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USMNT plays Bosnia & Herzegovina to drab draw to close January Camp

The annual January Camp game is never one for purists. It’s largely devoid of flow and creativity as a new-look team jumps into preseason with a friendly that is largely meaningless on a team level.

Sunday’s match was no different, as the U.S. Men’s National Team battled Bosnia & Herzegovina to a 0-0 draw in a match that featured little flash.

The game featured few legitimate chances, while several USMNT players made their debuts like Zack Steffen, Matt Polster and Ike Opara.

The first half was, by and large, a dull one for a U.S. team that very much looked like an inexperienced group in preseason form. The energy was there, with players like C.J. Sapong and Wil Trapp serving as highlights, but there was little creativity in the attacking half of the field.

Shortly before halftime, Bosnia & Herzegovina created the best chance of the match, forcing Bill Hamid into a big save. Following a bad giveaway from the USMNT goalkeeper, the visitors created down the right before Walker Zimmerman mishit a clearance. The ball fell to Luka Menalo, who was stopped from close-range by a strong Hamid save.

The second half began with some changes as Steffen, Paul Arriola and Kelyn Rowe entered the mix. Just five minutes in, Jordan Morris nearly provided a goal on a Trapp pass, but the Seattle Sounders forward scuffed his shot wide.

Seconds after Morris’ miss, Bosnia & Herzegovina was awarded a penalty kick as Zimmerman was called for a foul on the edge of the box. Fortunately for the U.S., midfielder Haris Medunjanin’s penalty kick caromed off the post as Steffen was sent the wrong way.

Following the early flurry to begin the second half, the tempo once again dropped as the two teams struggled to facilitate chances. The introduction of Juan Agudelo added a little bit to the attack, but not enough to put together a clear cut shot on goal.

Overall, the U.S. finished with nine shots, three of which were on goal.

Comments

  1. I am glad to miss this game.
    Importance of the game: experience, check out the new players, develop understanding with players, regain fitness.

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  2. I know this isn’t exactly the MLS All Star Team, but I would like to think that any random group of above average MLS players could beat a bunch of uncapped Bosnians from the Bosnian domestic league.

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  3. #USMNT Mary Stock – “MNT’s Bundesliga Boys” – YouTube I didn’t really expect much from this friendly, but it’s nice to know that Dave Sarachan has brought in everyone who is possible, so that when the final team comes together, everybody who is at all possible will have had his chance. That is all anybody can ask.

    I’m more concerned with what I read on another site: that MICHAEL BRADLEY is definitely coming on for the next friendly in June with France.

    OVER MY DEAD BODY AND THOSE OF LOTS OF OTHERS, TOO!

    THIS GUY IS.TOXIC. HE BRINGS THE TOXIC DNA FROM THE OLD TEAM TO THE NEW!

    He politicked with Klinsmann until JK let him back in the team Then he never produced anything!. He took every single set piece and missed every single one. And I was looking for 4 years!

    The only goal he ever made was right after Arena replaced JK. Five years of nothing.

    Then, there was the tragedy at the 2014 WC. Bradley had the ball. There were just SECONDS left in the game. It was Portugal. Bradley stood next to the ball long enough to let the opponents, who were dumbfounded at their luck, come over and take the ball away from him.

    He could have kicked the ball down to the other end. The bell would have rung well before the opponent had the chance to get there.

    He just stood there and let the other side take it!

    The entire stadium was unbelieving. Our team was livid.

    He said at the time that he didn’t know why he had done it. He has another reason now—that he wasn’t good enough to do it. The first one is probably the truth. It’s sure, though, that this was a psychological undoing. Something in his psyche wanted someone or all of us not to win. You figure out who.

    We ended the game with a tie. If Bradley had kicked it down the field, we would have won.

    That would have meant a much easier opponent in the Knockout Stage for us, and we would have written a much more successful story for the 2014 World Cup.

    Then we went through a series of crises. The guys were bored. Esp. the “influencers.” including Bradley. They were “not ready to play.” So they’d lose a game. They then used that crisis to get up for the next game. That happened in the Copa Centenario and others.

    We’d lose terribly. Then that would be so embarrassing, the guys would go like hell on the next game and win like crazy.

    Trouble was, Trinidad & Tobago was the last game. There was no “next game.”

    NO MORE BRADLEY. This is the NEW USMNT. We are going to develop this team into a great one over the next four years. Bradley is a liability. [SBI soccer1-29-18]

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    • I had forgot all about this disastrous Bradley moment. I also would not like to see Bradley anymore, but someone has to step up and claim that defensive mid spot. The B&H did not provide any answers (for me) on who is gonna bump Bradley…there is still plenty of time though so hopefully someone can step up.

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  4. This is th kind of game I expected. Both sides fielded teams of young players who were full of energy and running around, but it did not look any better than any decent Div.1 NCAA match.

    The US did manage to pass the ball around the back a bit, but never used the ball movement to open up any channels for passing; the forwards did not help by making a decent number of intelligent runs; running, yes, but mostly pointless and the good runs could have been random chance.

    The defenses were never really challenged so it is hard to say either side did well.

    On the bright side, Trapp, Adams and Rowe looked good individually, but there efforts were largely wasted when teammates wasted the opportunities to make combination plays work out.

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  5. This is the type of result you get where you have no leadership in place not only in coaching but in the Federation. It was clear the team had no concept of a formulated plan other than to just go out and kick the ball around.

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  6. Hope this is the last we see of Dave Sarachan…ever. not having a permanent coach made this a waste of time plus I doubt Dave could ever beat anybody. Player selection was sketchy as well

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  7. Rubio Rubin looked good in his few minutes of playing time. Makes you wonder why he doesn’t have a club. The match was pretty much what we expected but I thought we would have won.

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  8. Is it over? I dozed off there. So much negative football by the US. Wish I had a dollar for every time a US player in the back passed to a midfielder who would then immediately pass it right back. And when midfielders got pressured at all, they would immediately pass it back. Only when Rubin came in did he actually turn, beat his man, run at the defense and then he made a good pass. Must be that European experience. Especially in the 2nd half, B&H looked better both individually and as a team. The US was lucky to escape with a draw. IF this game is at all indicative of our future, we may not qualify for 2022 either.

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