U.S. Men’s U-23 National Team v. El Salvador in Nashville, 3.26.12: Another Humbling Experience for U.S. Soccer

Last month in Dallas, the U.S. men’s under-23 national soccer team notched a promising 2-0 victory against Mexico in a tune-up match for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. Then, in their first match of that tournament, the U.S. went out and trounced Cuba 6-0. After those two results, did anyone seriously doubt that the U-23s would qualify for this summer’s Olympics in London?

Now, less than a week after the Cuba game, the U.S. U-23s have been knocked out of qualifying play. They lost 2-0 to Canada on Saturday, and drew 3-3 with El Salvador last night, meaning that the U.S. failed even to advance from the group stage. That’s a dismal state of affairs for U.S. soccer fans, and it must be positively heartbreaking for the U.S. players and coaching staff.

Last night’s game against El Salvador was exciting, and there were some bright spots for the U.S. Terrence Boyd showed himself to be a finisher with an opening-minute volley of a Brek Shea cross to start the scoring. Boyd tied game in the second half with another clean strike after receiving a beautiful Freddie Adu through ball between three El Salvador defenders. U.S. captain Adu proved he was worthy of the armband against El Salvador, particularly in the second half, when for long stretches he was clearly the best player on the field, one capable of taking over a game. He not only set up Boyd’s second goal, but was instrumental in putting the U.S. ahead 3-2, if only for a while. After some good work in the box, Adu had the vision and skill to send a pinpoint cross to Joe Corona at the back post. Corona headed the ball past the El Salvador keeper and the near post for the go-ahead goal. At that point it looked like a sure thing that the U.S. would advance to the all-important semifinal match.

Unfortunately, the U.S. effort was not uniformly strong, and they looked particularly suspect at times in the back. U.S. defenders gave El Salvador attackers too much room to work with, particularly on the U.S.’s left side. On El Salvador’s second goal, which came just a minute or so after their first, the entire U.S. back line was walking around like people strolling the grounds of a retirement home on the first day of spring. If you think I’m exaggerating, go check out the highlights on CONCACAF’s website (the sequence starts at around the 50-second mark).

I know U.S. players must have been exhausted in the 95^th minute, when El Salvador finally equalized and broke the U.S. players’ hearts, but I still feel the U.S.’s effort on that final, crippling shot could have been better. The goal scorer, Jaime Alas, received the ball about fifty yards from the U.S. goal. Two El Salvador attackers made nice runs into the box to clear defenders away from the area, but Alas (who, it should be noted, had also played the entire game) too easily distanced himself from his marker. And the U.S. central defenders didn’t close quickly enough on Alas when it was clear he was going to take his long-distance, last-gasp shot. U.S. goalkeeper Sean Johnson—who’d come on in the first half for an injured Bill Hamid—didn’t make a great play on the ball, but the shot took a short hop in front of him, and no one should pin this loss on him.

Certainly, the U-23s can learn from this loss, in particular the importance of hustling on defense for an entire match, not just for long periods. It’s okay to take a few plays off if you’re a striker, and even occasionally as a midfielder, but you can never, ever relax as a defender. The game was also a grim reminder that the U.S. men’s national teams still haven’t significantly distanced themselves from mid-level CONCACAF competition. The senior team did play in last summer’s Gold Cup final, but their road to that final was hardly an easy one. They too almost didn’t make it out of the group stage, and in any case they were thoroughly schooled by Mexico in the final. 

Many experts have already penciled in Jurgen Klinsmann’s side to make it to the 2014 World Cup. For example, Taylor Twellman recently said in an interview with NJ.com, “[Klinsmann] will qualify for the World Cup. But we’re all wondering what will happen beyond that.” In the wake of the supposedly strong U-23 team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, or even to make it to the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifiers, we should be wary of making such statements. I for one sincerely hope that our men’s soccer program isn’t in for yet another humbling experience when the senior team attempts qualify for Brazil in 2014.