The U.S. men's national team takes on Poland tonight in Chicago's Soldier Field on a friendly that should give us a good glimpse into how the U.S. team is shaping up heading into the new World Cup cycle (8pm, Fox Soccer Channel/Galavision).
U.S. men's national team head coach Bob Bradley figured to make some tactical changes and take a look at some new faces, and we'll see our share of change based on the lineup the United States will field tonight. German-born midfielder Jermaine Jones will make his U.S. national team debut tonight.
I will be providing commentary on the 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 (Commentary is after the jump):
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FINAL– That's all for me. Thanks for following along, and feel free to share your post-game thoughts in the comments section below.
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FINAL– USA 2, Poland 2. USA has some dangerous flurries late, but can't put one on goal. Great debut for Jermaine Jones, frustrating night for Jozy Altidore. The defense was shaky on the night, but the attack showed some great signs of promise.
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92nd Minute– USA free kick from the right channel, far out.
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90th Minute– WOW, what a scrum in front of goal. USA comes OH SO CLOSE but Boruc saves it, USA can't get another shot on goal. Dempsey comes close, but his shot dribbles wide. WOW.
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88th Minute– Time running out on the USA. Can they find some more chances?
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87th Minute– Dempsey with a run andf draws a free kick about 28 yards out. Who will take this one? Jones, Holden?
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84th Minute– Altidore earns a yellow as the Americans look tired in these final minutes. If they're not careful, Poland will find a winner.
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81st Minute– Cherundolo draws a foul. Long free kick for USA.
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80th Minute– Poland corner. Cleared away, but Poland maintains possession.
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79th Minute– Holden's free kick service is headed out by Altidore.
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74th Minute– Holden draws a dangerous free kick at the left edge of the area.
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73rd Minute- GOAL POLAND!!! Another poor clearance attempt leaves a free look in the area and it is blasted past Howard. USA 2, Poland 2.
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71st Minute– Holden with an awful clearance that nearly led to an equalizer.
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68th Minute– Poland is pressing for an equalizer. The U.S. is on its heels a bit.
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63rd Minute– Alejandro Bedoya comes in for Feilhaber.
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61st Minute– SAVE HOWARD!! Punches away a DANGEROUS shot from distance by Poland.
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58th Minute– SAVE BORUC!! Altidore gets onto a bad back-pass from a Polish defender, but can't beat Boruc.
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57th Minute– It's going to be something when this group gets to play with Landon Donovan. The U.S. offense could be considerably better than the last four-year cycle.
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54th Minute– How good are Jermaine Jones' passes? Guy is dropping lasers.
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53rd Minute– That's two goals against Poland in his career for Onyewu. You have to feel good for him considering the path he's been through over the past year.
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52nd Minute- GOAL USA!!! Onyewu with the HEADER off a Holden corner. USA 2, Poland 1.
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51st Minute– Holden really is playing with confidence. The Americans are moving the ball well in the attack, and have earned a corner.
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49th Minute– USA comes close, but Artur Boruc corrals the ball.
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46th Minute– And we're back. No subs for USA>
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HALFTIME– The match started brightly for the USA, but defensive issues and Poland's relentless attack damped the enthusiasm. Altidore should have more than one goal but it must be noted that he's playing with confidence and has done very well to put himself in good spots.
Stuart Holden has played very well tonight, and Jermaine Jones has impressed as well. Onyewu doesn't look 100 percent, but has dealt with most challenges, save for a poor header clearance that led to Poland's goal.
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HALFTIME– USA 1, Poland 1. The American attack is moving well and creating chances, but the defense showed some spotty moments and Poland did well to keep pressure on the Americans.
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44th Minute– Altidore WIDE! A free header in front of goal and he sends it wide. Good job by him to get in position, but he needs to bury that. Good day so far for him.
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42nd Minute– Altidore OFF THE CROSSBAR!! Great pass from Bradley to spring him, but it hits the woodwork. Wow.
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41st Minute– SAVE HOWARD!! Poland with another dangerous sequence but the shot isn't good enough.
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39th Minute– Poland is relentless, but the Americans are holding on and withstanding the pressure.
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37th Minute– Holden skies the free kick high.
Jones is fouled yet again and isn't happy about it.
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36th Minute– Jones draws a foul at the left corner of the area, above the area. Dangerous free kick chance for USA.
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34th Minute– Onyewu's passing out of the back has left a lot to be desired. He should probably defer to Edu on service.
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32nd Minute– Credit to Poland, which has been dangerous and fast on the counter. This is no B team, but a young and talented squad. Let's see how the USA responds now.
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29th Minute– GOAL POLAND!! And yes, just as I compliment Onyewu he fails to connect on a clearing header after a bad clearance attempt by Holden. USA 1, Poland 1.
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28th Minute– So far, so good from Onyewu. He doesn't look quite as fluid as the Onyewu of old, but he's stepped up when needed so far.
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27th Minute– SAVE HOWARD. Stays in front of a hard long-distance shot.
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24th Minute– USA is having fun moving the ball around. Earned a corner.
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22nd Minute– SAVE HOWARD!!! Stops a one-on-one with Lewandowski. Clutch.
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20th Minute– Jermaine Jones' tenacity and work rate is impressive. Nobody will outwork a Jones-Bradley central midfield. Those two can run all day.
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19th Minute– This U.S. team is well suited to play the ball on the ground.
Poland's squad is very quick and is testing the U.S. defense.
Onyewu with a nice move to step in and break up a dangerous sequence.
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17th Minute– There is no doubting that Holden is playing with real confidence.
Jones helps break up a dangerous Poland counter.
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16th Minute– Howard saves a Poland header. Not too much trouble.
Liking this USA lineup.
Hard foul on Altidore. Poles aren't delivering challenges like this is a friendly.
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14th Minute– And just like that, we've seen just what Jones can bring to this squad.
Altidore looks lively tonight.
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14th Minute– Holden set up Jones on that play, and the USMNT newcomer lofted a perfect long pass that Altidore handles perfectly. His first goal since the Turkey friendly.
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12th Minute- GOAL USA!!!! And it's ALTIDORE off a BEAUTIFUL pass from Jermaine Jones. USA 1, Poland 0.
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11th Minute– Nice tackle and pass by Holden, good sequence for him.
Dempsey skies one into the stands. Americans moving the ball around well.
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10th Minute– Poland doesn't have many familar names but it looks like a quick squad.
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5th Minute– Central defense will be key to watch. We'll see how Onyewu looks and whether Edu adjusts well to centerback. He's looked good early.
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3rd Minute– Pro-Poland crowd, not that it's surprising, but a good turnout of American fans as well. Lively crowd.
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1st Minute– And we're off.
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PRE-GAME– Brian McBride was presented to the crowd at Soldier Field before the match. Nice touch. For those who didn't see, McBride scored a nice goal in Chicago's win against Columbus on Friday.
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PRE-GAME– We're about to kick off.
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PRE-GAME– Count me among those who really like the lineup. Very interested in seeing Jones-Bradley work together, as well as seeing how Altidore operates as a lone striker. We're going to get some very good insight into the current state of the squad.
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PRE-GAME– Here is the U.S. starting lineup, and yes, it's got some very intriguing developments:
———————–Altidore———————
Feilhaber———–Dempsey————Holden
—————–Jones——-Bradley————–
Bocanegra—-Onyewu—-Edu———Cherundolo
———————–Howard———————–
Maurice Edu gets the start in central defense. He has played there before, and offers up a very strong option in the middle. His passing out of the back should help the U.S. attack, but he also reads the game well and should be able to hold his own as a defender.
Clint Dempsey will be slotted in behind Altidore, at least that what it appears to be based on the lineup U.S. Soccer posted on its Twitter feed. Does seem a bit odd not to at least give Holden a look in a central role. Perhaps we'll see that at some point in the match.
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i say go with lady gaga
good one.
I have a doubt. he was always a physical player, excellent in the air but his ground game was marginal, saw him play today and my opinion still hasn’t changed.
Donovan is prone to pulling disappearing acts. I’m not impressed because he plays in MLS; a league of consistently boring football. Cherundolo was good but Bocanegra was piss poor. Onyewu and Altidore showed why they don’t make their teams or get enough minutes. Feilhaber is a 2nd division player and Edu sucks at centerback. Holden is okay nothing out of this world. Howard was okay and coach Bradley was not confident of his bench or he has no clue on making substitution
let me get this analogy…if you are at the end of the pine, or not even at the end of the bench of great teams, they are better than starting and playing solid for a smaller teams. I believe both of those teams have tried to sell or loan out those players and there was no takers. not sure if I would agree.
Everybody loves Stu! And at least before he got DeJonged, he was a great ball provider from down the right line. I think he probably still is…I hope. I think he should be the one to replace Dempsey at RM, not CM. Just my humble opinion.
Stuart for U-S-A Right Mid 2012!!
Thanks for the Sarah Palin comparison. That’s taken as a compliment. I’m entitled to my opinion in an open forum.
Holden, Dempsey, and Cherundolo were easily the best players for us tonight, all attacks went thru them. Love the confidence those three played with. Thought Jones was impressive in his debut, was tireless and showed a vision and pinpoint passing ability that far outstrips anything our current centermids have (excluding Holden).
The defense was still shaky, though I liked the lineup. Gooch was strong in the air, but just seems so slow on defense. Edu seemed to get more comfortable as the game went on.
Was stoked to see Jozy finish his early chance, but he really should have came away with 2 or 3 given the looks he had. He was visibly tired and should have been subbed out towards the end. Bradley played poorly all night long and should’ve been subbed as well. Don’t understand the lack of substitutions.
Most of your comments are fair. But, really a Donovan reference in a game he didn’t appear in? Still saying he disappears? Do you think Algeria, Slovenia, Brazil or the Supports Shield 2nd placers think the same thing?…
Holden gets my MOTM, thought he was way more than “OK”. Feilhaber should not start. Boca as you say, looked slow. Altidore couldn’t score in a Ho=house…Jones was a stude, didn’t think Mikey was that bad, but not a great game for him.Dolo studly game. Edu fine, Gooch is out of form, but is clearly ‘good enough’
it’s people like you who make people like Sarah palin become successful.
-12
thumbs way down
just got back from the game, my first time seeing the usmnt, really fun. i would say 70/30 polish supporters but everyone was cool. jones is the real deal. best USA player. it will be great to see him and donovan playing at the same time. gooch is not the old gooch, MB had some terrible rico clark-esque giveaways. altidore absolutely should have had more than one. i was hoping to see EJ actually, which brings to mine, 1 sub?????
Absolutely since the goal the Poles controlled the game throughout the first half. Actually until Dempsey was brought back to the midfield they did. Felihaber was non-existent and terrible on D. Bedoya was not much better, but was better.
And I’ll vouch for Mig22 as a Primo US fan, though I disagree with him on Jones.
Jones just showed that he is the best player for US Soccer. Way better than Donovan because he won’t disappear in games. A true box-to-box midfielder.
Onyewu is not good enough. Bocanegra is poor barely overlapped on the left to keep pressure on the Polish right winger. Holden was okay, Altidore is horrible and now you all see why he does not get minutes at Villarreal. Edu stinks at centerback and he was crap during the Olympics there too. Dempsey is Dempsey always giving his best. Bradley’s son disappeared like Donovan does. Everyone else looked ordinary.
y’all need to chill the freak out. for realz.
Luis Gil will save us. If we pray hard enough him and Donovan’s time my overlap in 2014.
uh…. we were winning ……. uh….. twice……
not arguing against improving our forward pool but is it completely neccesary to score at least 3 goals to win a game?
While he might not have made an impact tonight, I saw Bedoya play very well in his debut with the US against Holland. He just needs more time to jell with the team.
It was the Jones effect.
Bedoya isn’t good enough to play at this level. I’m sick of giving players who play in 2nd tier leagues a chance at the NATS beacuse they play in “Europe” while ignoring players who are as good or better who play in MLS.
@ B1879 – Ja! Jones spielt so schoen!
I’d give Jozy a 5, but otherwise these seem pretty fair.
Why not make more subs tonight? It’s a friendly.I think BB was afraid to lose this one and get the deluge of bad press.
Jermaine did a great job tonight of providing really great balls to Jozy. (who, then in turn made a mess of most of them.)
Stuey Holden did a great job. He was all over the place. Although, he did make a couple of big errors (ie. the attempt to clear the ball, which led to Poland’s first goal.) He’ll get better with more playing time.
Bocanegra is getting slower by the minute. His time may be up.
Gooch looked pretty good, especially for getting zero playing time in Milan. Awesome goal, but pretty embarrassing whiff to lead to the first Poland goal.
Michael Bradley must have had a cold or something. He was invisible.
Dempsey is getting better every year! So calm on the ball and with such great touch and inventiveness. Only thing I would say to him, is quit bitching to the referee about not getting calls. Get on with it.
Overall, pretty enjoyable game!
That scrum at the end in the box was amazing and crazy!
go USA
I can’t wait to watch the next game! Nothing says excitement like two teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs.
Jones was the best player on the field for the US tonight despite his poor clearance leading to the 2nd goal.
Holden looked great in my opinion. Really shows what the premier league has done for his confidence.
Bradley was TERRIBLE. One of those performances that made me remember the time when I didn’t like him but his dad kept playing him anyways.
Why won’t Bradley make substitutions? Ok, fine, you don’t want to during important world cup games? I don’t agree, but a defense can be made. One sub in a friendly though? He really must fear for his job. Pathetic.
Sullivan is terrible. Did I hear correctly that he actually played for the national team?!?!?!? Least amount of soccer knowledge I’ve ever heard.
HowardHowardHowarddddd
Our midfield looked fantastic tonight. When you add Donovan to the mix, we should be solid going forward. Our defense was shaky, tho.
I’m mad we didn’t cap Jones’ haircut as well
Bob Bradley = Analysis Paralysis
One substitute friendly… brilliant.
Please hire a real coach…please.
It’s just one game, but you’re right that Holden was clearly a cut above most other US players on the pitch tonight (his botched clearance notwishstanding). If he doesn’t have a spot in the starting XI going forward, that would be criminal.
Well Holden needs to start and hopefully in the middle; he is a person that can give rhythm. With all our midfielders, Mike needs to step up a little. For me, he played far too many bad passes.
Uh….. we need a goal scorer. If we had one we could have won this game with ease.
It was weird scoring first and relatively early.
Yeah, or at least do the dual support thing that a lot of fans seem to do.
Also, Benny was mostly invisible.
If he had raised his level to mediocre this would have been a blowout for the U.S.
Apparently, if you score a goal all else is forgiven.
Jones ist Herr Hustle.
We need a CLAUDIO REYNA!!!!!
sick of us losing control of the temp or pace… we attack score, next we are on our heels, they score we are back on the attack, back and forth, we can’t protect a lead to save our lives
I don’t know how many of those fans were actually Polish, but nothing makes me more sad than a US citizen who cheers for and supports another country’s soccer team. USA first. Celebrate your heritage with the food you eat, not the team you support.
He scored a goal and worked hard. He also blew several chances. That’s a 6 in my book. Maybe a 5.5.
People, this wasn’t a disaster, though the lack of subs is a bit perplexing. It is a friendly, losing because some subs aren’t up to snuff is forgivable.
Chris Sullivan wants to bone Stu Holden.
Jozy 6? As John Mcenroe used to say: “You can’t be serious!”.
Auf gehts Jones!
I think the reason Bradley couldn’t pull his son off was because when Bradley came off he would have said to his dad: “You think MY performance is bad?”
Jozy – 6
Dempsey – 7
Feilhaber – 5
Holden – 6
Jones – 7
Bradley – 4.5
Bocanegra – 4.5
Edu – 6
Onyewu – 5.5
Cherundolo – 7
Howard – 7
Bedoya – 5.5
Defense was rough, some bad decisions, but we generally looked well going forward, except for Bradley.
You get another full contract and this is what you come out with? One substitution in a friendly?
Your son and Jozy are the worst players on the pitch and you don’t even consider taking them off?
This has been one of the best almost performances I have ever seen.
Fire Bradley, now.
Fire that trash. Unbelievable.