the result, though I’d like to see Torres get some time. For those of you saying Bradley Jr. didn’t play well, you are out of your minds. It would have helped to have a central mid partner to whom to could pass the ball. If Bradley keeps playing like this, he will be moving up in the club world. Also, whatever criticism of coach Bradley, my own included, we must recognize how much steel and belief he has added to this team. The U.S. used to wilt after giving up goals, but no longer, even though the letting up of the first goal is annoying, at least the team recognizes there is still a game to play. Props to Bradley for that.
Says the guy who is a complete jerk
Go suck an egg
that banner pic is sick!!!!!!!!!
The allure of the champions league is very strong. I think Tim is the best keeper in England. Probably top five in the world, right now (along with such jokers as Buffon, Julio Cesar, Casilias ands few others) and at 31, he’s primed to have a brilliant five years. But he’ll never reach that level at Everton. He’ll never have that stage, save this summer and hopefully Brazil, where he can reach rock star level. He may love living and playing on his side of the Mersey, but his career has topped out there. When the big boys come calling, and with a few more performances like yesterday they will, it’s hard, at the prime of your career, to remain a big fish in a relatively small pond.
I have to agree with you. I am not a Clark fan but I thought he had a decent game. I hate that Clark is getting all of the blame for the England goal. Go back and look at it and you will see that Gooch is just as much to blame. He was caught in no man’s land.
Go USA!!!!!!!!!!
England fans couldn’t take the 1-1 draw that well =]
I’ll eat my words if either of them score, but Buddle and Findley are good MLS forwards who can’t keep up with the international game.
Can we be honest and say that England just wasn’t very good?
Bradley knows what he’s doing with Clark. Clark is obviously the holding/defensive mid that he needed against England and he did a good job in THAT role. Now, against Algeria and Slovenia, (who I just wasted time watching), Torres or Edu should get the nod to up-tempo the offensive and score many a goal. IF Bradley does not do this, then we have a problem with a coach who plays way too defensively.
Bradley also should have used his subs at around the 65th-70th minute to inject some fresh blood on the pitch. All in all, very good game against a very strong team.
I get tired of the Clark bashing. I like Torres and Edu, and perhaps I’d start one of them, but Bradley (and Eintracht Frankfurt) see the value in Clark, and if you watch the game carefully, you will too. His passing and handle could obviously be better, but he has an incredible motor, plays box to box, is very good at reading and disrupting the passing lanes. He’s a very athletic destroyer. Now, he WAS to blame for the goal, he got caught ball watching and lost his mark. But he’s a BETTER defender than Edu or Torres.
I don’t mind debate about who should start in the midfield, but Clark is one of the reasons that the US WON the midfield battle in this game. He and Bradley completely shut down service to the forwards from the midfield. Other than a long range shot or two, what did Frank Lampard do? I’m not sure that Torres could have accomplished the same thing.
With Bradley and Clark, or Bradley and Edu, we have no center of the midfield to build with. We need a playmaker = we need Torres.
Clark was predictably atrocious but you can’t say we win 1-0 if he wasn’t in. It’s a scoreless draw if Green wasn’t in, would be the England counter-argument. I’m begging to see Torres.
Seriously dude? He plays for a crap team that would be beat by his old team Houston Dynamo. Clark is crap and every self respecting soccer player/coach/fan knows this. Bradley has some weird and treasonist affection for clark. Get rid of bradley and clark and get a foreign coach and the US will rank above 10 and get past the initial round in every world cup.
HAHA, not after Clarks wonderful play. Don’t know what people or bradley sees in this guy. He’s MLS JUNK!
Clark the most experienced? What good is experience when you can’t even mark a man from the touch line to the 18? Watch the reply and you will see Clark is the LAST guy who should play center mid. He is supposed to be the defensive mid of the duo of bradly and clark which means he’s supposed to be good at marking and defense. I didn’t see much good marking when Gerrard jogged past him. It is not like Gerrard quietly passed behind him. Clark pointed at him before the ball was thrown in to let Boca know he had him. Then he watched as Gerrard ran past him towards goal, all the while you could see Demerit and Onyewu as well. Who did he think was going to pick him up?
He’s terrible and bb just likes him because he’s a former MLS guy.
You mean like Rooney stretched the field and scored all those goals? Like Ribbery scored all those goals? Its the first game and to be honest the best partner for Findley is Buddle. He would have finished that header and perhaps the close shot.
Yes you give credit to Gerrard but England is also giving credit to Clark for allow Gerrard to run ubmarked from the sideline into the box. this after clark picked him up just before the throw in. In the reply you see clark point at Gerrard and let Boca know he had him. Then he preceeded to allow Gerrard to run past him.
This is unexcusable. If Bob Bradley plays Clark any more than it is proof he play’s favorites over talent and that is treason in my book
Great game for the US. However, I’d like to see them try to keep possession more late in the game.
Oh, and Findley…Yes you can stretch defenses with your speed, but we need goals goals goals!!!
As I have said so often before…WHY DOES COACH BRADLEY HAVE SO MUCH FAITH IN ALTIDORE?
1. He has a horrible touch on the ball
2. He always misses the easiest of shots
3. He rarely chases back after he loses the ball
4. He makes poor decisions (like taking a weak, off-frame shot from distance when he has a teammate expecting the ball after making a slicing run into the box for an easy tap-in)
I DON’T WANT TO SOUND LIKE I’M NOT HAPPY WITH THE TEAM OR THE DRAW, I AM HAPPY.
But is Altidore the best we can do on the international level as a starting forward?
Still love the team, from the coaches all to the way down to Altidore…but Josey,if you’re reading this, please prove me wrong and I’ll be your biggest supporter!
GO USA !!!!!!!!!!!
Adding my approval to this as well.
It’s incredible to me that anyone can be even remotely negative right now.
Playing one of the best, most talented teams in the world to a draw after being down 1-0 4 mins in … our backline, despite so flimsy in the leadup, absolutely stepping up and showing the Confed Cup wasn’t a fluke … great poise and resiliency after the early goal, to again, play some of the best players of this generation to a draw in the World Cup (!).
Give the negative a rest and enjoy this. Oh, and we’re no where near done yet. Despite what you hear from their camp, I think England played well (even Capello said as much), and they are the toughest we would face until the quarterfinals. We can do this, why not?
True I was surprised they didn’t mention Cherundolo much. He was outstanding. Demerit illicited some ooh la la’s, not the good ones, when faced 1v1 with Rooney , because he couldn’t really keep up. Wenger rates fast and skilled defenders – of which Demerit is neither – and it’s true that it was a bit more reassuring when Onyewu was on Rooney not Demerit.
I am Bradley does not deserve to lead our troops! He is horrible!
I agree great game but horrible! despicable! coaching by Dumbley! We had a chance to capitalize with the following changes:
Torres for Clark (no where to be found)
Herculez for Findley
Move Dempsey up top for tired altidore
Beasley for altidore!
With these substitutions we could have won!
Studs up. Late. Knee locked. Defenseless goalkeeper.
Excessive force through and through. It was an absolutely blown call.
Could not disagree more. Findley was terrific. He stretched the field and he and altidore are really starting to gel.
while watching in a crowded bar, you get swept up in the excitement. My initial thoughts were that the USA played well for the most part … However, I just watched some extended highlights and boy did our D look incredibly shaky. England’s poor finishing along with Tim Howard’s sure hands really bailed out our defense. Lots of guys either out of position or losing their marks throughout the match. Happy with the result, but the Slovenia game is really dangerous.
Sorry, “Post”,
I’ve been reading too many English tabloids in the run-up to this match. Hell, even their broadsheets had us pegged as an
Eng
Alg
Slo
Yank
three points . They can suck an egg. Limey bastards.
I agree with you about Dempsey. He and Donovan both had certain stretches of the game where they disappeared but when all is said and done, he got the goal and brought us one point
Warren, you are so cool when you make personal attacks online. Damn you’re so cool!
Well F you too lol
according to Daily Mail, Dolo was the lowest rated US player…what? http://tinyurl.com/3368gwx
Eench beses Yossarian Shod lavem? lol
BB was just trying to insert Gomez at the end to waste time in order to preserve the one point.
I so wanted Buddle to start instead of Findlay and I was really hoping that Torres would have subbed into the match at the half.
BB was very slow in substition decisions this day.
Anyone know when they wipe away the yellow cards? After the round robin and possibly again at the Quarters?
We have one. His name is Maurice Edu
I think you’ve got a pick ’em between New Zealand and North Korea 3rd string CBs.
That’s the one. No goals, and no team with more points than us.
Gerrard gets credit for losing Clark and scoring England’s goal, but I thought Bradley was the best of the central midfielders. No doubt when the U.S. is favored in the 2nd and 3rd matches, Torres will start along side. The U.S. was certainly lucky, but Altidore had two clear chances (wide header and break away past Carragher) that could have easily led to a result.
I love Jay, Jay from the USA, and he had a great game, but I think he will probably end up at a different championship team…I think he could fit in nicely with newly promoted Leeds.
you’re wrong
While I’m very satisfied with a draw and at least getting a point, i think Bradly was certainly out coached! After England scored Capello put in Shaun Wright Phillips. Clealy he wasn’t going to go defensive. He wanted to keep the preasure on the US. What did Bradley do after his other favorite player (jr being his favorite) let Gerrard slip into the box unmarked? Nothing! Not even after half time did he put in fresh legs. Then with 20 left he puts in Buddle? Clark, and Dempsey were tanked, but takes Findely out? I don’t understand this. England is kicking themselves for all the chances they had but didn’t finish. Bradley was out coached yet again and shows the world he is not an international coach of any stature.
By the way, CLARK IS THE WORST PLAYER IN THE TOURNAMENT! Tell me i’m wrong
Bring in Torres for Clark for goodness sake! Let’s get offensive against Slovenia and Algeria and put in 3 goals so one defensive breakdown won’t ruin things for us…
grow up man! Why stoop to personal remarks?
To all English Fans who read this. Most of us Yanks are far more classy than this guy. We are elated to have tied with a team like England
Did you watch the game? Clark was horrible. He watched as Gerrad sprinted past him towards goal! Clark had a horrible game and was the weak link. Every time he got the ball he frantically looked to dump it to the first guy he saw. If clark had not been in the game, it would have been 1-0 US.
his plan worked? you mean he also thought about the green’s goal in his plan? BB was lucky, he made a mistake putting clark over edu, it only took 4 minutes to show how bad a decision it was. in fact, if you look at the replays of the other 2 of 3 close call that almost cost us two goals, it was clark that was ball watching and lost his man or didn’t cover for demerit or gooch when they had to come up. I wished BB would have used all of his 3 subs on our players that were obsolutly tired, but he was busy watching the game. don’t kid yourself. we got lucky, of course, players like dolo, gooch, mb, demerit and howard had an excellent game.
+1
good points.
I’m not sure luck was everything, Dempsey hit a solid ball on goal – and yeah the goalie fumbled it. You might have heard about this ball they’re using which does weird things….anyway credit Adidas, or Green, witht the assist, but give credit where it’s due too – Dempsey made the moves to spring himself for a solid shot on goal.Which found the net.
Wrong, we have Tim Howard, steady EPL goalkeeper, Clint Dempsey who carried Fulham to a final, and Landon Donovan.
After the US star trio, both Dolo and Gooch were very solid performers.
MB and Clark were up and down, while DeMerit marked Rooney out of the game, so give the man credit.
But while the goal was a gaffe, the fact that Clint struck it will surprise few in England who watch his weekly performances.
So far so good, a win and tie should be enough to get us out the the group. Though 2 wins would be more comforting for sure.
A good, fair result, but neither team played particularly well. No great gaffes for the US, but nothing exceptionally positive either. The defending is what we’ve come to expect (although Gooch is still a little hampered in the air), we are still vulnerable on our left flank. I think other people are right to suggest that Donovan should line up on the left if only for his ability and willingness to track back. Obviously Rico will be replaced by Torres or Edu, but he was in tonight for his physical intensity in an ersatz premiership contest. I liked Findley’s pace and I think we should stick with him, give him some more time to gel. Jozy was OK, but the guy just lacks intensity. He is our softest player mentally. Yo, Jozy, you still have a lot to prove! Get into it! I liked that we had some possession however inelegantly. I think this was a tactical consideration and Bob has encouraged the players to slow down a bit. Great game from Cherundolo, I was happily surprised there. In some other site’s comment thread someone likened England to some of the failed, star studded efforts of USA basketball and it’s a good analogy. For American players, international competition is still their proving ground, and they coalesce around that idea.
anyone know what result we should want for tomorrow’s algeria-slovenia game? i’m thinking a 0-0 tie would be best for the americans. am i wrong?
now you sir may have a future in this line of work. I agree with yours for the most part, Gooch did have a good game and while Ricois the convenient fall guy for Gerrard’s goal, Onyewu was way out of position too.
Still a solid 7 is fair overall for Gooch. 8.5? maybe next season.