By RYAN TOLMICH
Geoff Cameron may not be a spot-kick specialist, but the U.S. Men’s National Team defender proved plenty capable in clinching his team’s victory.
Serenaded by chants of “USA! USA! USA!”, Cameron converted a game-winning penalty kick to earn Stoke City a shootout victory over fourth-division Luton Town in Tuesday’s Capital One Cup action.
Following a 1-1 draw that saw the USMNT defender enter as an 87th-minute substitute, Cameron was tasked with taking the eighth spot kick with a chance to win after seeing Luton Town miss for the first time on the previous attempt. Cameron promptly buried his shot, hitting it into the top right hand corner to give Stoke an 8-7 victory in the penalty kicks.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes, who called the penalty kick affair “a lottery”, praised Cameron’s overall performance.
“I thought Geoff did really well when he came on the pitch,” said Hughes, “and we needed his power and athleticism to make sure we didn’t concede again.”
With the win, Cameron and Stoke will now face Tim Ream, Emerson Hyndman and Fulham in the next round of the Capital One Cup.
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What did you think of Cameron’s performance? How far will Stoke go in this tournament? What do you expect from Cameron in the coming months?
Share your thoughts below.
Jozy also scored against Arsenal.
Also all those times his goals went off a player and were notched as an own goal. Or he hit a shot and the rebound a team mate put in the goal. Dude is unlucky. But then he should have gone to Germany or Italy. The EPL isnt the best place for goalscoring Yanka
That’s true GW….but I was being sarcastic
Cameron scored against Aston Villa (right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal) and Arsenal (left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner).
Altidore scored against Stoke (right footed shot to the lower left corner) and Chelsea ( left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner).
So you are right, this goal didn’t really count but the mare fact that we are comparing a striker with a defender for goals scored is down right pathetic (even if Cameron has played more than twice as many games as Altidore)
Damn……he’s scored more goals in the EPL than Jozy Altidore. lol
bizzy,
That us not exactly true.
The Capital One Cup, a watered down competition is run by the English FA not the EPL.
Goals there are generally differentiated from the goals a player scores in EPL league games.
And Jozy and Geoff are tied in that area with 2 apiece.
Besides, I’m not sure but I don’t think goals scored in penalty shoot out deciders are officially credited as goals. I’m pretty sure that did not happen in the Gold Cup or the World Cup. .
They are not.
They’re not “penalty kicks”. They’re “kicks from the spot”. It’s just a tie-breaking procedure, not a penalty.
Sorry. Don’t wanna be that guy but it’s basics.
You went there, so you ARE that guy
Yeah, I know. = But come on!
Oh please. People (journalists, fans, players, coaches) refer to them as “penalties” all the time.
Come on.
Many call it a PK shootout. Oh no!
But it takes away from the real issue.
Do a REAL shootout! Problem solved by the 35 yard line and the best 5 seconds in sports!
‘merica!
Ironic that the one field player who is playing the “top league in the world,” just like Jurgen wants, isn’t getting minutes for the US.
Hopefully he keeps his spot for Stoke when their defenders get healthy.
“isn’t getting minutes for the US”
That’s because Stoke didn’t want him to.
Geoff has 31 caps, 30 from JK .
JK has managed 63 games for the USMNT..
Taking away the last 7 Gold Cup games Stoke kept him out of leaves you with 56.
I don’t know how many games Geoff missed through injury or because they were January camp friendlies where the Euro guys were not called in but there were at least a few of those.
All of which means Cameron is called in more often than not.
You beat me to it.
340 out of 31 caps for Klinsmann. I think it’s similar for Beckerman. I guess these are the disgruntled veterans who won’t play for Klinsmann any more that I read about here a month or so ago.
Need to proof read better 30 out of 31 caps.
I don’t disagree with any of this. However, I did say “not getting minutes,” which is true.
I didn’t say why, but that’s because I don’t know why. Yes, Stoke did want him rested (reportedly), but they played him the last 10 games of the season once they locked up a mid-table place and could have rested him. I know that individual places mean more money, but they still could have rested him more.
Anyway, I don’t know why he hasn’t see the field for the US this year, but the fact is, he hasn’t. I honestly think the is the best CB in the pool with versatility to play all the other defensive-minded positions. I hope he gets called into the up and coming games.
Each additional place in the table in the EPL is worth 1 million GBP I believe. Why on Earth should stoke rest him in those games so he can play for the US in the summer? Also, why shouldn’t he have played for the US this summer anyway?
Meanwhile JK persists with a hack like Chandler at RB and guys who aren’t ready for prime time like Alvarado at CB. Just the latest in a series of baffling decisions by the genius head coach of the USMNT.
slowleftarm,
It is baffling to you probably because you don’t listen to what JK says on the topic.
After the World Cup he said that while he would always have some vets around to serve as teachers and role models etc. and to provide some continuity, they would use the next bunch of friendlies to try out other players and give his vets as much of break as possible..
So what happens? The games come , some vets are left out and people like you are screaming where are those guys?
The US had 19 games in that period,12 friendlies and 7 Gold Cup games, which Stoke kept Geoff out.
Mikey played in all of them mostly I think because he was available and they needed the continuity. If he was still in Europe, I doubt that he would have played in all 19.
If those remaining 12 games had been important from a results standpoint and Geoff had been available, I have little doubt he would have been called in.
And if that had happened, he most likely would have played in at least 42 of 56 games for JK when he was available. That is about 75%.
In other words JK may not see Cameron the same way you do but there is little doubt that he values him.
Why didn’t he play this summer? Would Stoke have asked a European player to sit out the Euros?
Geoff himself has said that he had some minor lingering injuries at the end of the season, and Stoke didn’t want him getting more seriously injured during the Gold Cup and missing time this season.
slowleftarm,
What does being American or European have to do with being injured?
Have you ever had a hernia?
If you want an answer to your question about Cameron , click on this link
This article came out in June of 2015.
http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2015/6/21/8820623/stoke-city-asked-geoff-cameron-to-skip-the-2015-gold-cup
For a more complete background, the quotes below are from September of 2014 just after the World Cup. Combined with the article in the link it becomes apparent that both Stoke and and JK eventually concluded that Geoff’s long term future would be better off with medical treatment and proper rest
“SB NATION
UNITED STATES MEN
Geoff Cameron undergoes hernia operation
By Ryan Rosenblatt @RyanRosenblatt on Sep 10, 2014,
Michael Kienzler
The Stoke and U.S. player will be out at least two weeks.
Geoff Cameron will be out at least two weeks, and possibly longer. The Stoke City player underwent an operation to treat a hernia, which will keep him sidelined until the end of the month, if not longer.
“It’s been troubling him for a while, so the time has come for an operation,” Stoke assistant manager Mark Bowen told the Stoke Sentinel.
This is not a new injury for Cameron. He has apparently been dealing with discomfort from the hernia for months, including at the World Cup. Of course, both Stoke and assumedly the U.S. knew of the injury and were comfortable not only letting him play, but that he could play at, or near, his best.
“He started feeling it last season, then obviously went to the World Cup and came back to us still feeling a bit sore.
“These things tend to manifest themselves over a period of months and now the time has come, but it’s difficult to say how long we will lose him for.”
Two weeks is generally the minimum recovery time for a hernia surgery, although it can take upwards of a month. Cameron had already been ruled out for two weeks at the end of August with what Stoke manager Mark Hughes called “a side injury,” which could have been the effects of the hernia. The club has not clarified whether the side injury and hernia are the same thing or different injuries, but it’s a good bet that they are the same.
Stoke won’t miss Cameron too much, as he has been relegated to bench duty this season, but he is a relatively big absence for the United States. Cameron did not play in the Americans’ friendly against the Czech Republic earlier in the month through injury and he is expected to challenge Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler and John Brooks for one of the two starting centerback jobs.
While there is plenty of time before the Gold Cup, and these friendlies are not especially important, having him in the mix is a plus for Jurgen Klinsmann, who preaches competition. The Americans play a pair of friendlies next month — October 9 vs. Ecuador and October 14 vs. Honduras — and this hernia operation puts him in doubt for both.”
I thought it was pretty commonplace that both Stoke and Cameron asked for break during the summer.
Anthony,
slowleftarm has made his visceral disdain for JK very clear so you should not be surprised that he finds JK’s decisions “baffling”. Such a person is not necessarily interested in tracking down what facts can be found about USMNT issues.
It is interesting that everyone is very critical of JK allegedly overusing his players to the point of injury but then when he allows players with lingering injuries time to recover by missing experimental friendlies there is something “baffling” about that.
Granted that the Gold Cup was important but clearly Stoke was very serious about keeping him out at that time.
This sort of horse trading is SOP for a national team manager and actually tells you how valuable Cameron is to both parties.
USMNT observers are unused to such negotiations because Cameron is an oddity, a USMNT outfield player who has become important enough to a his foreign team so that his release for international duty becomes an issue and becomes public.
If Cameron can, for the first time, nail down a regular centerback gig with Stoke then that will go a long way to helping stabilize an area that was last stable when the Gooch/Demerit / Boca troika were in their prime.
He may need the practice for the playoff.