U.S. Men’s National Team v. Ukraine, Larnaca, Cyprus, 3.5.14

If the U.S.’s last match was the most meaningless of this World Cup cycle, its recent match against Ukraine may have been the most notable, if only for political-historical reasons. The game—originally scheduled to be held in Kharkiv, Ukraine—was played instead in Cyprus due to the unfolding Ukrainian popular revolution. The last-minute venue change to neutral soil resulted in an almost empty stadium. The ESPN announcers estimated there were 1,500 fans on hand, and about two thirds of those looked to be Ukrainian supporters. Given the events now gripping their home country, I hope those supporters derived some happiness from their boys spanking the U.S. 2-0 in a game that should have resulted in an even more lopsided score line.

The man of the match was Ukraine’s winger Andriy Yarmolenko, who plays his club soccer for Dynamo Kiev, and who has generated interest from Liverpool and no doubt other major clubs. He had his way with U.S. left back Edgar Castillo, scoring a goal, scoring another that was probably incorrectly disallowed, nearly scoring another, and putting an (unconverted) goal on a platter for a teammate, all in the first half. That half ended 1-0 in favor of Ukraine, but it should have ended something like 3-0.

As for Castillo, I have made the point again and again: he looks good going forward, but he’s a glaring defensive liability. That he continues to get chances to play left back under Jurgen Klinsmann mystifies me. After this performance, his chances may be exhausted. He was badly burned in the 30^th minute by Yarmolenko, who, after passing the ball towards his own goal, timed his midfield run perfectly and left Castillo trotting ineffectually after him into a yawning gap. Yarmolenko ultimately dragged a shot wide, but every U.S. soccer fan must hope the sequence isn’t a horrible foreshadowing of 2014 World Cup Group G play.

Two of the other three U.S. starting defenders didn’t play much better. The unusual center-back pairing of John Brooks and Oguchi Onyewu produced low yields. They seemed out of position all game long, and were certainly caught out on both goals. On the second, they were in or near the midfield circle, pressing relatively high up the field in an attempt to win possession. Ukraine’s Marko Devic deftly chipped a loose ball over Brooks to teammate Roman Bezus, who returned the favor with a header behind the defense. Remarkably, after Devic’s long dribbling run into the U.S. box and a deflected initial shot, Brooks and Onyewu were still not in on the play. As a result, Devic collected the ball, struck again, and scored.

It is forgivable for a central defender to get caught out of position when playing with a new partner and an entirely new back line. It is not forgivable to fail to hustle back after making the initial mistake. Klinsmann will remember Brooks’s and Onyewu’s weak efforts on that second goal when he finalizes the 2014 World Cup roster. And I’d guess Brooks’s and Onyewu’s respective chances of making that roster are now close to zero.

The remaining U.S. defensive starter against Ukraine—Geoff Cameron—had the group’s lone good performance. Despite two bad crosses over the end line in the 11^th and 31^st minutes, he looked solid defending, good in the air, and dangerous on attack. The U.S. had only one decent opportunity in the first half, a nice buildup in the 27^th minute that ended with Cameron’s overlapping run down the U.S. right and his cross to the top of the six. (In the nearly empty stadium, you could hear Klinsmann yelling from the sideline, “Good, that’s better!”) Cameron also looked impressive early in the second half. In the 51^st minute he worked with Alejandro Bedoya and Clint Dempsey to maintain possession, then got free to send in another good cross. Jozy Altidore got his head on that one, but thanks to a well-timed nudge from a Ukraine defender, he couldn’t elevate enough to keep the ball down.

After Cameron’s Ukraine performance—and given his regular playing time with Stoke City, his versatility, and the thin pool of high-quality U.S. defenders—he is, or should be, as much of a lock for Brazil as Michael Bradley himself.

Aside from Cameron and the ever-reliable Tim Howard, the only other U.S. starter to impress was Bedoya. It’s not a stretch to say that Bedoya was more effective on defense than three-fourths of the U.S. back line. He made two strong defensive headers in the first half alone, I think more than the U.S. center backs made over the course of the entire match. He was also effective attacking. The U.S. didn’t create many chances, but when they did Bedoya was involved. His late corner kick, for instance, found substitute forward Aron Johannsson at the far corner of the box. (Johannsson took it well, but his technical one-time volley was cleared off the line by a Ukraine defender.)

On the whole, though, this game was a dud for the U.S. And it was a dud involving almost exclusively Europe-based players. (Only Dempsey and Castillo now play outside Europe.) Klinsmann mercifully didn’t call in MLS players, since their season starts today and there are CONCACAF Champions League matches early next week. MLS players who hope to make the U.S. World Cup roster and are still on the bubble must have watched the U.S. performance against Ukraine with hope. Others watching around the world—not a numerous group, I’d imagine—must have been struck by the dearth of U.S. quality on display. If it wasn’t clear before this game, it was clear afterwards: MLS, not the major European leagues, is now home to the U.S.’s best field players. There are good reasons for both celebrating and lamenting this fact, but that’s a subject for another time.