The task before the USA National Team coming into the Guadeloupe match was clear: win and advance. Actually Panama's 1-1 draw with Canada meant that the USA could advance with a draw, but after the horrid performance against Panama, the USA wasn't in the mood for a draw. That could have been a disaster.
The first half was a banner half for the Americans. Jozy Altidore put the USA on top in just the 9th minute with a great strike from distance. 1-0 to the Yanks. We held possession and got several good shots. Guadeloupe's keeper kept them in the match, coming up with a couple of gems against Chris Wondolowski, who I thought did much better tonight.
Really, whether he did or not, we can't criticize him anymore. The second half was a just nightmare of missed chances for the USA. Really, this match should have been at least 4-0. Landon Donovan missed a point blank shot, causing Kyle Martino to say he would have lost his home because he would have bet everything on Landycakes hitting that.
The more disturbing performance came from the usually reliable Clint Dempsey. Now, I'm not gonna pile on Clint here. He's just coming off of a long season in Europe where he really shined for Fulham, and represented the US overseas very well. However, he missed three point blank shots, including one where he tried to walk the ball over the line instead of just striking it, which allowed a Guadeloupe defender to recover and poke it away from him at the last second.
All in all, The US held on for the 1-0 win. Good enough to advance? Yes. Good enough to beat the stronger teams in the tournament? Doubt it.
No comments:
Post a Comment