U.S. Men’s National Team v. Guatemala, San Diego, 7.5.13

 

Guatemala played a disciplined, effective, defensive-minded game for about thirty-five minutes last night against the U.S in this friendly in San Diego. The Guatemalans ceded possession but didn’t allow any chances and came close to scoring in the 8^th minute off a counterattack that left the U.S. backline looking disorganized. Around the 38^th minute, however, Landon Donovan moved from the midfield to a forward position, and the U.S. began to take hold of the game. In the 39^th minute, DaMarcus Beasley sent a cross in to Donovan at the six, and Donovan’s glancing one-time shot skipped just wide of the near post. A couple of minutes later, with Donovan and Joe Corona occupying the attention of three defenders in the box, Jose Torres found Herculez Gomez wide open at the back post, and the latter’s volley put the U.S. up 1-0.

The U.S. proceeded to overwhelm Guatemala. Halftime U.S. substitutes Mix Diskerud and Stuart Holden played a large part in changing the game, controlling the midfield and creating chance after chance for U.S. attackers. Brek Shea, another halftime sub, made what seemed like, and may actually have been, a dozen unimpeded dribbling runs down the left sideline. Shea looked a little uncertain at times, not surprising given his recent history of nagging injuries and lack of club play at Stoke City, and horribly mishit one cross in the 80^th minute. But otherwise he had a notably and unexpectedly good game, assisting on the U.S.’s final goal, in the 88^th minute, and just a minute later nearly scoring himself on one of those dribbling runs.

The big story of this Gold Cup tune-up friendly was, of course, Donovan’s return to the national team. As he almost always does in a U.S. jersey, Donovan acquitted himself well, scoring twice (his 50^th and 51^st international goals) and making a wonderful dribbling run through the midfield to set up a Chris Wondolowski goal (Wondolowski’s first for the national team). After Donovan scored his first of the night—off a penalty-kick—the NBC Sports cameras showed a nice shot of him and longtime U.S. teammate Beasley hugging in celebration. It’s remarkable how good Donovan and Beasley still are, and easy to forget that they were the only players on the U.S. 2002 World Cup finals roster that were born in the 1980s. I can’t imagine that the 2014 U.S. roster, which will be comprised mostly of players born in that decade, won’t benefit enormously from their inclusion. Beasley, by the way, captained the U.S. last night, and there’s no better choice to lead this Gold Cup group, except maybe Donovan himself.

The current U.S. roster is an intriguing mix of young and old players, though the backline last night—Clarence Goodson, Oguchi Onyewu, and Michael Parkhurst along with Beasley—are all over 30, with the exception of Parkhurst, who will be 30 in January. They played the entire match, a good idea given that it’s a new combination, though Klinsmann didn’t have many options. (Corey Ashe is injured and Edgar Castillo started in the midfield.) It was a mixed day for them, even given the fact that they were largely untested and emerged with a clean sheet. Goodson scored, but gave the ball away cheaply on a couple of occasions and easily could have been called for a foul in the box in the 61^st minute when he pulled down a Guatemala attacker. Onyewu got beaten in the box in the 17^th minute (fortunately, Parkhurst was there to clean up the mess), but he looked strong in the air. Parkhurst had a solid defensive outing, but didn’t generate much offense (not that he needed to, true). His fellow outside back Beasley had the most complete game of the bunch, routinely attacking down the U.S. left sideline.

Given how tough Guatemala played in the semi-final round of World Cup qualifiers, I was surprised by how out-classed they were by this U.S. roster, which is without A-teamers like Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, and Graham Zusi. Part of the U.S.’s success last night must go to coach Jurgen Klinsmann. I’ve sometimes wondered if Klinsmann’s treatment of Donovan is borderline disrespectful given the latter’s accomplishments for the U.S. national team. But Donovan’s spirited, effective play last night and his generally humble and enthusiastic comments about playing for this Gold Cup team lead me to believe that Klinsmann may be handling Donovan’s return from self-imposed exile perfectly.

And for those who, like me, were occasionally frustrated by the humdrum predictability of the rosters released by prior USMNT coaches Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley, how can you not love a Gold Cup team that includes not only former youth phenoms Beasley and Donovan, but late bloomer Horatio Alger types Herculez Gomez and Chris Wondolowski, a record six players from Mexico’s Liga MX, young MLS strikers Will Bruin and Jack McInerney, and talented-but-injury-plagued potential-feel-good-story Stuart Holden?

Good will for the current side will of course evaporate if it struggles in the coming tournament. But if the team actually goes on to win the Gold Cup—not an implausible outcome given last night’s performance—Klinsmann will face difficult decisions when choosing the roster for the last round of World Cup qualifiers and, with luck, for the 2014 World Cup finals. And that prospect of a deep and diverse talent pool fiercely competing for slots is a strong inducement to get behind this unusual and promising 2013 U.S. Gold Cup team.