US Able to Take Some Solace from Loss in Amsterdam

March 3, 2010 – With a late comeback, the US Men’s National Team was able to take some positives from a 2-1 loss to The Netherlands. After falling behind 2-0, a headed goal from Carlos Bocanegra in the 89th minute gave the Americans hope but their rally ultimately fell short. The late surge by the US concluded a game that was largely dominated by the home team.

Coach Bob Bradley put out a strong side for the final friendly match before he has to choose his 23-man squad for this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. The majority of the team was made up of European-based players but there were three members of the starting eleven from North America (Jonathan Bornstein and Robbie Findley of the MLS as well as Jose Francisco Torres of the Mexican First Division). The players’ performances probably answered some questions for the coach while posing a few others.

The match started very slowly on a cold night in the Dutch capital. The hosts managed some light pressure but the American defense was able to handle it. The first opportunity for the visitors came in the 11th minute when Stuart Holden got down the right wing to put a good cross over to the far post. However, Holland keeper Maarten Stekelenburg rose in traffic to claim the ball. A minute later it was Tim Howard who had to be on his toes to tip a ball over the bar after Torres’ challenge outside the box saw the ball loop back dangerously toward his own net.

The home side resumed their siege of the US penalty area but weren’t able to break down the Americans. The only notable effort on net was a shot from distance in the 14th minute that Howard dealt with comfortably. Two minutes later, Findley settled a long pass from Bocanegra in the Dutch penalty area but his shot from an acute angle was tame and easily saved by Stekelenburg.

Not much else happened until the half-hour mark when the lively Holden was cut down by a vicious tackle from Nigel De Jong. The young, American winger limped off the field to be replaced by DaMarcus Beasley while De Jong somehow managed to get away without a booking.

Three minutes later, the US came as close as they would to scoring in the first half when Torres blazed a shot over the bar from 25 yards out. In the 38th minute, Jozy Altidore was able to twist and shoot after receiving a free kick in the area but his shot was wide of the mark.

The match turned a minute later when Bornstein had another of his notorious moments of madness. The American fullback seemed to panic, pulling down Wesley Sneijder as he dribbled into the box. The referee pointed to the spot and Dirk Kuyt stepped up to bang it home, 1-0 The Netherlands.

The only action of note during the remaining five or six minutes of the half occurred when the shell-shocked Bornstein inadvertently, but quite clearly, handled a cross as it bounced in the penalty area. The Turkish referee took pity on him and chose to allow play to continue despite the protests of the Dutch crowd.

The US made a change at halftime, bringing on Maurice Edu for Torres. Early pressure from the visitors was highlighted by Altidore’s audacious back-heel nutmeg as he spun and beat two defenders to send a cross in that was put out for a corner. In the 50th minute, Bornstein redeemed himself a bit when he raced back to hamper Eljero Elia’s shot as he dribbled in alone on Howard. A cynic might point out that better marking by the US defense would have prevented the situation in the first place but to be fair, it was a great move by the Dutch.

The game went a bit quiet for a while. Alejandro Bedoya replaced the ineffective Findley in the 63rd minute. Two minutes later some nice link-up play between Altidore, Michael Bradley and Beasley created a half chance but Altidore couldn’t quite get to Beasley’s ball across the goal mouth.

In the 70th minute, Heath Pearce replaced Jay DeMerit, who’d gotten stuck in for every 50/50 ball in his vicinity and received a thorough kicking for his trouble. Shortly afterward, Holland doubled their lead when substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s shot from distance deflected off the unlucky Bornstein and ricocheted into the corner of the net. Replays show that the US defender was actually turning away from the shot, thus allowing it to take the unfortunate deflection. Again, in the interest of fairness, it was a fierce drive that would have required great courage to face straight on.

With the game seemingly out of reach, Coach Bradley sent on Eddie Johnson for Landon Donovan, who’d had a very quiet night. Pearce was picking up where he left off against El Salvador by getting down the left flank and delivering a lovely cross to Altidore for a glancing header that never reached Stekelenburg.

It could have been 3-0 in the 82nd minute if not for an absolutely outstanding save by Howard. The American goalkeeper was at full stretch to palm the ball away from the upper right corner.

With the clock winding down, the US grabbed a lifeline when Bocanegra stole in behind the defense to head in Beasley’s, curling free kick. The goal set up a dramatic finish as the visitors pressed for an equalizer in stoppage time. They had a couple of good chances too. Clarence Goodson, who’d come on for Bornstein, blasted over the bar from close range after a scramble in the penalty area following a US corner. Then in the waning seconds, Altidore patiently maneuvered on top of the box before firing a hard shot toward the near corner that was pushed away by Stekelenburg. Moments later the final whistled sounded. In truth, a tying goal would have flattered the Americans, who’d been second best most of the night.

Now Coach Bradley will have six to eight weeks to ponder his World Cup squad. The choices will be made harder by a series of injuries. Holden, who went to the hospital for precautionary x-rays following De Jong’s filthy tackle, joins Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey and Charlie Davies on the injured list. With most of these players expected to recover fairly quickly, there shouldn’t be too many surprises when the 23-man roster is announced in May.

Player ratings for the US Team follows (scored 1-10):

Tim Howard, Goalkeeper (7): Not much he could have done on either of the goals. His save in the 82nd minute was world-class and he generally looked liked America’s top keeper, which he is.

Carlos Bocanegra, central defender (7): He was having a quiet but solid night until he popped up at the end to score the only goal for the US. He took care of his defensive duties pretty well and played some nice balls out of the back.

Jay DeMerit, central defender (6): He bravely got stuck in all over the pitch and I’m sure he’ll have the marks to prove it tomorrow. He read the game well and was often in the right place at the right time to clear the danger.

Jonathan Bornstein, left fullback (3): A week ago I thought he’d sewn up the left back spot in South Africa but after giving away another penalty (remember the Slovakia match?), the position is once again up in the air. Bornstein was at least partially to blame for the second goal as well and could have given away a second penalty if not for the charity shown by the ref.

Jonathan Spector, right fullback (7): It’s usually not a good sign when your best player is one of your fullbacks but that was the case in tonight’s loss. While other US players had brighter moments, Specs was solid throughout. A wayward cross in injury time was the only thing I can fault him for. With Bornstein’s lapses and the imminent returns of Cherundolo, he could be the starting left back at the World Cup.

Michael Bradley, central midfielder (6): A mainly unspectacular but professional performance by the coach’s son. He worked steadily to protect his back line and got forward to support the attack when he could with some good passes.

Jose Francisco Torres, central midfielder (5): Apart from a decent shot from distance, he didn’t do much positive during his 45 minutes on the field. I think that’s part of the problem. I don’t recall him ever getting a full game for the US. Coach Bradley probably sees him as one for the future rather than the present.

Landon Donovan, left midfield (4): A very quiet game for a player who’s been in top form for his club. When he’s off his game, the US attack suffers as it did tonight. The team actually looked better after he came off.

Stuart Holden, right midfield (6): The young winger was having a pretty good match before he was cut down by De Jong. Hopefully the injury isn’t as bad as it looked.

Robbie Findley, striker (5): Excelling in the MLS and excelling in international football are two very different things as Findley is finding out. Based on his performances this year, I can’t see him making the World Cup roster.

Jozy Altidore, striker (6): Encouragingly, he got better as the match wore on. It’s amazing what regular football can do for a player. He created a few scoring chances, had some nice link-up play and his back-heel nutmeg would have made Ronaldinho proud.

Substitutes:

DaMarcus Beasley, midfielder (6): One man’s loss is often another’s gain. That was the case tonight as Beasley came on in the 30th minute for the injured Holden and revived his World Cup hopes. He was involved in the majority of the US attacks with good runs and passes. His curling free kick for the lone, American goal had such an inviting shape that it was practically begging to be headed home.

Maurice Edu, midfielder (6): Like Beasley, Edu emerged from the Scottish wilderness to put in a solid performance. He did a sound job defensively and played simple but effective balls out of the back.

Alejandro Bedoya, midfielder (6): In just his second appearance for the National Team, Bedoya looked pretty good in a tough away fixture. He was part of some good build-up play and the give and go he worked on the top of the box late in the game set up a dangerous free kick for Beasley.

Heath Pearce, left fullback (6): He looked confident again going forward and put in a couple of good crosses. With the wobbles by Bornstein and Pearce's solid play in the last two friendlies, I’d say he’s got a good chance of going to South Africa.

Eddie Johnson, striker (5): He didn’t do very much in the 15 minutes or so he was out there. However, with Davies still recovering from the serious injuries he sustained in an October car accident and no other viable options, he might make the World Cup squad by default.

Clarence Goodson, central defender (6): I don’t usually give a rating to players who come on as late as Goodson but he made an impact in the 5-10 minutes he was out there. He got stuck in and nearly scored the equalizer in injury time after Beasley’s corner fell kindly to him in the six yard box.

Coach Bradley (6):

It was a tough game for him because he had players to evaluate but judging from his line-up, he also wanted to be competitive. With the exception of Bornstein and to a lesser extent Donovan, the team performed pretty well and nearly stole a draw at the end.

US Comes Back To Defeat El Salvador

February 24, 2010 – Late goals from Brian Ching and Sacha Kljestan allowed the US Men’s National Team to overcome El Salvador 2-1 on a rainy night in Tampa, FL. The US Team dominated proceedings throughout but found themselves a goal down an hour into the match when the visitors scored against the run of play. However, the determined Americans, many of whom were making their final bid for a place on the US World Cup roster, dug in and got the result their performance warranted in stoppage time.

Coach Bob Bradley will be much happier with this performance than the one turned in last month as the Americans went down 3-1 to a strong Honduran team. As he’d done in January, the coach assembled a squad of mainly domestic-based youngsters. Some of them will fill out the squad heading to South Africa in June while others will factor into the US set-up further down the road.

The hosts came flying out of the gate and had a scoring opportunity in the first minute when Robbie Findley sent in a cross from the left that just eluded Brad Davis but resulted in a corner kick. From the resulting set piece, Davis sent a good ball to the near post that Brad Evans headed toward the lower corner only to see his effort saved by the Salvadoran keeper, Miguel Montes.

The US kept the pressure on and won another corner five minutes later. Kljestan and Kyle Beckerman were controlling the midfield. The former with his passing and the latter with hard tackles. Kljestan had a couple of decent scoring opportunities as well. In the 21st minute, a Clarence Goodson tackle led to a counter attack that ended with Kljestan shooting from distance. The long-range effort was beaten away by Montes for a corner. Ten minutes later Kljestan finished another US move with a directed shot toward the lower left corner but again Montes was able to push the ball out for a corner kick.

The Americans territorial dominance allowed fullback Heath Pearce to push forward and send in two dangerous crosses just past the half-hour mark. Both of them found Robbie Rogers in the area but his efforts were also dealt with by the impressive Montes.

The last good scoring chance for the hosts in the first half came with five minutes remaining. Kljestan played an intelligent through ball out to Rogers on the left. The winger dribbled through traffic in the box before the ball deflected back to the man who’d started move. Kljestan hit a good volley toward the lower left corner of the net but once again Montes was able to push the ball around the post for yet another corner. While Davis’s deliveries were consistently good from the succession corner kicks, the Salvadoran defense was able to scrabble them all away and the two teams went into the break on level terms.

The US made two changes at the start of the second half. Brian Ching came on for Conner Casey and Eddie Gaven replaced Davis. Again the Americans started well. Findley, whose pace had been causing the visitors problems, saw his shot from distance pushed away by Montes for a corner. A minute later Rogers crossed the ball to Ching but it was a little behind the veteran striker. Ching later saw his header loop wide of the net from a free kick in the 56th minute.

Out of the blue, the US found themselves behind three minutes later when Evans tried to head a high bouncing ball back to his keeper. He didn’t get enough power on the header and the opportunistic Rudis Corrales stole in to knock the ball past Nick Rimando and give El Salvador an improbable lead.

The US Team responded immediately to this setback. A great cross from Pearce was headed wide by Ching at the far post. Soon afterward, Gaven, who’d impressed since coming on at halftime, won the ball and made a good run toward goal but his shot was stopped by Montes. Two minutes later, another run by Gaven was stopped by a foul just outside the penalty area. Rogers took the resulting free kick and sent in a good ball that was headed just wide by Evans.

In the 68th minute, Jeff Cunningham came on for Findley, who appeared to have picked up a knock. The US pressure continued unabated and the Salvadoran defense were forced to foul to stem the onslaught. In the 70th minute, Pearce was brought down on the left flank. The free kick by Rogers was headed on net by Ching only to be saved by Montes as American players crashed the net looking for a rebound. A minute later, Ching was kicked in the head by a high boot. The resulting free kick from Rogers went just wide at the far post.

Just when it seemed like the US dominance would go unrewarded, the US finally got one past Montes to level the score. A good cross from Pearce was headed in at the near post by the ever-present Ching.

The hosts could have taken the lead three minutes later when Rogers shot high and wide from inside the box. With two teammates in front of the net, a cross was probably the better option. A minute later, a Cunningham cross set up a shot for Ching that was saved by Montes.

The match began to wind down at this point. The US made a couple of substitutions. Dax McCarthy came on for Beckerman in the 79th minute and Geoff Cameron made his National Team debut, replacing Rogers with four minutes remaining.

A draw looked likely until the second minute of stoppage time when the US got numbers forward against an exhausted Salvadoran defense. Some nice passing between Kljestan and Ching allowed the former to slot home a relatively easy chance at the near post and the hosts had the victory they deserved.

It was encouraging to see these young players bounce back from the poor performance against Honduras. The win probably helped Coach Bradley make some decisions about his World Cup roster as well. The US will be in action again in a week’s time when they face Holland in Amsterdam. It will be a much different line up for the US, composed mainly of European-based players. However, a few standouts from this match might find a place on the bench with one last opportunity to punch their ticket to South Africa.

Player rating for the US Team follows (scored 1-10):

Nick Rimando, goalkeeper (6): Aside from picking the ball out of his net, he had almost nothing to do. He looked pretty confident back there and his distribution was decent.

Jonathan Bornstein, central defender (6): I hardly realized he was out there as he was another American with very little to do. It’s telling that he wore the captain’s armband for the first time. Look for him to start at left fullback for the US in South Africa.

Clarence Goodson, central defender (7): He played slightly farther up the field then Bornstein and got stuck in more. He also went forward on set pieces from time to time. I believe his consistent play over the past six month has earned him a spot on the World Cup roster.

Heath Pearce, left fullback (8): The best I’ve seen him play in a long time. He saw to his few defensive duties well and got forward with numerous good crosses, one of which led to the first goal for the US. This performance put him back into contention for the World Cup squad.

Brad Evans, right fullback (5): His weak header back to the keeper gifted the opening goal to El Salvador but he did pretty well otherwise. There’s a hard edge to his game as the tackles (and fouls) were flying in. He got forward on set pieces as well and nearly scored with a couple of headers.

Kyle Beckerman, central midfielder (6): He set the tone in the center of the park with several hard tackles in the first half and worked tirelessly to snuff out the few Salvadoran attacks. His distribution was hit and miss. I’m still knocking off a point for the hair.

Sacha Kljestan, central midfielder (8): He ran things from central midfield in the first half with a series of excellent passes. He was a bit quiet in the second interval as the US attack moved out to the wings via Gaven, Rogers and Pearce. However, he kept working and was on hand to score the winner in extra time.

Robbie Rogers, left midfielder (7): He provided plenty of ammunition for the strikers throughout the game with good crosses and nearly scored himself on a couple occasions. He also did well with his deliveries from set pieces in the second half. Perhaps he should have crossed the ball late on when he fired wide at the near post but I liked his confidence.

Brad Davis, right midfielder (6): I still haven’t seen much from this guy in open play but he’s fantastic striking dead balls. He sent in several good corners before coming off at halftime with a tight hamstring.

Conner Casey, striker (5): He was better than I’ve seen him in recent matches but could still increase his work rate in my opinion. There was some nice link-up play here and there but he never really looked like scoring.

Robbie Findley, striker (6): He was really trying hard but it just wasn’t quite coming off for him. His pace caused the Salvadoran defense problems but he couldn’t carve out any clear scoring chances.

Substitutes:

Brian Ching, striker (8): Replaced Casey at the start of the second half and made all the difference. He scored one goal and set up the second. He was constantly open in the area and put a barrage of headers and shots on net (man of the match).

Eddie Gaven, midfielder (7): He’s been on the fringe of the US Team for a while and turned in a great performance in the second half. His runs down the right caused all kinds of problems for El Salvador. It’s probably too late for him to figure in the World Cup squad but you never know.

Jeff Cunningham, striker (6): Came on for Findley in the 68th minute put in a good cross to Ching ten minutes later that almost resulted in a goal. I don’t recall to much else from him.

Dax McCarthy, midfielder (-): Not on long enough to make an impression.

Geoff Cameron, midfielder (-): Not on long enough to make an impression.

Bob Bradley, coach (7): Not much for him to do in this game from a tactical standpoint. His work was done during the training camp prior to the match. His team was ready to play and did a good job of putting the Honduras match behind them.