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USA vs. Russia: Match Day Commentary

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The U.S. Men’s National Team will play their final match of the year this morning in the city of Krasnodar as they take on the Russian National Team (10am, ESPN2).

Jurgen Klinsmann has called in a team that is a good mix of regular starters and new young faces to take on a dangerous Russia side that has enjoyed a strong run of form in World Cup Qualifying.

Here is the USMNT lineup for today’s match:

Howard; Chandler, Cameron, Bocanegra (c), F. Johnson; Williams, Jones, Bradley, Gatt; Gomez, Altidore

Yes, that is Josh Gatt preparing to make his U.S. Men’s National Team debut today as a starter.

SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s match so please feel free to follow along with the action here. As always, you are welcome to send us questions, as well as share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):

Comments

  1. PROs:
    * Never-die-attitude. in fact, seems like we play better a goal down. We got what it takes to win against anyone, even w/o our star players Deuce, Donovan, and Boca.
    * Coach Klinsmann wins again. Key subs made the difference. MAD MAX! DISKERUD! DISKERUD!
    * Young Guns shine – Agudelo, Mad Maxx lit it up!
    * USA FANS! I was so pissed when we gave up the penalty. Then we scored in the final minute! SO STOKED! that’s the best way to finish the game. We got the last laugh! Mine was delirious!

    CONs:
    * Jozy. gotta produce to play. make room for the young guns. ’nuff said.
    * we gotta attack like this (last 15) all game.
    * that horrible, terrible announcer (not the englishman). he said “USA lost” at the 89th minute. what a chump! FIRE HIM!

    ON THE FENCE:
    * Jermaine Jones. so good, then his last touch is terrible! but he can work on that.
    * Sacha. his ‘stache gave him a new look, and I gave him another chance – cept he too has an iffy last touch. still shows promise.

    Great game all around! Stoked about our team. that’s how you come back in an away game! that’s our USA! we never die! Old Ironsides mo’fo’!

    Reply

  2. so we tied Russia, beat Italy and Mexico all games in their home fields and next month we will drop to spot #50 and Mexico will climb to #15 in the FIFA rankings

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  3. On a side note… can we all just finally come to the agreement that Hope Solo is a media whore mixed with a little bit of white trash?

    I am sorry but you do not marry Jeremy Stevens unless you just love the limelight…he has a wrap sheet a mile long and was even a person of interest in the death of his girlfriend at the U or W…. honestly Hope… you could have done much better…

    Reply

  6. So all in all a fun way to spend a Wednesday morning and a good look at future prospects. Now it’s time to get serious. Get to business. It’s the big time next year boys, and the Hex ain’t no joke. Can’t wait.

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      • Im juat thankful espn “allowed” us to watch this on using watch espn and not black it out like they do sometimes for iPad users.

      • Comcast. I actually don’t have cable, just hi-speed Internet. Which is why I can’t sign in to get ll their games on watch espn. But my question is why some and not others?

  7. Can people finally admit how good JK’s coaching is? This isn’t the first time his in game adjustments are proven decisive, or that his controversial callups have paid off big time.

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    • Props. Some big positives today not just in winning the game but blooding some new talent in a smart way. And I remember someone saying something about how if we won this game we’d have the single year highest winning % in Nats history.

      Reply

      • Why was it crap? Aside from the Williams blunder, we were pretty solid and not really threatened.
        And don’t forget that the sapping job done by the starters allows the subs to reap dividends, as well. So you can’t say: oh we should have started Mix since he scored. Maybe Mix scored because the players in before him wore out their Russian counterparts and allowed for his opportunity to even be possible.

      • That is what they used to say about BB.

        Then when that got sorted they said his subs were crap.

        You just won’t give JK any credit.

  8. Great goal by Bradley & Diskrued.

    I think Aguedelo should be played as an active mid role. he has great offensive instincts and passes well.

    Reply

  9. Great result by the U.S. playing on the road. The U.S. has to fix a few things up, but I think they will be fine. Give credit to the U.S. Twellman and Lalas. How about criticizing Russia for the 2 U.S. goals?

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  13. Make no mistake… while we got a 2 all result…. we were far from good….. Bradley and Howard about the only ones worth a mention…. Edu came in and did fine….I thought Jones was better than people want to give him credit for but he made a bunch of mistakes too….

    Gatt is the next Rogers but I think he can develop into something more but he must take players on when on the wing.

    Reply

    • I think we did quite well. Coming into Russia with a makeshift team and drawing twice while only allowing goals consecutive to big blunders is a pretty good performance.

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    • No, we were good. We got bossed by a better team, but came away with a point. We had two well fought goals…Russia had a gifted goal and a penalty. All of the questions raised in this game are about our depth. Williams and Goodson have both had their share of poor games.

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    • Yeah no. It was his first cap for christ sake. He showed good movement off the ball. I don’t fault him for being a bit tentative to take players on against a good Russia team in his first cap.

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  23. Overall, a pretty good effort by a patchwork team in a hostile away game vs. a pretty decent European team. It was a pretty even game between 2 squads who are very close in strength. We made 2 blunders, and we paid for them. That’s pretty much the difference in the game.

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    • He’s not that bad, but he’s not starter material. He’s still a decent option as an emergency clog. That PK call seemed pretty soft.
      Unfortunately, the US don’t have that many viable CB options right now.

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  26. Goodson is such a tool. Always looks like the spoiled rich kind on the field if something doesn’t go his way. Think it’s time to move on, we can do better than him as a depth CB, but not until JK gives others a chance

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  29. jozy not stepping up when this was a showcase game for him. some good but when he’s been put in good positions, has not taken advantage.

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    • Man I tired of hearing your anti-Jozy agenda. Get over it already. Talk about doom and gloom. Jeeeesus. I don’t understand the rooting against a young attacking talent who wears a US shirt. Btw that play to JJ from Altidore just now was damn good.

      Reply

      • Nah. All the USA players are my favorite because they wear a US shirt and i support them. I don’t think it’s worth tearing them or down or constantly being a negative nancy or speaking so much hyperbole about everything. Your unrestrained bias and dramatic manner of talking is just grating. But Im sure you’ll never understand that about yourself so I don’t even know why Im responding. I guess I just feel obligated to stick up for our boys.

      • Agreed Mem. I don’t think Jozy is playing well for the Nats, but A just comes off as an obnoxious, histrionic dbag.

        We all root for the same team.

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