States Coach Bob Bradley made four changes to his lineup for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Honduras, dropping DeMarcus Beasley and Marvell Wynne in an attempt to tighten up the defense.
Mistakes by Beasley and Wynne led to two goals by Costa Rica in first 13 minutes of the Americans’ 3-0 loss on Wednesday. Jonathan Spector and Jonathan Bornstein replaced them in the starting lineup on Saturday night.
Bradley’s other changes included inserting Ricardo Clark in midfield for Michael Bradley, who is suspended, and putting Connor Casey at forward. Casey will take the place of Landon Donovan, who drops into midfield. Jose Francisco Torres, who started Wednesday but was replaced at halftime, is out of the starting lineup.
Update | 8:47 p.m. Well that didn’t work. Honduras 1, United States 0 in the fifth minute.
Update | Halftime, 9:20 p.m. The U.S. has to feel better about the end of the first half than it did about the first few minutes, when a ghastly giveaway by Clint Dempsey in the center circle put the Americans in another early hole. To be fair, that goal isn’t Bradley’s fault; Dempsey made a mistake and Honduras pounced on it. But, again, there seemed to be too much space in front of the back line, and for that it would be fair to blame the newness of a rebuilt back line with two new members.
Great half for Landon Donovan, who as usual seems much more comfortable running at players than waiting for the ball to come to him on the front line. He was dangerous coming up the left side, his driven free kick from the right side caused some trouble, and he stepped up and buried the PK when Honduras gave the U.S. some life.
Now the Americans are back on level ground. They just have to stop digging.
Update | 9:33 p.m. Benny Feilhaber on for Mastroeni for the second half. But don’t wait up for Torres; he’s not listed among the substitutes tonight.
Update | 10:19 p.m. Proving it happens to others, too, Mexico gave up an 11th minute goal in San Salvador and trails, 1-0, at halftime. That’s a score that would really help the U.S. Blanco on at halftime for Mexico.
Update | Postgame, 10:31 p.m. Brave performance for the United States’ performance tonight. It gave up an early goal and then really showed some guts to clean up its own mess. Landon Donovan showed some spark and converted a first-half penalty. Carlos Bocanegra threw caution to the wind and stuck his head in to score the winner in the 68th minute. Tim Howard controlled the penalty area and then threw his body around when things got dicey. Ricardo Clark cleared a ball off the line in the first half and swiped away another from behind a fallen Howard in the second.
The U.S. seemed to get tighter defensively as the game went on, which is a good sign for both the players and for Coach Bob Bradley.
Costa Rica won at Trinidad & Tobago earlier Saturday, so they stay on top of the group, but they and the Americans are starting to get a little separation. Here are the standings pending the result of the Mexico-El Salvador game:
Costa Rica 12
United States 10
Honduras 4
———-
Mexico 3
El Salvador 2
T&T 2
Remember: The U.S. and Costa Rica have played five games to the others’ four, but the bottom four will play Wednesday to put everyone at the halfway point. The next U.S. qualifier is Aug. 12 at Mexico City.
No comments:
Post a Comment