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USMNT rolls past Guatemala in World Cup Qualifying rematch

Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports
Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The U.S. Men’s National Team needed a strong bounce-back performance and three points after suffering a shocking shutout loss to Guatemala last Friday.

The U.S. got both, and a little bit of revenge as well.

Four different players scored and the U.S. cruised to a 4-0 win over Guatemala in a World Cup qualifier at Mapfre Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Americans had suffered a 2-0 road defeat at the hands of the Central American nation in a qualifier last week to face a virtual must-win situation in this rematch, but had little problem disposing of Guatemala en route to picking up three more points on the road to Russia 2018.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s side was in such control of the affair played in front of 20,624 fans that the U.S. head coach inserted teenage midfielder Christian Pulisic into the game in the 81st minute. Pulisic, who made his international debut with the appearance, is now cap-tied.

Facing pressure to grab a win after losing to Guatemala for the first time since 1988, the U.S. came out flying out of the gates and took a lead in the 12th minute.

Clint Dempsey got the U.S. on the board when Geoff Cameron clipped in a pass towards Gyasi Zardes in the penalty area. Zardes drew a pair of defenders that collided on the play and the ball ricocheted off of the U.S. youngster and into the path of Dempsey for the easy finish. The goal gave Dempsey a U.S. record 14 goals all-time in qualifying, one more than Landon Donovan.

The Americans doubled the lead 10 minutes before halftime through Cameron, who peeled away from his mark on a free kick to meet Michael Bradley’s service and flick it into the back of the net with a nodded effort.

Guatemala inserted Carlos Ruiz and Marco Pappa into the game at halftime in an effort to find more of an attacking punch, but it took a mere seconds for the U.S. to make it 3-0. A ball was slipped in behind the Guatemalan defense, and Zardes got a touch on it before Graham Zusi fired home clinically.

Substitute U.S. forward Jozy Altidore capped the scoring in the 89th minute, blasting a shot past Guatemala goalkeeper Paulo Motta after Dempsey danced on the ball in the penalty area.

The Guatemalans struggled throughout the match to test the U.S. back line, and one of their best chances came on a tame effort from Stefano Cincotta in the 33rd minute. Cincotta took advantage of minimal space down the left to fire a shot that went right into that hands of U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

The U.S. now sits in second place in Group C of the third round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying with seven points. Trinidad & Tobago remains in first after smashing St. Vincent & the Grenadines, 6-0, in their Tuesday bout.

Qualifying now takes a break until the fall, and the U.S.’s attention turns towards this summer’s Copa America Centenario.

Comments

  1. Zardes is the Mr. Bean of U.S. Soccer. Totally messes everything up but gets a lucky bounce and it turns into a goal. I hadn’t been too harsh on him in the past but after many commented on his poor first touch I began watching for it more closely. Holy smokes, it was atrocious. Comically bad at times. I really don’t think he should be starting for us right now. He killed many opportunities for us. That being said, he did play a role in 2 goals and I’m not really sure what that means.

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    • No doubt. How many people rate Bedoya higher then Zardes? My guess is most but Zardes has stumbled into more goals and assists in half the appearances Bedoya’s had.

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  2. What a tactical tour de force! Cameron at CB? Brilliant! Yedlin at RB? Who would have thought? An attacking CM backed by a true DM? Genius! An experienced RW? Wow! JK has hit upon a secret formula! It’s magical, I tell you, magical!

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  3. It was great to win but it doesnt undo the poor decisions on game 1 or the poor performances since the WC. Even last night… stone foot Zardes gets the start and was a turnover machine. The two best things he did were clumsy, things that he screwed up but ended up good.

    Klinsmann cannot be trusted to make the right player decisions the first time out and sometimes, thats all you get… I wanted to see Nugyen but didnt… Nagbe was a game changer last time out and was also rewarded with zero minutes

    On the game…. MOTM was a tough call between Cameron or Zusi for me. Zusi as a destroyer, coupled with Beckerman changed the game. It even made Bradley look kind of good

    The next time out will be REALLY interesting. No possibility of Bradley will let us see how the team looks without him.

    The kid looked good. Quick, good passer, good dribbling…. I’d start him over Zardes right now.

    I totally disagreed with pulling Wood for Jozy. Wood ran his ass off and should have been able to finish. Im not sure the Jozy goal was a pass… looked more like Dempsey making a move and Jozy stole the ball. Also, does it look like Jozy has porked up again? He looked big and slow last night in his cameo

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  4. US Soccer fans are Charlie Brown waiting to kick Klinsmann’s football. Klinsman should still be fired because we all know that in the next qualifier he’ll play Bradley at left back, tell Dempsey he’s out of form and won’t be playing for the MNT ever again, and start Orozco at CB…. again. We have a talented team that should expect to win every match against CONCACAF opposition. We have a joke of a coach who should be teaching an aerial yoga class in Sonoma, not directing the future of US soccer.

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  5. Good performance, but one we should have against guatemala, kinda sad that we lost to this team on friday. However lets not forget they got two goals through a set piece and a complete freak defensive lapse, and remember we were without 2 of our top 5 players (FJ, jozy), and had to shift around our backline, and all that being said with some even reasonable finishing should have gotten the draw at least.

    I thought yedlin put in his best performance yet at RB, prob the best weve seen at the position since dolo. Bradley and Deuce were back to their best. Cameron cemented himself as our best CB option. Castillo was eh, but what else do we have at LB? Loved the way wood, finlay and pulisic ran at people. Zardes was alright, but do we ever wonder what he could be with a touch?

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  6. Woo hoo! We beat Guatemala at home in early stage WC qualifying! That is such an improvement over the past in US Soccer! The program is really showing progress…

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  7. Cam and Birn …I’m feeling it. Both serious aerial threats with good passing, communication, and adequate quickness. It may not suit more quality competition, but I think we should stick with this for a bit and see.

    Yedlin is our number one RB, perhaps unless we want to bunker down?

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    • Yedlin looks more threatening on the overlap than as a wide midfielder. He doesn’t cross well enough to feature as a RM, but as an attacking fullback he is much more dangerous.

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  8. I thought “Pulisick” made a fantastic cameo. He played smart, strong defense, and showed some great vision and talent on offense. I thought he could’ve had two really great shots on goal if he was noticed properly by players with the ball.

    Best thing in my mind: Pulisick turned his first touch into an almost dangerous attack, beating his defender head on, before he got bulled over.

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    • He actually took the ball away from Pappa, when he had been continuing his nutmeg a thon on people. Of course I think we were trying not to foul and give up set pieces by that point.

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    • Agreed.

      I hope people can discern appreciation for a young debutant from irrational hype. Pulisic gave a good window preview of potential in the future. How far in the future remains to be seen.

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    • Captain Obvious here. The best thing about Pulisic? Now he is cap tied, removing all doubt about who he will play for in the future.

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    • I wasn’t really for calling him up this soon. I thought the summer would be better, but now we’ve done it lets see what happens.

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  9. I thought Cameron, Bradley, Dempsey, Birnbaum had great games. Beckerman did very well, he just sees attacks coming so well and snuffs out many of them before they happen.

    Yedlin and Zusi surprised me and I think did better than the remaining US field players.

    Guzan made the saves he was expected to and had to make no really special saves so it is hard to rate him, he simply did not have that much to do.

    I liked Puslic’s aggressiveness, at 17 he could have simply gone out and disappeared, but he inserted himself into the action, made a good tackle and was an attacking threat even if it did not work out.

    Overall, the higher pressure tactics with a quick transition to attack are, I think, what suits the present US pool of players.

    Cameron seemed much more comfortable in the middle than out wide and Yedlin looked like he had a clue about what to do at fb, unlike his last game in midifield.

    Bradley appeared to have enough faith in Beckerman that he did not spend the whole game falling back and playing safe. I still think he should trust his teammates a bit more in their defensive duties so that he would not drift back as much and that he would be more willing to take some risks rather than making so many safe back passes.

    Dempsey scored and was a general pain to the G backs. I could not tell if he and Wood were making many runs to get open due to what I think was poor camera work (Zardes dropped back more so it was clear he was running around a lot) but forward runs not rewarded with a pass were largely untelevised.

    The TV views seemed to me to be too narrow so that when the ball was in midfield, the forwards could not be seen so we could not see if the forwards (or backs) were just standing or what. But one replay did show Ruiz cream Castilo across the field from the play. Having seen Ruiz play, I am sure there were a lot more contact and fouls away from the ball that went un-filmed.

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    • Its the camera positions are low at MAPFRE, if you watch any Crew games (which is hard because they are rarely on nationally) its the same way. You can see the ball really well because you feel so close, but you lose what’s going on away from the ball.

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  10. I’m trying to stay in my positive vibe here.

    1. The boys played great tonight, they turned the huge advantage of possession into opportunities. And as I’ve said many times on here pretty goals, count just as much as deflections. It should have been 5-0, as Finley was a yard onside, and could have been 7 or 8, but got 3 points and put the goal differential against Guatemala firmly in our favor.

    2. I like the 4-3-3, and I think there’s no need not to use it in the May warmups and Copa. It will most likely turn into a 0-5-5 against St. V&G, but that’s ok. I don’t think it will be as effective against TnTs backline, but should be effective enough. Nguyen or Nagbe slots in nicely for Bradley who I believe is yellow carded out of the SVG game. Of course we will have the whole MLS season to pick out someone for that role as well.

    3. The World Cup is the most important, because it is what it says the World Cup. People who aren’t soccer fans follow the World Cup all across the planet. To those of us that probably spend too much of our lives on SBI boards care equally as much about the Copa and if we make a run it will draw more interest in casual fans and in the host cities of games, but most of the rest of the world will be more excited about the Euros. I’m a firm believer that you should try to win any competition you enter and I’ll be bummed when we lose.

    4. Klinsman will stay and he’s here until this WC run ends, whether in Jacksonville, the hex or in Russia. Tomorrow was the only day it made sense with only 4 weeks between this round and the hex. We don’t have to like, but you might as well get on board because this team could be really fun, and they might also break our hearts, but that’s what makes it worth it. The team proved theirs some fight left in them

    5. Qualifying Newbies: Birnbaum looked good, not asked to do much but didn’t make any major blunders. Finlay: got robbed of his first international goal and made some nice runs to the endline, the 4-3-3 benefits him. Pulisic: should great skill, got muscled off a bit, but a couple of those might have drawn calls if it wasn’t 3 and 4 – 0. We knew he would have some trouble with physical play, but he has been playing 17 year olds for the last month so toughness rust was to be expected.

    Ok I realize this is really long and no one is still reading. Goal, Goal, Goal, Goal USA!

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  11. It’s AMAZING what happens when you move together, give each other options and pressure as a unit… Also Taking people on in the final third and not having Omar on the field is nice.

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  12. starting XI for the America Cup: 4 2 3 1:
    GK Guzan
    RB ? ? ?
    CB Cameron
    CB Brooks
    LB ? ? ? castillo no please
    DM Bradley
    DM ? ? ?
    RW ? ? ?
    AM ? ? ?
    LW Lletget
    CF Altidore
    obviously We need more time

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    • starting XI for the America Cup: 4 2 3 1:
      GK Guzan
      RB ? ? ? Yedlin
      CB Cameron
      CB Brooks
      LB ? ? ? castillo no please Villafana
      DM Bradley
      DM ? ? ? Williams
      RW ? ? ? Wood
      AM ? ? ? Nagbe
      LW Lletget (I’d go w/ Fabian)
      CF Altidore

      Bench: Yarbrough, Horvath, Miazga, Besler/Parker, Payne/Acosta, Jones, Trapp, Pulisic, Finlay, Dempsey, Morris, Kiesewetter

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      • Did you watch the U-23 game? Most of those players should be nowhere near the full national team for some time. They all need years of seasoning still before they are ready. Trapp?? Can someone please explain the hype with this guy? He has looked mediocre to terrible every time he has suited up for the U.S. I get that he is playing well in Columbus, but he is not yet up to snuff for the full team. Dax McCarty 2.0 IMHO.

    • Much more important is who we play in September in the last round of qualifying. This tournament is only important as a tune up for the qualifying.

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  13. I truly hope we stick with the 433 (4123/4141). It suits our player skill sets. Have a Cdm that doesn’t care about attacking. Two attack minded central mids playing slightly asymmetrically. Wide wingers that slash in with a nose for goal. Central target striker. Full backs that provide width and are involved in maintaining possession.

    Let’s keep this up. Fwiw I believe this is what Jk has been working towards this whole time. A 4141 in theory with aggression and passion yet smart team play

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    • Agree with this, they will need to replace beckerman eventually but he is invaluable to this team. Not sure it was something klinsman was working towards or rather what klinsman knew he should have been doing all along (was just testing other stuff until he had some pressure).

      I just

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    • This may be the culmination of JK’s dream, but let’s wait and see if he feels the same way as you do. I get the impression that he’ll still long to tinker and overthink.

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  14. Congrats Congrats Congrats to our ream for playing with heart and enthusiasm. Everyone dug deep, especially Bradley. We press and dominated the game, looked good in the defense and midfield but we need to put away chances. This game could have easy been 6-0 if was were sharp up top. Only Cameron’s goal was “planned”, everything else was a miscue or deflection (Finlays goal wasn’t but was called off). Clint’s goal was a deflection off Zardes, Zusi’s shot was a result of Zardes losing the ball as he attempted to go forward, Altidore’s goal was from a poor touch from Dempsey as he made an attempt to cut in……..we need our forwards to put open opportunities in the back of the net and finish off plays
    Way to make a statement before the Hex

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    • I think you should win some kind of award for complaining about the nature of 4 goals that we scored (and we actually scored 5, but the linesman screwed up). I have pointed out many times before, there are no style points in soccer and all goals count the same. While some of the goals may have been lucky, they were the result of creating chances and dominating play; that’s an important aspect of the game.

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      • Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect. -Emerson

      • Gary,
        You are right…..there is no style in soccer or in scoring, so true but not taking can of issues now is like patching a pipe…eventually it will burst. We suck suck and win, then suck suck and win (and person breath a sigh of relief) thats because we are patching the problem not fixing it. Better to start fixing the patch and talking about it now, than waiting patently for the flood to hit later, like at the world cup

      • For some people –
        “It’s not a mistake to make a mistake, it’s a mistake to REPEAT the SAME mistake”

        Also –
        “Stupidity is not the lack of knowledge, but the illusion of having it”…Grigore Lulian

    • DLOA, I assure you that all those people still want Klinsmann fired.

      If you notice, all the things people complained about, and the media questioned Klinsmann about, he capitulated. The media questioned him about playing players out of position (specifically Cameron and Yedlin and Mix) and even though he was proud and stubborn, telling the media that he did not play anyone out of position, he then trotted out his lineup with Yedlin at RB and Cameron at CB and Mix on the bench just like everyone was clamoring for.

      I’m going to be positive and take that as a good sign. Maybe there is hope for Klinsmann and his stubbornness.

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    • Yea I think a lot of US fans want him fired including the majority of ex-us players and soccer talk radio hosts (twellman, Donavan, Jason Davis, wynalda). And I don’t think beating a team you should beat changes anything. Now if they consistently perform like this then my opinion may change, but that would require playing guys in position (or closer to their positions) like it he did tonight.

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    • One game does not validate almost two years of inconsistency. We should dominate Guatemala based on talent and experience alone, that’s why people were getting on JK when we lost to them so convincingly a few days ago. If we lost or even tied this game JK should have been in serious consideration for losing his job, however, I do think this perfomance buys him more time. Most USMNT fans are not extremists, regardless of what a bunch of inebriated internet reactions would suggest. He rightly deserves his praise for this game, but choices as a whole have rightly been questioned. One game doesn’t make all past criticism invalid.

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  15. One decent (not exceptional) outing against Guatemala does not atone for the last year of poor and underwhelming performances.

    Klinsmann still needs to go.

    Otherwise, the US runs the strong risk of underperforming during the Copa Centenario and alienating the fanbase even further.

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    • Risk?

      I’d love to do well, but the Copa Centenario is a glamour show with no tangible value other than a cash grab for the federations. This might be validated by the rumored squads the South American nations are apparently sending.

      Disappointment is one thing, but alienation of supporting your national team speaks more to the quality of citizen than the quality of team. Let’s not get carried away.

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      • The World Cup is also a “glamour show with no tangible value other than a cash grab”.

        World Cup winner: you get money, a trophy, and bragging rights.
        Copa Centenario winner: you get money, a trophy, and bragging rights.

        My point is, that these arguments that try to devalue certain competitions are weak. Its like people are trying to soften the blow or something. An international tournament is an international tournament, you go for the win and measure yourself based on how you do.

      • The World Cup is also a “glamour show with no tangible value other than a cash grab”.

        Anyone comparing the Copa América to the World Cup isn’t having a serious conversation or capable of having one.

        You’re on your own with that debate.

      • Yeah, I agree, Old School. If you’re cool with the likely prospect of mediocre-to-poor results in a major international tournament, then absolutely, that’s a reflection on you.

        I suspect that the vast majority of the US fanbase cares about how the US performs in one of the most prestigious tournaments, in front of some of the world’s best sides.

      • Old, you’re just not able to understand. Why am I not surprised? It’s not about whether the World Cup or Copa is more meaningful. That is another one of your lazy straw-man arguments. In case you still don’t know what that means, you basically make up something I said and argue against that.

        I am talking about your statement that said “Copa is glamour show with no tangible value other than a cash grab”. If that is your stance on the COPA CENTENARIO, then that should be your stance on all of these tournaments (World Cup, Copa, Olympics, Confed Cup, Euros, u-20 WC, u-17 WC, etc.) Go ahead and explain to me the “tangible value” from a World Cup, or Euros, or Olympics, or Gold Cup, etc.. and then explain to me why the Copa Centenario does not also have that “tangible value”. I’ll wait.

      • Yeah, I agree, Old School. If you’re cool with the likely prospect of mediocre-to-poor results in a major international tournament, then absolutely, that’s a reflection on you.

        Again. I get the pomp and circumstance of celebrating 100 years. I’ll certainly watch and I want the US to win it.

        However, failing to acknowledge, be aware or validate that nations who’ve qualified for the Olympics are making no secret of what tournament they value this summer. Case in point, when Dunga doesn’t even want Neymar to attend, calling this “major” is disingenuous and that’s absolutely a reflection on you and your intentions.

        This is a ridiculous exercise and exaggerating for effect. I completely understand people that are tired of Klinsmann, but when we’re making a mountain out of a molehill by comparing this glamour show with no tangible reward to the World Cup, the conversation can’t be taken seriously.

      • It’s not about whether the World Cup or Copa is more meaningful. That is another one of your lazy straw-man arguments.

        YOU made the comparison. Are you intoxicated or more unstable than I remember your posting habits?

        This is getting odd, rapidly.

      • Hard to know how to even respond to a lot of the ignorance you’re expressing, Old School. Firstly, the Copa America predates the World Cup by more than a decade. Secondly, in spite of whether or not Neymar suits up, last I heard, Messi will be playing here in the Copa Centenario. So the world’s current best player will be in the US this summer. Thirdly, 4 out of the 10 top-ranked teams in the world will be participating–Arg/Braz/Chile/Colombia.

        Really don’t have anything else to point out. If you can’t comprehend what you so whimsically refer to as “exaggerations for effect”, or what the rest of the world refers to as facts, then I can’t help you.

      • Hard to know how to even respond to a lot of the ignorance you’re expressing, Old School.

        Save your energy then.

        I wouldn’t worry about the Copa America Centario instead i’d worry about the hex.

        This guy has perspective. It shouldn’t be such a shockingly rare quality on SBI, but after reading “Turf” and UCLA its something to appreciate it.

      • Old School, as the kids would say, you are constantly owned on this website by almost everybody, especially by me. You are just too delusional to notice, or maybe just good at pretending. You are that guy at the poker table looking for the fool but not realizing that it is you. Keep on pretending.

      • Old School, as the kids would say, you are constantly owned on this website by almost everybody, especially by me.

        “Owned”. Well, I am certainly speechless. That’s a rarity…especially for me.

      • I agree with you Old School. The Copa has no real significance/importance for us other than bragging rights. That’s why (and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of hate for it) IMO we should be using the Copa to integrate younger players and give them experience. Bring in a handful of veteran players to lead the team, but also bring and use some of the standouts from the U-20/23 teams along with some of the younger fringe players….
        Veterans: Guzan, Cameron, Fabian, Jozy, Dempsey, Bedoya, Yedlin, Brooks
        Fringe: Yarbrough, Bingham, Villafana, Williams, Nagbe, Morales, Finlay, Zardes, Lleget,
        Young Guns: Horvath, Payne, Parker, Miazga, Hyndman, Gil, Kieseweeter, Morris, Rubin, Rodriguez

        Call these players into camp ahead of the May friendlies and select the best 23 to represent us during the Copa.

      • Well, let’s go to a US authority on international tournaments, one of the greatest US coaches of all time, Bruce Arena. He was quoted in the LA Times as saying that a national team coach should be judged on 2 things and 2 things only. 1. Qualifying for the World Cup, and 2. How well you do in the World Cup. Everything else is superfluous. The only reason the Confederations Cup is important, BTW, is because it gives the team a chance to play in the WC host country and acclimate themselves to the environment and ambiance. The main purpose of the South American Cup tournament should be to give our young players who may make the next WC team a chance to play against top competition. Results are totally unimportant. while it will affect our FIFA ranking, that is a joke anyway and we wouldn’t be a seeded team in the WC even if we won the tournament.

      • The Copa has no real significance/importance for us other than bragging rights. That’s why (and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of hate for it) IMO we should be using the Copa to integrate younger players and give them experience.

        No “hate” for having a reasonable assessment this tournament means absolutely nothing. You might get some Call of Duty types throwing around kid slang like owned but reasonable adults will acknowledge it could be a great way to integrate young players such as: Acosta, Hyndman, Morris and maybe even Zelalem, and Pulisic. Especially since they won’t be playing this summer now. Nothing over board, but utilizing the opportunity since these matches are glorified friendlies.

        a national team coach should be judged on 2 things and 2 things only. 1. Qualifying for the World Cup, and 2. How well you do in the World Cup. Everything else is superfluous.

        If the antithesis of Klinsmann so deems it to be superfluous, then superfluous is shall be: See Copa Centenario aka glorified friendlies.

      • Why am I not surprised that it’s the Klinsmann fans trying to make this upcoming tournament insignificant? As I said, seems like you guys are already anticipating what is coming and trying to soften the blow for your idol.

        Gary, so only the WC matters? Wow what an id1otic statement. It may matter most, but all tournaments matter. Then I have no idea why every coach does his best to win Gold Cups, and qualify for Olympics and Confed Cups, including your hero Klinsmann, who made all of them a priority. He has also stated the significance of this Copa. And Old School, you think that you guys are the sensible ones? Hah, keep looking for that fool at the poker table. Everyone else found him already.

      • Keep talking, child.

        No one can ever erase the memory of you comparing friendlies (because those are also cash grabs) and the Copa Centenario to the World Cup. Even your idol, Bruce Arena, nullifies your “opinion”.

        Unfortunately, no one will ever erase the memory of you using the term “owned” either but then again it’s more probable no one noticed since your posts have about as much substance as a puddle, generally. Perhaps thats why you think you “owned” anyone…because typically people ignore them after responding once.

        Advice going forward: take the time to educate yourself on what a “strawman fallacy” actually is because unbeknownst to you, you actually “owned” yourself when you tried using that term earlier. So incorrectly, in fact, it was cringe worthy.

      • Hah, you are confusing me with Gary Page. Bruce Arena is not my idol. As a matter of fact I rarely if ever talk about Bruce Arena. I don’t think I have ever even identified myself as a big fan of Bruce Arena. Maybe you are assuming I am since I am a Galaxy fan? Either way, nice one pulling something out of your behind and pretending it is true for the sake of your argument.

        And like was clearly explained in my original post, I was simply making fun of your statement. If the Copa is just a “cash grab with no tangible value”, then so is every other tournament out there, because each tournament gives you the same things (money, trophy, bragging rights). Go ahead and keep pretending like you didn’t understand.

        You talking to me about education, yea ok. I wish we had a transparent way of comparing resumes and educational honors/achievements, that would be fun for me. I am the one that taught you what a straw-man is. Which is embarrassing for you since you always used one to try and “win” arguments but you didn’t even realize what you were doing. Then when that fails you resort to personal insults. Proof that you don’t have the ability to keep up with us that are way smarter than you. Oh and yes, I am sure you will never be able to forget that I own you on this comment board.

      • You keep going with this “owned” and “won” statements when you fail to realize we all lost. Lost the time we’ll never get back for this futile back and forth and lost energy for even discussing the comparison of a World Cup to a tournament with no tangible value.

        If the Copa is just a “cash grab with no tangible value”, then so is every other tournament out there, because each tournament gives you the same things.

        Absent of the Gold Cup, Confederations Cup and World Cup, nothing has any tangible value to get upset about. Every time a player puts on the national team kit it’s an opportunity to perform for his country and attempt to secure a place in the squad.

        Beyond that, if you still can’t understand the difference between competitions and friendlies your education is quite transparent and you should immediately ask for a refund. You’re resorting to the equivalent of “I know you are but what am I?” when you flatly deny your failure at using the term “straw man”.

        What is transparent is you never learned through your limited real world experiences or vast scholastic endeavors, but when you have to routinely tell someone about your superiority, the superiority is nonexistent. Each time you bring it up it only solidifies your own insecurity and that I’ve apparently made you feel devalued. To that point, I’ve lost count at how many times you’ve made me laugh at your insecurity.

      • Old School you are such a joke, let me illustrate:

        1. “you fail to realize we all lost” – No I didn’t lose at anything.

        2. “if you still can’t understand the difference between competitions and friendlies your education is quite transparent” – umm you are the confused one. The Copa Centenario is not a friendly. It is an official sanctioned competition by FIFA. It does not have friendly status. So who is the one lacking education here?

        3. “your limited real world experiences” – Oh now you know me? You think you know about my life-experiences from me posting on a soccer forum about soccer stuff? Man you are pathetic.

        4. “I’ve apparently made you feel devalued” – Now you play a psychologist on this board too? Keep telling yourself that. Your reputation on this board speaks for itself, and it is a negative one in case you haven’t noticed from everyone telling you themselves. Why would you make anyone feel devalued? If anything you probably make everyone feel they are much smarter than they actually are, simply by comparing themselves to you.

      • dloa,

        all depends on who you’re playing, right? if one team (say, the usa) plays a much worse team (like say, guatemala), then yes, a 4-0 win is not nearly as noteworthy as a 2-0 loss.

    • I wouldn’t worry about the Copa America Centario instead i’d worry about the hex. I could see us not even coming in 4th place to earn the playoff spot against AFC if things continue go the way they are.
      Glad for the results but still didn’t like the performance of the team at this point. Especially given 5 years of supposed work and planning under this coach.

      Reply
    • And replace him with whom? Kreis, Porter, Vermes, Berhalter? Unless you have someone ready to step in like a Pellegrini or Roberto Martinez. replacing the coach is not going to solve systemic problems with our tactics and player development.

      Reply
    • I wish people would make up their minds. One side says that when we play bad it’s on JK and the other side says that it’s on the players, but when we win big, both sides switch their premises.

      Reply
      • Yea, i call bs. Fans support their team. We may say negative things, but always wish the best of our team. But practically no comments here are reversing their opinion about Jk. Because right now, he doesnt appear to be best for our team. Its the coachs job to motivate his players and tactically set them up for success. One game of intensity and urgency actually demonstrates the opposite. Where was this motivation before? Will it be there next game?

      • He deserves credit for his game plan and forward (pun intended) thinking for using a high pressure 4-3-3. Guatemala had virtually no attack and we controlled the entire match. It easily could have been 7 or 8-0. Woods missed a bunny near the end of the first half, and Finley was a yard onside on the disallowed goal.

  16. Pressure. Points. Pulisic.

    They looked secure under it.
    They secured them.
    They secured him.

    Klinsmann bought more time, but questions remain on how the team moves forward with tactics, call-ups and individual player performances. They did what they needed to do (and then some).

    Job well done coaching staff. Job well done boys. Job well done Columbus.

    Reply
    • There is maybe only one Guatemalan player who started who I think could have played for the US. The quality gap is clear. The difference is that today the US played about twice as hard as they did on Friday. Once the US put in enough effort, the result was pretty much determined. People can talk all they want about formations, but if all your players are better than their players, all you need to do is play just as hard and aggressively and, barring bad luck, you should win.

      Reply
      • “People can talk all they want about formations, but if all your players are better than their players, all you need to do is play just as hard and aggressively and, barring bad luck, you should win.”

        wow, it’s like you’re channeling klinsmann; you’ve gotten really good at this.

        you (and klinsmann) might actually be right about that–but then what happens if there’s “bad luck”? like, for example, our 2-0 loss to guatemala? maybe it would’ve been nice to play our players where they’re most likely to succeed (cameron and yedlin where they’ve been playing; mix on the wing or in advanced mid; orozco on the bench), and perhaps lessen the consequences of any bad luck?

        whatever, i guess that’s why klinsmann gets the big bucks. just hope we don’t have any more bad luck, right?

      • I wouldn’t just chalk this game up to just playing harder. It’s not like last game, the players were told to press and just didn’t because they didn’t play hard. In this game, they were set up to press. Having Zusi as a 3rd central midfielder and Zardes on the wing makes some sense if you plan to press. They were not set up like that in the 1st game. With only 2 central midfielders, the only way that they could have pressed was if they dropped a forward, which I don’t think that they did. The certainly never pressed Guatemala in the first game. The question for Klinnsman is why have we been playing such a passive 4-4-2 for so long under him against both strong and weak teams?

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