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.