Jacksonville, FL - Going into an important tournament, the goal for a team is to be playing their best soccer. With the start of World Cup Qualification looming on the horizon, one might ask if the US Men’s National Team might have peeked too early after the way they dismantled Scotland on Saturday night. A hat trick from Landon Donovan along with goals by Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones saw the US enjoy an easy 5-1 win in front of a crowd of more than 44,000 at Everbank Field. In fact, the Scots only response came in the form of an own goal off the chest of the unfortunate Geoff Cameron.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann put out a strong side for the team’s first match since late February. Clarence Goodson, Clint Dempsey and Josie Altidore were probably the only regular first-teamers not in the starting eleven, which lined up this way: Howard, Bocanegra (captain), Cameron, Cherundolo, Johnson, Edu, Jones, Bradley, Donovan, Torres, Boyd. Scotland put out a decent side but veteran Kenny Miller was the only recognizable attacking threat.
The hosts got off to the best possible start as Donovan scored in the third minute. Bradley won the ball just inside the Scotland half before passing it up to Jones. The nationalized German dwelt on the ball too long, allowing a Scottish defender to track back and knock it free. Fortunately for the Americans, the ball went straight to Donovan, whose shot was charged down by the Scottish Keeper Allan McGregor. Landon was able to collect the rebound and blast it into the roof of the net before the defense could react.
The goal seemed to lift the US and they began knocking the ball around confidently. Some really good build up work led to the American’s second goal eight minutes later and it was beauty. The Yanks strung together several passes down the right before Donovan crossed the ball to Jones. He knocked it down into the path of a charging Bradley, who curled his half-volley shot off the outside of his right foot and into the upper corner from 25 yards out. The son of the former National Team Manager can play another 65 games for the US and never score a better goal. It was that good.
At this point it looked like the Americans might run away with the match but Scotland pulled a goal back in the 15th minute. Charlie Mulgrew crossed the ball into the US area from the right where Miller headed it back across the six yard box. The ball struck the chest of the retreating Cameron and went into the net at the near post.
The hosts reacted well to this setback and produced another good scoring chance seven minutes later. A good run down the left by Fabian Johnson set up a shot for Terrence Boyd. His effort was deflected out for a corner. From the ensuing set piece, the US earned a free kick near the top of the box. Francisco Torres took it early before the Scots could set up their wall, putting his shot just over the crossbar.
The US continued to push forward with fine passing and movement off the ball. They created several half-chances but nothing that really trouble McGregor in the Scotland goal. The visitors struggled to produce much in the attacking third but did force Tim Howard to come out and punch away a dangerous cross in the 38th minute.
In the dying moments of the first half the Scots looked like they might have something on but Maurice Edu got in a fantastic retreating tackle to make sure that the US went into the break with a lead.
Surprisingly for a friendly, neither team made any changes at halftime and the Americans picked up where they’d left off. Two minutes into the second half Steve Cherundolo got down the right wing to put in a cross that was cleared for a corner. Two minutes later Cherundolo sent over another cross. Boyd got a head on it but it was deflected and McGregor beat Jones to the loose ball to clear the danger. There were some appeals from the midfielder and the home fans for a penalty but the Salvadoran referee wasn’t interested.
The US was looking really dangerous at this point and some excellent build up play down the right allowed Donovan to dribble across the top of the area before placing his shot off the near post. Jones, who seemed to be everywhere, collected the rebound but put his shot wide.
The Scottish defense managed to keep the increasingly rampant US off the scoreboard until the hour mark when more good passing gave Jones the chance to pick out a wide open Donovan in the area. His first-time shot found the far corner making it 3-1 and effectively putting the game out of reach for Scotland.
With the contest pretty much decided, Klinsmann decided to change things up four minutes later. Oguchi Onyewu came on for Carlos Bocanegra, who’d picked up a yellow card in the first half. Kyle Beckerman replaced the stellar Maurice Edu and Hercules Gomez went up front in the place of Boyd, who’d failed to put away any of his chances despite good service.
Just one minute after those changes it was 4-1 as Donovan completed his hat trick. Bradley, who along with Jones and Edu had controlled the midfield all night for the US, picked out Landon’s diagonal run into the area with a perfectly-weighted through ball. The all-time leading scorer for US was then able to place his shot into the far corner off the post.
Joe Corona came on for his debut in the 68th minute, replacing Francisco Torres. Two minutes later the Americans added a final goal when goal scorer turned provider. Donovan’s cross into the box from the right was a little behind Jones but the big midfielder was able to adjust his body and nod the ball into the near post.
With his thoughts clearly turning to the upcoming fixtures, Klinsmann made two more substitutions, replacing Tim Howard with Brad Guzan in goal and the impressive Johnson with Edgar Castillo.
Scotland managed to get hold of the ball and possess it for long periods as the match wound down. They seemed content to limit the damage and the US were happy to sit back and defend. The Scots did manage a couple of half chances in the closing ten minutes but Beckerman bravely charged down a shooter on the top of the box and Miller could only balloon his shot from distance over the crossbar with two minutes to go. After just 60 seconds of added time, the referee blew the final whistle and the US celebrated a very comfortable victory.
Player Rating for US Team (scored 1-10)
Tim Howard, goalkeeper (7): He didn’t have a whole lot to do but did a good job of coming off his line to punch away a dangerous cross late in the first half. His throws were good as well, setting up many of our counter attacks. Otherwise, he just had to pick the ball out of the net following Cameron’s own goal.
Carlos Bocanegra, central defense (7): An uncompromising performance from the captain. He provided the steel in the center of defense and played some nice passes as well.
Geoff Cameron, central defense (5): I have to mark him down for putting the ball in his own net. Otherwise he did pretty well. Of course, Scotland didn’t mount much in the way of a threat most of the night.
Steve Cherundolo, right fullback (7): It was a pretty quiet first half for the veteran right back but he came alive early in the second with two good crosses into the area. He held down the right flank defensively with relative ease.
Fabian Johnson, left fullback (8): Generally speaking, I don’t like this practice of nationalizing Germans into our National Team but this kid is so damn good. He was solid defensively and his electric pace and skill on the ball saw him go on several attacking runs that caused the Scottish defense serious problems.
Maurice Edu, central midfield (8): He kept things very tidy defensively and did it with style. He tracked back to make a vital tackle late in the first half that ensured we kept the lead.
Jermaine Jones, central midfield (8): Another player who makes me doubt my stance on nationalizing Germans, even though they’re taking opportunities away from players developed in this country. This was the best I’ve seen him play in a US shirt. He was absolutely everywhere; defending, attacking, scoring.
Michael Bradley, central midfield (8): Along with Edu and Jones he dominated the midfield. His outstanding passing was overshadowed by the wonder-strike that resulted in the second goal.
Landon Donovan, right midfield (9): After scoring the opening goal and playing an important part in the build up for the second, he kind of drifted out of the game for the rest of the half and even turned the ball over a few times with loose passes. However, he was absolutely unplayable in the second half and only the post prevented him from scoring four (man of the match).
Francisco Torres, left midfield (7): He actually had quite a good game but was just overshadowed by even better performances around him. While he started out wide on the left, he drifted centrally and even popped up on the right from time to time, causing the Scottish defense marking problems. Torres nearly scored as well with a quickly taken free kick.
Terrence Boyd, striker (6): He did good work getting open and receiving passes but wasn’t quite quick enough to get a shot off with much regularity. If Altidore isn’t going to play, I’d rather see Agudelo or Bunbury get a chance rather than another foreign legionnaire.
Subs:
Oguchi Onyewu, central defender (6): It’s good to see Gooch back in the National Team fold. Hopefully his injury problems are behind him as we need more depth in central defense. The game was winding down by the time he got out there but he still made a couple of strong clearances.
Kyle Beckerman, central midfielder (6): He charged down a shooter late on and made a really good block that I’m sure stung. However, I’m still going to deduct a point for that hair. You represent the United States Kyle. Get a haircut.
Hercules Gomez, striker (5): To be honest, I don’t remember him doing anything during the 25 minutes or so he was out there.
Joe Corona, left midfielder (5): The debutant got a few touches and saw to his defensive duties but the game was pretty much over by the time he replaced Torres.
Brad Guzan, goalkeeper (5): He was another player who didn’t have anything to do while he was out there.
Edgar Castillo, left fullback (5): Didn’t do much wrong during the 15 minutes or so he was on as the game was all but over by that point.
No comments:
Post a Comment