U.S. Men’s National Team v. Scotland, Glasgow, 11.15.13

Each friendly tends to have its own distinct quality, from non-competitive exhibitions where players avoid hard challenges and high pressing, to roiling matches with studs-up tackles and red cards. This match between the U.S. and Scotland fell somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. The referee didn’t issue a single card and (I think) the players didn’t exchange any trash talk, let alone extracurricular pushing and shoving.

But the players didn’t mail it in either, and each side had good reason to compete. Many of the U.S. players involved—like Aron Johannsson, Brek Shea, and Sacha Kljestan—are no locks for the 2014 World Cup roster and are out to impress coach Jurgen Klinsmann. On the other side, Scotland has been knocked out of the ‘14 World Cup Finals qualifications. But they were thrashed 5-1 by the U.S. in a friendly last May and so had plenty of motivation. As Stoke City and Scotland player Charlie Adam said before the match, “I want to give [the U.S.] a good hiding because they got a big result against us the last time we met. I want a bit of revenge on them.”

That hiding didn’t materialize (and Adam remained on the bench throughout), but Scotland proved it was a match for the U.S. this time. The Scots repeatedly attacked down the U.S. wings, exposing U.S. right back Brad Evans on a few occasions and according to MLS.com sending in 22 open-play crosses to the U.S.’s 9. Geoff Cameron, playing with Omar Gonzalez in central defense, was also occasionally caught out of position, most glaringly in the 35^th minute when he whiffed on a challenge off a Scotland throw-in. His gaffe created space in the center of the field and quickly led to a squandered chance from Craig Conway, Scotland’s best opportunity of the night.

To his credit, Cameron had some positive forward runs and was also involved in the prettiest play of the game. In the 85^th minute, working on the U.S. left side of the midfield, he used the outside of his right foot to chip the ball up the sideline to Shea. With a remarkable first touch, Shea used his left foot to loft the ball up the sideline and beyond defender Gordon Greer. He then effortlessly blew by Greer, taking a long touch to the endline and playing the ball back to Johannsson at the top of the 18. Johannsson cut the ball back to his left foot and sent a shot just wide of the far post.

That play showed Shea at his best, and his overall performance was a return to his 2011 form, when he was one of three U.S. players to appear in every game for Klinsmann. Shea has struggled since then with injuries and club-team playing time. (He’s reportedly going out on loan from Stoke City to an English Championship-level team this season, in part to help his chances of making the U.S. World Cup roster.) While he still appears to be a roughhewn work-in-progress, Shea seldom disappoints in a U.S. shirt, especially when coming on as a substitute. Klinsmann said after the game, “I think Brek brought a lot of energy to the field and did well. He can surprise people, he can create something out of nothing and we are glad to have him back.”

Along with Shea, Johannsson stood out among players still fighting for a spot on the 2014 roster. Both came on in the 62^nd minute, along with Mix Diskerud. Two minutes before the play involving Shea and Cameron mentioned above, Johannsson put the best U.S. shot of the night on goal, a low left-footed blast that was saved spectacularly by Scotland’s David Marshall. Johannsson also made a nice cut-back and cross in the 72^nd minute, and he won the ball at midfield in the 82^nd to start a U.S. break. Given how consistently dangerous Johannsson has been for the U.S. in his brief time with the team (just five caps so far), and given his obvious technical ability, he may have secured his spot on U.S.’s 2014 World Cup roster with his performance against Scotland.

He had better hope so. Johannsson was born in Alabama but moved with his family to Iceland at the age of three and grew up there. In July of this year, he chose to eschew the Iceland national team (for whom he had played on U21 teams) in favor of the U.S. squad. That decision was almost certainly made because Johannsson thought it was unrealistic that he’d ever get to play in a World Cup Finals for a nation of 320,000 people that has never qualified for a major men’s tournament. Unsurprisingly, some in Iceland were angered by his defection, notably Geir Thorsteinsson, president of the Football Association of Iceland. According to an ESPN article, Thorsteinsson “sent a letter to US Soccer expressing his disgust” with Johannsson’s move.

Johannsson (and Thorsteinsson) could not have predicted what has unfolded since. Iceland is now on the cusp of becoming the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup, and they’re succeeding in the most daunting of FIFA confederations. With a victory over Croatia next week, Iceland will play in Brazil next summer.

It’s mere speculation, of course, and I’m sure he’d never admit it, but human nature might dictate that Johannsson will be pulling for Croatia to win next week so he can continue to justify his decision to play for the United States. One can only imagine the agonies he’ll suffer should Iceland play in the 2014 World Cup and Klinsmann leave Johannsson off the U.S. roster next summer.

U.S. Men’s National Team v. Belgium in Brussels, 9.6.11: Brek Shea and Juan Agudelo

It’s official: this blogger’s come down with Brek Shea fever. And I’m happy to say I’m not the only one. In sideline interviews after the U.S.’s 1-0 loss to Belgium last night in Brussels, English Premier League vet Clint Dempsey singled out Shea for praise, and coach Jurgen Klinsmann said it looked as if Shea had been playing for the national team “for ten years.” Not bad for a 21-year-old with just four caps.

There’s something about Shea’s presence on the field—especially when he’s on the ball—that makes him appear even larger than his listed height of 6’3”. I was surprised to hear ESPN announcer Ian Darke mention in passing during last night’s broadcast that central defender Clarence Goodson is 6’4”. Goodson rarely strikes me as particularly tall, whereas Shea, who stands an inch shorter, always strikes me as particularly tall.

To use a tired, I think American sports phrase, Shea “plays big.” To use a moderately fresher term, the guy’s a beast. I’m not exactly sure why this is. I think his commanding presence has less to do with his frequently mentioned shock of blonde hair than with his obvious physical strength (he’s lanky but solid—it looks like he doesn’t carry an ounce of body fat) and the fact that he runs down the field in a sometimes inelegant-looking north-south style that would make former New York Giants coach Bill Parcells nod with approval. In short, Shea occasionally lacks flair, even very occasionally borders on the awkward, but he’s strong and brutally effective. He lacks flair in a way that Magic Johnson used to lack flair on the basketball court. I’m not putting Shea on an athletic par with Johnson, but the latter’s effectiveness lay in the fact that he was both powerful and economical. He might not have dunked like Dominique Wilkins, but there was zero wasted motion when Johnson drove to the hoop.

An example of the economy of Shea’s game came in the final minutes of the match against Belgium. In the 89^th minute he received the ball near midfield along the left sideline and ran directly at and somehow right by the Belgium right back. It almost looked as if Shea were loafing, but he positively blew by the defender, created space for himself, and passed the ball back to Dempsey, who got off one of the U.S.’s only on-target shots of the night. Shea’s run was an example of the truism that good athletes often don’t look like they’re running hard and fast when they actually are. It never ceases to amaze me that sprinters like Usain Bolt and Michael Johnson appear to be jogging when they shatter world records. The guys they dust, by contrast, always look like they’re running at light speed, huffing and puffing and frantically slashing their arms through the air, veritable orgies of wasted motion.

Having talked up Shea, let me add here that there’s plenty of room in my soccer heart for another very young and promising U.S. player: Juan Agudelo. Agudelo came on at the start of the second half for Jozy Altidore. (Given his 40 caps, it’s easy to forget that Altidore is himself still only 21.) Like Shea, Agudelo has a pleasantly laidback or calm quality to his game. But Agudelo is unlike Shea in that his game is characterized far more by elegance and style than power. His ankles and knees seem to have extra joints, and he plays the ball equally well with the outside as with the inside of his feet.

Because of his soft touch and occasionally flashy game, I think many fans will be pulling for Agudelo to succeed perhaps a little more heartily than they’ll be pulling for Shea. Put another way, all those folks clamoring for a more Latin style of play on these shores will probably embrace Agudelo more warmly than they will Shea. There’s nothing wrong with that. After all, it’s only Bill Parcells and Bobby Knight types that don’t want to see a little flair on athletic fields. As for myself, I’m pulling equally hard for both Agudelo and Shea. It’s obviously very early in their respective careers, but here’s to hoping they continue to improve, to realize their potential, to march through their twenties playing alongside each other on the national team, a kind of beauty and the beast pair, running at defenses, raining crosses into the box, slamming balls into the net.

That might seem an odd vision or naive hope, coming as it does after three straight games in which the U.S. has scored a grand total of one goal. And it should be noted that last night’s loss was frustrating not just be because the U.S. didn’t score, but because of the paucity of chances they created. Regrettably, a failure to create scoring chances, even against teams we should rout, has been a defining characteristic of U.S. soccer for as long as anyone can remember. Shea and Agudelo probably won’t change that, but I love the fact that they’re young and getting praise from veteran teammates, coaches, and critics. Their recent play, along with that of the resurgent Altidore and the equally promising and almost as young Jose Torres, has been enough to keep Klinsmann smiling after matches, even though his U.S. teams are still winless after three tries.