U.S. Men’s National Team v. Canada in Toronto, 6.3.12

U.S. soccer fans must hope that tonight’s scoreless draw against Canada isn’t an ill omen. After recently thrashing Scotland 5-1, and more recently getting schooled by Brazil 4-1, the U.S. was back playing CONCACAF competition, and our boys hardly impressed. The U.S. controlled the ball early, knocking it around at will and looking pretty good while doing it. Only, the possession was completely meaningless, taking place in the middle third of the field with U.S. midfielders more often then not playing passes in the direction of their own goal. Fans of FC Barcelona and/or Spain’s national team will know that this kind of patient possession can lead to good things, but a team must be capable of playing in tight quarters in the final third and breaking down a well-organized defense to create scoring chances. Tonight, the U.S.’s buildups more often than not ended in long balls sent harmlessly over the end line or sideline.

The U.S. played an impressive lineup that included Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Jose Torres, and Herculez Gomez, but those players failed to create chances. Dempsey was invisible for large stretches, Bradley uncharacteristically gave the ball away too much, and unless I missed something none put a decent shot on goal all night long. In fact, Canada created many more quality chances than did the U.S., and they probably should have won the game in the final minutes when Dwayne DeRosario took down a ball in the box and skinned U.S. right back substitute Michael Parkhurst, driving to the end line and playing a perfect pass across the goal to a Canada teammate who somehow managed to flub the wide-open shot. I should add that the U.S. did create an good shot of their own not long after this, when Bradley sent an excellent free kick into the box that found Clarence Goodson. Goodson put a strong header on frame but it was parried over the bar and the deadlock stood.

Goodson had a decent game, and considering Oguchi Onyewu’s unpolished performance against Brazil he may have moved up a notch on the U.S.’s center-back depth chart. Perhaps the most intriguing performance of the night was turned in by U.S. right back Edgar Castillo. It was the best game I’ve seen him play in a U.S. shirt, and he often looked confident and skillful with the ball at his feet. Still, he seems more comfortable attacking than defending, and I wonder if he takes too many chances for a defender. In my mind, he had an egregious giveaway late in the second half that probably should have cost the U.S. the game.

In the 34^th minute, Castillo had the ball in the corner of his own end and was being harassed by two Canada players. Rather than try to clear the ball up field or simply play it out of bounds and let his team regroup, he tried to extricate himself from the double team by deft footwork. He did split the defenders, but in the chaos of the moment he lunged at the ball in an attempt to play it back to fellow defender Carlos Bocanegra. The pass was played off Castillo’s toe and fell not to the helpless and disbelieving Bocanegra, but to Canada’s Nik Ledgerwood, who collected the ball finished nicely, sending a shot past Tim Howard into the top of the side netting. It probably should have been a goal, but the linesman’s flag had gone up and it was disallowed. In any event, Castillo’s flailing, off-target pass was not the kind of play you want anyone on your backline contemplating, let alone making. A defender’s primary responsibility is to defend, not to attack or engage in fancy footwork. I strongly suspect that Fabian Johnson will play left back during the duration of the U.S.’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers, assuming he stays healthy.

There isn’t much more to say about this friendly. However, let me add in closing that I listened to a couple of soccer podcasts today, and the pundits in each case were quick to dismiss the U.S.’s recent 5-1 victory over Scotland as something that had been foreordained by the soccer gods. “We knew we were somewhere between Brazil and Scotland,” one of those experts said. And if the current FIFA world rankings are any indication, he was correct: the U.S. is ranked 29^th, Scotland 48^th. Then again, Canada is currently ranked 75^th. Did those same pundits think, then, that the U.S. would necessarily blow the doors off Canada tonight? Did the U.S. players feel the same way? They (the U.S. players) likely did expect to win, but of course they only just managed a draw.

The U.S.’s lackluster performance should serve as a reminder that their CONCACAF World Cup qualifying run will not necessarily be an easy one. That run starts this Friday against Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda, incidentally, are currently ranked 100^th in the world by FIFA, not so very far below the Canada team that probably should have beaten the U.S. tonight.