U.S. Men’s National Team v. Mexico, Columbus, Ohio 9.10.13

Landon Donovan, playing with an eye infection that gave him the look of someone who’d had a run-in with Roberto Duran, had a goal and assist tonight as the U.S. beat Mexico 2-0 in a qualifier that all but sealed the Yanks’ place in the 2014 World Cup tournament. After looking flabby against Costa Rica last week, and borderline overwhelmed during the first ten minutes or so of this game, the U.S. defense and midfield settled down and then shut down Mexico attackers.

U.S. center backs Clarence Goodson and Omar Gonzalez read the game well and dominated in the air. Only Fabian Johnson, playing at right back, showed poorly, mishitting and turning over balls repeatedly. (Jurgen Klinsmann wisely substituted Johnson for Michael Parkhurst at the half.) At left back, DaMarcus Beasley had some rough moments early, including a whiffed clearance that ricocheted off his plant foot and nearly resulted in an own-goal, but, predictably, he recovered. At the end of an often furiously paced game, Beasley was sprinting up and down the sideline without any apparent fatigue. He’s indefatigable.

In the midfield, Jermaine Jones atoned for his poor showing against Costa Rica with a solid outing. He hustled and played tough defense, which is what the U.S. needs from him. He twice thwarted Giovani Dos Santos in the box, once in the 24^th minute and again in the 56^th with a well timed tackle. Kyle Beckerman played alongside him and performed well, harassing Mexico attackers and maintaining his composure, though he probably should have picked up a yellow in the 17^th minute for a hard foul on Dos Santos.

Aside from Donovan, the most effective outfield player tonight for the Yanks was Eddie Johnson. (I say “outfield” because Tim Howard was fantastic.) Johnson nearly scored a header off a Donovan corner-kick delivery in the 32^nd minute, when Johnson was left unmarked. Three minutes into the second half, Donovan and Johnson again connected off a corner kick, and Mexico again let Johnson have a free run in the box. This time Johnson didn’t miss, and he put the U.S. up for good. Mexico was overmatched in the air against the U.S., and El Tri team officials must be damning themselves for not pursuing Omar Gonzalez while they still had the chance, before he was cap-tied to their bitter rivals.

When I began writing this post, the U.S. had not officially qualified for the 2014 World Cup. That has now changed, as Honduras’s recently concluded 2-2 draw with Panama guarantees that the U.S. will finish in the top three of the CONCACAF hexagonal.

Now that the U.S. has qualified, the team’s fans should credit head coach Jurgen Klinsmann with doing an excellent job so far. He set out to change the style and attitude of U.S. soccer, and you could make a strong argument that he’s doing just that. His teams have gotten excellent results, not only qualifying for the World Cup after 8 hexagonal games, but running away with this year’s Gold Cup and beating teams like Germany and Italy to boot. And the team has occasionally played some very entertaining and attractive soccer. His unorthodox roster decisions, like playing Beasley on defense and giving young players like Mix Diskerud and Alejandro Bedoya significant time in important matches, have proved prescient. And his in-game adjustments have been notably and consistently excellent, as when he brought on Diskerud against Mexico tonight and the player justified the decision with an assist.

I for one look forward to next month’s final two qualifying games, when the pressure will be off the players and Klinsmann will no doubt make a few surprising, perhaps even enlightening, decisions.

U.S. Men’s National Team v. Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica, 9.6.13

The U.S. national team’s night began unpropitiously on Saturday evening as midfielder Michael Bradley limped off the field during warm ups after rolling his left ankle. Over the last few years, Bradley is as close as the U.S. gets to a sure thing. He can be counted on to play hard, smart, and well. He’s seemingly always available and never turns in a dud performance. And he mans the middle of the field, virtually ensuring that he gets touches, is in on challenges, and remains visible.

He managed to remain visible against Costa Rica last night, even though his ankle injury relegated him to the sideline. His absence leapt off the TV screen. Without him, the U.S. midfield looked as soft as the average American’s midriff. The players routinely gave away balls and lost challenges, particularly in the first half. Jermaine Jones was asked to assume Bradley’s role, and Jones is the anti-Bradley, as inconsistent a central midfielder as can be imagined on the international level, and not just game to game but play to play. Forced to watch the beIN broadcast at a bar last night, I was unable to take notes, but I’m confident in saying that Jones sent many balls long and out of bounds and ceded possession needlessly in critical situations. He booted the third kick of the game over the Costa Rica end line, and just a minute later gave the ball away at midfield, starting a Costa Rica attack that resulted in a corner-kick goal.

As for the rest of the U.S. midfielders, Graham Zusi had the presence of mind to spring Clint Dempsey by taking a quick free kick near the end of the half, leading to a penalty kick and the only U.S. goal of the game. But Zusi was beaten badly for speed a couple of times down Costa Rica’s left, and generally did not look sharp or even energetic, which you expect from him. Geoff Cameron actually did fill in for Bradley in the midfield, and had a below-average, drab game. Fabian Johnson played on the left. He did have a flawless, powerful half-volley on goal that was saved spectacularly by Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas, but otherwise he played like his line mates and failed to impose his will.

On the second Costa Rica goal, which came in just the 9^th minute, the U.S. midfield virtually took the play off. Central defender Omar Gonzalez was sucked into a vacuum of space on the Costa Rica left side, ultimately lunging at a Cristian Bolanos cross. Costa Rica attackers swarmed on the pass and overwhelmed the remnants of the U.S. back line to head the ball into the net. The defense looked and was out of sorts on the goal, but it was the U.S. midfield that put them in that untenable position. Zusi was beaten down the sideline, Jones was in the box but marking no one, and Cameron and Johnson had an excellent view of the proceedings from the top of the 18, where they both stood alone together.

It must be said that while the U.S. back line was hung out to dry, it did not acquit itself well in any case. In order for Cameron to move to the midfield, natural center back Michael Orozco played right back for the U.S., and Orozco’s need for support often pulled the defense out of shape. Matt Besler had a tough night, most spectacularly on a counter in the second half that led to Costa Rica’s game-sealing third goal. Besler was the picture of an overmatched man expending all his strength and speed. He was muscled off the ball and outrun. It was a beautiful play, actually, a classic counterstrike off a U.S. turnover in the penalty box. Costa Rica substitute Jose Cubero’s long one-time ball over Besler was quick and unimprovable, the kind of classy touch U.S. players could rarely summon in this game.

DaMarcus Beasley also had a rough time in the back, but I think partly out of misfortune. He was manning the near post on Costa Rica’s first goal, and had a chance to clear the ball off the line, but the powerful close-range shot glanced off his shorn head and into the net. Realistically, no one short of Spiderman could have reacted quickly enough to make that play. Beasley was also involved in the second goal described above, but no team can rely on its left back to challenge three attackers making unimpeded runs onto such a fat, juicy cross, especially when that left back is a speedster listed at 5’8”, 145. I think Beasley will get a lot of undeserved grief for this performance, and a lot of people will call for his replacement, but that’s nonsense. Beasley has been remarkably solid—and sometimes considerably better than solid—on defense in the prior dozen games for the national team, all of them victories.

Similarly, this loss should not be pinned on Landon Donovan, who made his long-heralded return to World Cup qualifiers. He played forward along with Dempsey, and given the performance of the U.S. midfield, combined with a field-clotting five-man Costa Rica back line, those two were given few chances to shine. When Donovan and Dempsey did have the ball at their feet against Costa Rica, it was a visual relief, a series of brief reprieves from watching the unpolished performances of the rest of the U.S. players. Donovan and Dempsey nearly linked up in the 56^th minute, producing one of the few U.S. highlights of the night. Donovan beat Costa Rica’s left back, driving to the flag and then turning the ball back to Dempsey at the top of the box. Dempsey took over, doing what he does best, creating space in traffic by juking his defender and dragging the ball back in the opposite direction. His low left-footed strike hit the outside of the post.

After the match, Donovan had an insightful, gracious quote about one of the few U.S. players on his and Dempsey’s level, a player that undoubtedly would have changed the nature of this drab U.S. performance: “This team has in large part been built around Michael [Bradley] and that hurts. We lose a leader and a good player but that doesn't account for how we started and how we played. We still needed to do better than that.”