U.S. Men’s National Team v. Costa Rica, Denver, Colorado, 3.22.13

 

The U.S. men’s national team’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Costa Rica will be remembered as a game played in near-whiteout Rocky Mountain conditions. The snow fell so thick and fast it seemed from TV images that at least four inches of heavy-looking accumulation settled onto the field over the course of the match. It all made for a bizarre viewing experience. At one point in the first half the cameras showed a close-up of U.S. center back Clarence Goodson. With snow clinging to his hair and beard, he looked like a man on his way to a trading post to sell beaver pelts.

The image of Goodson was clear, but much of the game was virtually invisible to spectators. The impenetrability of the snow was compounded by the facts that U.S. players wore white jerseys and the ball was a pale yellow. At crucial points during the match I could hardly tell what was going on at all. Clint Dempsey scored the game’s only goal, but I had to wait for replays to even dimly understand how it transpired. (Jozy Altidore struck a shot that got deflected, and Dempsey ran onto the rebound and fed a yawning goalmouth with one of his hallmark borderline-garbage-but-nonetheless-critical scoring strikes.)

The conditions not only drastically cut down visibility, they blunted players’ technical abilities and gave the game a throwback feel. Long balls were repeatedly lumped forward towards the flags and into the penalty boxes. Players slipped and slid around like kids on a sodden playground. As ESPN color man Taylor Twellman noted, not without wistfulness, near the end of the first-half: “It’s like playing at the park right now.” He and his broadcast mate Ian Darke also pointed out that it was the kind of game in which defenders can easily lose their footing and get punished.

Which brings us to the U.S. back line, the most depleted unit of a team without Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Danny Williams, Brek Shea, and others (all except the rusticating Donovan out due to injury). Wide defenders Steve Cherundolo, Fabian Johnson, Timmy Chandler, and Edgar Castillo are injured, and Michael Parkhurst is ailing after a recent flu. Former captain and center back Carlos Bocanegra has no club team. None of them is on the current national team roster. That left coach Jurgen Klinsmann with a shallow pool of defenders for the game against Costa Rica, and he ultimately started Goodson and Omar Gonzalez in the middle and Geoff Cameron on the right. In a mildly surprising move, Klinsmann played longtime U.S. midfielder/attacker DaMarcus Beasley at left back.

The back line was, apart from the snow, the story of the game. Cameron had some shaky moments, occasionally dwelling on the ball too long and/or giving it away, but they played well as a unit and deserved the clean sheet. In the center, Goodson shined, clearing balls with conviction and settling them with surety. Gonzalez also looked strong, but Beasley, playing in his 98^th national team game, outshone them all. He was the man of this match by far, and turned in a remarkable performance that may lead to more on the back line.

Beasley’s match started unpropitiously. In the 8^th minute, Gonzalez clocked him in the jaw with the crown of his head during an aerial challenge, a collision violent enough to send team doctors out to attend to Beasley. In the 21^st minute, the U.S. was beaten down its right flank, and Beasley slipped in the box while attempting to head away the cross. It could have been costly, but Costa Rica couldn’t capitalize.

After that, Beasley was nearly perfect, and you could make a strong case that he was the engine of the team. Despite the snow-covered field, he got forward repeatedly. He created the U.S.’s second best chance of the night in the 42^nd minute, sending a perfect cross into the box towards the back post. The Costa Rica keeper misplayed it, and Dempsey was taken down in the box by New York Red Bulls man Roy Miller. Stunningly, the referee did not call a penalty kick, but Beasley’s cross probably should have helped to effectively put the game out of reach.

Beasley was seemingly everywhere, not only attacking down the flank and sending in smart and dangerous crosses, but defending well. In the 83^rd minute, for example, he made a good run forward, then immediately tracked back to win the ball and clear it. In the 45^th minute he might have saved two points for the U.S. as he broke up the rhythm of Costa Rica attackers in the box, snuffing out what looked to be a promising sequence for them. His work rate was superb. Even in stoppage time and on the snow-covered surface the guy was attacking. In the 92^nd minute he had a good exchange with substitute Maurice Edu that ended with yet another dangerous Beasley cross into the box.

I don’t know if we’ll ever see Beasley play left back again, but I for one hope he’ll start there next Tuesday when the U.S. plays Mexico in Azteca Stadium. Beasley himself may be less than enthused by the prospect. In a 2009 Chicago Tribune article entitled “Beasley prefers the midfield, obviously,” he was quoted as saying: "Yeah, obviously [I would prefer to play midfield]. I’ve never played leftback before. This is my first time I play leftback 90 minutes [sic]. It was different.”

Despite those disparaging remarks, Beasley yesterday helped make clear what anyone who has coached on any level comes to realize quickly: outside backs are vitally important to a soccer team. Bad ones can kill a team, both with their defensive mistakes and with the limitations they impose in the attacking half. Good ones stonewall the other team’s offense and ignite their own. I’m beginning to think no other position on the field is more important than fullback. I hope Beasley, who is now 30 and near the end of his career, has come to share that view.