Photo by ISIPhotos.com
Juan Agudelo's birthday is six days away, but he got his best present a week early, scoring the game-winning goal to help the U.S. men's national team top South Africa in exhibition action in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Fellow debutant Mikkel Diskerud worked a give-and-go with Agudelo, who took a touch in the penalty area before coolly chipping a shot off the bottom of the crossbar for the only goal of the match.
The goal made Agudelo the youngest player to ever score a goal for the U.S. men's national team.
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan, the captain for the young U.S. side, preserved the shutout with a handful of clutch first-half saves.
On a night when five players made their U.S. national team debut, every one of the newcomers made a positive impression. Along with Agudelo and Diskerud, Tim Ream was solid as a solid central defender, while Teal Bunbury played the target forward role well for 45 minutes. Gale Agbossoumonde came on in the 87th minute and helped hold the lead.
It wasn't just the newcomers who impressed. Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya and right back Eric Lichaj were standouts on the right flank for the Americans, while veteran centerback Clarence Goodson was a rock in the middle of the defense.
Not all performances were good. Robbie Findley floundered yet again as a starting forward, while Jonathan Spector struggled at left back, as did starting left back Jonathan Bornstein.
The U.S. national team ends the year on a high note and will return to action in January against Chile, a game that could feature several of the same players who played in today's victory.
What did you think of the victory? Ready to order your Agudelo jersey? Excited for the future of the national team?
Share your thoughts below.
Randy Moss?
You don’t think Jozy has his head on straight? Seriously?
final four team… sorry i hate 2 say this but with football n basketball taking all our best athletes we will never b top 4 team in soccer……… imagine lebron ocho to n kobe at mid with titans running back up top w d wayde…. 4get about it….lol
I totally agree that we shouldn’t get rid of Spector…he’s a very good player that had a bad game.
It looked like he was trying to do too much to compensate for the new faces on the field, and he didn’t have to because the rookies did well and didn’t play as if they were scared or intimidated.
I couldn’t agree more!
Now is the time to bring in new blood and
get rid of the players that have proven that they can’t be successful at this level…i.e. Findley, Altidore etc.
Spector is a very good player who made a few mistakes, that against a better team would have been punished, but he has proven to be a solid player for this team.
He has more upside than downside, we need guys like him.
Can we finally say goodbye to Findley and Altidore??!! Please?!?!
-100,000,0000 to bizzy and Hush.
Name one thing he has done good for the nats he has done nothing. Rogers performed better then him. Also, Rogers made a lot of crosses and beat players a lot. Bedoya did nothing he slows down play.
I think you did an amazing job actually!
+1
Yeah well it’s interesting that he hasnt committed to honduras even though he isnt a us citizen. That’s all
That’s great and all, but until he becomes a bona fide citizen of the United States, all you guys are doing is blowing hot air.
Read: he isn’t eligible for the USMNT yet. Period.
What an awesome moment for Juan Agudelo! Very cool.
Great goal!
Bedoya, horrible?
+1 to that…. he was without a doubt our most consistent player through out the game.
Findley has skills… watch RSL’s 09 playoff run again…. he was killing it on that wing forward role he was playing…. bring him to NY and he will be a probably… Findley is Dane 2.0
Ive been thinking about that for a while… considering he is out of contract… Findley would great with RBNY…. we should send them Medhi….
Robbie and Dane on opposite wings would be a huge problem with Henry and Agudelo
Picture this lineup come playoff time next yr
——Henry—–Agu——-
Findley—————Dane
——-Joel—-Tchani—–
Miller—————Solli
——-Ream–Marquez——
———Bouna Time——-
Everyone loved Spector a year ago. No reason to have lost all faith in him.
As for Bornstein… we all know how bad LB is for the US. That’s why he plays. Plus, he had a very solid World Cup.
Findley… I’ve got no defense for him. Hopefully Bob realizes he has no place on the team now.
I thought the CM would struggle. I think that held true.
I don’t think anyone could have predicted that ALL of the debutants would be so good.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be eligible for the US for years. Not worth talking about now.
Seriously people? I think we’re hardly in a position to be demanding impressive goals from our strikers. I’ll take tap ins over nothing any day.
Getting rid of Spector? Seriously?
You are horrible at analyzing players you are fired.
Well Chris did reply to my comments saying this more then once so obviously he must believe since he is posting to so many of my comments. Rogers has done more for the team then Bedoya. If Bedoya was so good why in youth he was not on the radar only time was when he trained with the U-23. He did not even make the China team and Rogers did.
Bedoya, had a lot of giveaways too. He is so slow and does not hustle and his crossing is horrible.
Watch the whole game next time instead of just the highlights and you will see.
Good stuff by the USMNT!
Impressed on the USMNT:
Agudelo: Now that’s how you score!
Lichaj: Just a nasty mofo!:)
REAM da Machine. Best Technical & Vision CB ever in our pool. This guy will be in EPL soon.
Bedoya-damn this kid covers ground on both sides.
Guzannnn. Always solid.
Diskerud – Amazing technical skill. He is ours Norway!!!:)
Agbus- Solid for the few minutes that he was out there. I’m siked about this kid too.
Bunbury: He knows how to pass and shoot quickly on to the goal and keep the ball on the first touch. 😮 Kid has talent.
Players who are, well, a bit sucky for most part.
Bornstein:LOL Borns is always going to be Borns. He will never suck more or be a better player than he already is,… he is simply Motha fuc%&* Boooornstein.
Finley: WTF? I thought we traded him to Canada for Bunbury. Guy is simply clueless.
Rogers: Can’t keep up with the speed of the game for the entire time he is out there. Sure he has his moments, but we don’t need him. Give him to Norway.
Gaven: Was ok on the pitch, but still lacks vision. He is good for MLS, not the USMNT.
Spector: I don’t want to give up on him, but clearly he is in no way healthy to play. I personally think he has some personal issues. He simply sucks bad right now.
“It also looks like he was not involved in causing the accident.”
The driver was fiddling with the GPS trying to find directions to Davies’s hotel.
What responsibility does a person have accepting a ride from a drunk person or enabling them to drive in the first place?
And then barely played…
Thought Bedoya was very good. Created the most chances out of any midfielder all night. People like to trash Bedoya, and I often wonder why? He has a good work-rate and his team in Sweden has overachieved, and he’s one of the reasons why.
He just turned down another Honduran callup to accept his rookie of the year award. The honduran head coach is getting pretty fed up with him. sort of the way arenas got with rossi. Basically, it’s obvious najar is leaning towards usa or else he wouldnt be hesitating like this
Bob Bradley probably has to have a great showing at the Gold Cup to keep his job and he seems to have a good sniff on the youngsters who can help him move the team forward. Once he gets the better young players mixed in with our current first team, he’ll be well on his way back to the World Cup. Thinking of how these guys will augment the first team has me really optimistic about our chances.
No way Agboussamande over Goodson.
Onyewu over Ream, not enough experience yet. He has to come of the bench.
Clarence Goodson is a force and needs to see substantial time.
You have LD on the back line and Holden on the wing.
I’m not going to call shenanigans just yet, but why?
Andy who?
Oh, you mean Andy Najar, the HONDURANIAN kid that plays for DC United.
He’s not even a US citizen yet, don’t get too excited with regards to him playing for the USMNT.
The future of the USMNT has finally had an upside. Agudelo, Gale, Burnbury, Ream, Diskerud and Bedoya are showing signs of real promise; Young, versatile, skilled and playing with heart.
Pause and Carrol held their own but better selections could have been made to see where certain player are (Adu, Grella, Kjestan, Davis). with that said at least BB is looking outside the box.
Ahh BB’s children the Robbies, Findley and Rogers, spector and Bornstein. Why they get REGULAR call ups is beyond everyone. Bornstein sails on past glory (he gets burned again and again but he scores a dying minute goal, he’s in!!), Findley played in a WC and is now a Vet(he shouldnt have even been there in the first place!!! yet he’s in). Spector and Rogers I think are really good friends with Michael Bradley and use to come over to the house because if bench warming was a crime spector will be a serious convict and Rogers, you have to ask yourself, what has he done to deserve such luck?
For all these players mentioned, with no top prior achievements (like Becks or Henry)….MLS picks it’s best 11, after being in the league for sometime now, without any dynamic skill or ball control, without carrying your team or impacting the game and you’re not even in the C team or third line-up, but yet you get to play for the NATIONAL team, not once but again and again and again?
Favoritism? Are selections about who you know not what you know? It’s hard being a diehard USMNT fan these days…….
Refreshing. Those who complain about your statements are the stubborn, immature, fanboys who don’t want to question their unthinking mob mentality and want to be free from rational analysis, loyalty, and perspective.
On another note, it looks like Charlie Davies is on his way back to his club side after his long and arduous ordeal following his horrific accident.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/17/AR2010111705955.html
It also looks like he was not involved in causing the accident. Allegedly, according to police the young woman driving the vehicle had been drinking and was probably speeding and fiddling with the car’s GPS when the accident happened. He’s still young (24) and if he can continue his rehabilitation progress his speed, whatever is left, can only add to the attack up top. I guess in the end despite the controversy at the time it’s probably good in the long-term for Davies as well as the USMNT that he didn’t make the trip to South Africa.
I agree, Alex was being necessarily harsh on the dude to feel superior (despite Webster’s definition of “ignorant”).
Awesome.
really curious to see this lineup:
——–Altidore–Agudelo———
Donovan–Holden—-Jones–Dempsey
Lichaj—Goodson–Ream—Cherundolo
————Howard————–
subs: Bunbury, Davies, Bedoya, Feilhaber, Bradley, Edu, Onyewu, Moss, Spector, Borns, Guzan