U.S. Men’s National Team v. Russia, Krasnodar, 11.14.12

After U.S. midfielder Mix Diskerud scored off a deflected shot in stoppage time to secure a 2-2 draw in Krasnodar, ESPN cameras caught Russia coach Fabio Capello chuckling and shaking his head at the cruel vicissitudes of soccer. Presumably, Capello wouldn’t have reacted in such a Zen-like way had the game been anything other than a friendly, whose score-lines are by definition meaningless. Despite the final score, Capello could be confident that his side showed more class, generated more chances, and probably should have won 4-2. U.S. keeper Tim Howard was largely responsible for keeping the U.S. close. Howard’s kick-save in the 89^th minute must have been especially deflating for Russia’s attackers, not to mention their fans.

The U.S. lineup was odd. Not only did Diskerud play (and score his first international goal), but twenty-one-year-old winger Josh Gatt got his first cap. Prodigal German-American son Timmy Chandler made his return to the U.S. lineup, playing right back and proclaiming before the match that he is “in 1,000 percent” as regards the U.S. national team. Juan Agudelo, who had such a forgettable year in MLS after getting traded to Chivas USA, also saw action, and positive action at that, assisting on Michael Bradley’s stunning goal in the 76^th minute. Finally, Jozy Altidore was invited back after his omission from recent World Cup qualifiers. Altidore played nearly the entire game and had an up-and-down performance punctuated by a blown opportunity in the 70^th minute when he couldn’t control a ball into the box from Fabian Johnson and, about ten minutes later, an excellent dribbling run to the endline and pass back to Jermaine Jones, who made a mess of the wide-open shot.

As usual, U.S. defenders should be thanking Howard for repeatedly bailing them out. The U.S. backline somehow made the field appear a hundred yards wide in this game, and Russia attackers ran into spaces they could’ve driven monster trucks through.

Clarence Goodson came on for Carlos Bocanegra at the thirteen-minute mark due to an injury and looked out of sorts for most of his stint. His 83^rd-minute foul from behind on Artem Dzyuba led to a yellow card and a penalty-kick goal for Russia. The foul was a light one, and not exactly clumsy, but of course it was in the box and the U.S. was rightly punished. Howard was visibly upset with Goodson after the call, as Howard looked to have been in position to collect the ball with or without any challenges from his defense. Geoff Cameron was solid alongside Goodson at center back, breaking up a number of Russia chances in the final third, though he did commit a few unforced giveaways, including one in the 13^th minute that nearly led to a goal for the other side. Given the U.S.’s ongoing problems at center back, which now may include an injury to Bocanegra, I would be surprised and disappointed if Omar Gonzalez does not see action in next year’s final round of CONCACAF qualifiers.

The value of this game lay primarily in giving players like Cameron, Gatt, Diskerud, and Agudelo more high-level international experience. I thought Gatt in particular looked promising. He’s known in soccer circles for his speed and athletic talent, and we saw glimpses of those qualities against Russia. He also showed good movement off the ball. He was repeatedly a target on the flanks, starting on the right side before switching places with Herculez Gomez at around the half-hour mark. Gatt had a couple of nifty moves on the ball as well, like his brief run through the midfield in the 39^th minute that started with a deft thigh trap. He appears to be tough, and mixed it up early and often with the Russia backline. One of those Russia defenders may have loosened one of Gatt’s teeth on a challenge involving an elbow in the 22^nd minute, but Gatt kept going. He made some mistakes, like a giveaway in the 52^nd that led to a Russia counter, but, again, learning from both bad and good is the point of these friendlies, and those mistakes do not in my opinion outweigh the positives Gatt brought to the team.

Speaking of learning from mistakes, the first Russia goal came off the kind of unforced error that drives even youth-league coaches batty. In the 9^th minute, Altidore drew a foul at midfield. Danny Williams then played a quick, short free kick square across field. Alexander Kerzhakov intercepted the pass and played the ball wide to fellow striker Fedor Smolov, who was streaking down the Russia right flank. He scored easily.

With luck, Williams does not need to be told by Jurgen Klinsmann and his staff that his quick free kick represented the height of carelessness on a soccer field, that he needed to give his side time to collect itself in a hostile environment against a quality team. But Williams and the rest of his U.S. teammates need to be told again and again of this fact, while replays of the turnover are played before their eyes on a loop tape. If that giveaway and subsequent goal serve to remind players not to make similar mistakes in the final round of qualifiers, then this Russian excursion will have been worth the trouble.

I'll note in closing that the U.S. goals were almost bizarrely alike. Each was set up by a long ball played to the top of the box (the first from Maurice Edu, the second from Bradley). Those balls were then headed backwards by target forwards playing with their backs to the goal. U.S. midfielders finished by scoring on the second pass. 

The goals were of course the fruits of so-called “direct” soccer, the kind of unimaginative, unattractive play that, presumably, Klinsmann wants to move away from in his quest to elevate the quality of American soccer. U.S. fans should not be surprised to see a reversion to this kind of direct soccer in the upcoming qualifiers, which start in February. Regrettably or not, that style of play probably still best suits U.S. players.