January 23, 2010 – A second-string US Men’s National Team, composed of domestic and Scandinavian-based players, was humbled by a strong Honduran side 3-1 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California this evening. Coach Bob Bradley sent out a group that contained only a handful of players who will be in this summer’s World Cup squad. Conversely, the majority of the visitor’s line up is likely to be on the plane to South Africa.
There were few clear chances early on but that changed drastically in the 18th minute when Jimmy Conrad inexplicably pulled over Jerry Palacios in the penalty area. This act of madness resulted in two things: First, Conrad received his second yellow card and was sent off (he’d already received a caution in the 6th minute for a professional foul on Walter Martinez). Second, it gave Honduras a penalty kick that was put away by Carlos Pavon at the second time of asking (The veteran Honduran striker was forced to take the spot kick twice after some of his teammates entered the area early on his first attempt). How such an experienced player as Conrad could make such a foolish error in judgment is beyond me. It was a mistake from which the US would not recover.
To the American’s credit, they responded well to the setback. Three minutes after falling behind, they won a corner and Chad Marshall came ever so close to equalizing with a powerful header just over the bar. The hosts continued to press forward but they struggled to pass the ball through the Honduran midfield.
Being down a central defender, I was expecting Coach Bradley to bring on another and sacrifice one of his strikers. However, he chose instead to bring Jonathan Bornstein into the center of defense from his left fullback position and have Robbie Rogers drop back from left midfield.
The visitors nearly doubled their lead in the 29th when Benny Feilhaber was dispossessed near the top of his own area by a high kick. The Mexican referee, as he would do throughout the evening, allowed play to continue and the resulting ball into the box was fired just wide.
The US kept getting forward up the wings with Rogers and Marvell Wynne sending in crosses and winning corners but no real scoring chances resulted from their endeavor.
Honduras came close to scoring on the counter in the 37th minute when Palacios blasted a shot just wide of the near post. The American keeper Troy Perkins appeared to have it covered but it was hard to tell.
Seconds later, the Central Americans doubled their lead when Rogers got caught up field and was slow to close down Pavon, who crossed the ball to Palacios as he dove in front of Marshall to head home from close range. Bradley’s decision not to reinforce his defense following Conrad’s dismissal appeared to have been a mistake as well.
Again the Americans reacted positively to being scored on and went forward to win a free kick and a corner. However, despite good deliveries into the box, Honduras was able to clear the danger and the half ended with the US two goals down.
Central defender Clarence Goodson came on to start the second half for the ineffective Jeff Cunningham. Why he wasn’t introduced immediately following Conrad’s dismissal is still a mystery to me. The change seemed to help. Shortly after the restart, some good passing set up Rogers for a shot from distance. The midfielder showed that he can hit the ball with both feet as he cut inside and smashed a right-footed shot from 45 yards out that beat the Honduran keeper, Donis Escobar, only to come back off the post.
Freed from the defensive responsibilities thrust upon him when he was dropped to fullback, Rogers continued causing problems. He was tripped on a run through midfield by Amado Guevara, resulting in a yellow card for the Honduran captain. Sacha Kljestan then proceeded to balloon the resulting free kick way over from 45 yards out.
In the 53rd minute the visitors put the game out of reach. Some nice short passing on the left put Roger Espinoza through on goal and he calmly slotted the ball into the far corner for an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
Again the Americans tried to answer as Kyle Beckerman dragged his shot wide from 25 yards out after some good build up play. Coach Bradley decided to ring in the changes on the hour mark with Coner Casey , Heath Pearce, Alejandro Bedoya and Brad Davis coming on for Beckerman, Marshall, Kljestan and Rogers.
Marvell Wynne continued working hard at both ends of the pitch. In the 64th minute, he made a good slide tackle in his own area. Five minutes later, he won a corner that lead to the American’s only goal. Davis sent over a good ball to the far post and Goodson powered through the Honduran keeper to head the ball in. Replays show that he may have led with his elbow but the referee stood true to form and allowed the goal to stand despite Escobar needing several minutes to recover from the collision.
In the 77th minute, Bradley made his final change when he sent on Dax McCarthy for the disappointing Feilhaber. By this point, the visitors were just trying to kill the game off by keeping possession against the short-handed US side.
The game was fizzling out until the 88th minute when Espinoza sprang the off-side trap and went though on Perkins. Wynne raced back and did just enough to distract the Honduran winger and prevent another goal.
A minute later, Robbie Findley was brought down right on top of the area. Davis took a fine free kick that was well saved by Escobar, leading to a corner. Bedoya headed just wide from the resulting set play as the game went into four minutes of injury time.
Not much happen until the final added minute when Casey failed to hit the target after being presented with a golden opportunity. This was perhaps an appropriate way to end what had been a frustrating night for the Americans.
It’s hard to access this game after the US went down a goal and a man so early in the proceedings. Ultimately, I’d say it was a pretty disappointing performance with only a few players giving their World Cup aspirations a boost. The Americans are next in action on February 24th against El Salvador as they continue preparations for this summer’s trip to South Africa.
Ratings for the US players follow (scored 1-10):
Troy Perkins, goalkeeper (6): Couldn’t have done much to prevent the three goals. His distribution could have been a bit better.
Jimmy Conrad, central defender (1): What was he thinking? The blatant manner in which he pulled down Palacios left the referee with little choice but to send him off and award Honduras a penalty. For all intents and purposes, the match was over at this point. I’m not sure if we’ll see the 32-year-old defender again in a US Team jersey.
Chad Marshall, central defender (6): Nearly scored an immediate reply to the early Honduran goal with his powerful header and defended well for the most part. However, he allowed Palacios to get across him for the visitor’s second goal.
Jonathan Bornstein, left fullback (8): Whether at his familiar left back position or as an emergency central defender, Bornstein played very well. He got in several important tackles and passed the ball well out of the back (US man of the match).
Marvell Wynne, right fullback (7): Seeming unphased by the adversity his team was suffering, Wynne just stuck to his task at both ends of the field. His battling defense, forward runs and crosses did his World Cup chances no harm at all. Unfortunately for the Toronto FC defender, The US already has a lot of depth at right fullback.
Kyle Beckerman, central midfielder (4): He did alright without doing anything exceptional. I’m docking him a point for his hair and will continue to do so until he gets it cut.
Benny Feilhaber, central midfielder (4): It’s easy to see that he has talent but it hasn’t come off for him with the National Team since the 2007 Gold Cup. As the most-capped player on the US Team, he should have taken control of the match but he could never develop any kind of rhythm.
Robbie Rogers, left midfielder (5): He looked a bit out of his depth early on and struggled further when forced to play in an unfamiliar left fullback position. However, he was better after the break when he was returned to his usual left midfield position and was unlucky not to score when his shot came crashing off the post. I was disappointed to see him get substituted just when he was play well.
Sacha Kljestan right midfielder (4): The slump in form that started in 2009 is continuing into the new year. While he did provide some link up play in midfield, he seemed unwilling to impose himself on the match. The free kick he put in row Z was an embarrassment as well.
Jeff Cunningham, striker (3): Nothing was coming off for him with the few opportunities he had. He committed a couple of lazy fouls and seemed to hang his head after the US fell behind.
Robbie Findley, striker (5): He tried hard but was starved of service throughout the game. Conrad owes him an apology, as he denied the young striker the opportunity to show what he could do.
Substitutes:
Clarence Goodson, central defender (7): He looked good again in defense and scored a goal too. His quickness, aerial prowess and combative nature will go a long way to making the World Cup squad.
Heath Pearce, defender (5): Came on with about half an hour remaining but didn’t do much. He tried to get forward and put in some crosses without much effect.
Alejandro Bedoya, midfielder (6): Showed a few glimpses of promise in his first appearance for the National Team. He sent over a couple of decent crosses and nearly headed in a corner during injury time.
Brad Davis, midfielder (6): I didn’t see a whole lot from him during open play but he looked a real threat with corners and free kicks. He nearly scored on a set piece right at the end of the match.
Coner Casey, striker (3): Another lazy performance from a guy who confounds me with his continued inclusion in the team. He wasted a great opportunity to score late in added time.
Coach Bob Bradley (4):
I realize this was a friendly and he wanted to experiment but not replacing Conrad with another central defender was a clear mistake. Also, I would have liked to see him give Rogers more of a chance in his natural left midfield position.
No comments:
Post a Comment