While Landon Donovan was strutting in Copa pinstriped formal wear on Sunday afternoon, Ecuador went business casual. Apparently the South Americans didn’t get the memo.
But it wasn’t just any old hat trick for the tireless captain and it didn’t seem like just another positive result for the US MNT. Each of the three goals Donovan scored was a reminder of the crazy skills our #10 has at his disposal. Did you see the speed Landon flashed from midline to the 6-yard box? Try watching it in slow motion if you can’t keep up (still think his breakaway goal against Mexico was just good fortune?). The 1st minute volley from outside the box and the 20-yard blast that stung the upper right hand corner of the net were both impressive, but there was something different about Landon’s form. Maybe it was the way he celebrated with jumping, knockout fist pumps and a look of a man possessed. Keep in mind Ecuador is no slouch; that was a World Cup quality team with some talented players that LD almost single-handedly dismantled.
But while Sunday’s friendly will be remembered for one man’s explosion, there’s no doubt that the hard-fought win was a team effort and featured notable performances from a few European-based stalwarts and a certain rookie central midfielder named Benny Feilhaber. Benny seemed to quickly find his rhythm in his first cap, distributing the ball with accuracy instead of hesitation, plus he worked back defensively and even cleared the ball off the end line at the 30:30 mark in the first half. The 22 year-old’s experience and development in the German Bundesliga was obvious against the Ecuadorians. It was a very solid performance all around, so you might as well get used to the Brazilian-born, California-raised kid now, because Benny’s going to be in Bob Bradley’s mix for a long, long time.
Another treat was seeing DeMarcus zip around the sidelines with his trademark pace and aggressiveness. Beas closes on defenders trying to clear the ball faster than anyone on the field and made sure to help out Gooch, Carlos Bocanegra and the rest of the US defense in their attempt to handle the fast and physical Ecuadorian forwards. The man’s the human counter-attack. He’s still not 100%, but he’s already got that extra gear nobody can seem to match.
So what can we expect for Wednesday night’s match against Guatemala? Bradley’s handling of the roster has been nearly impeccable to this point, but we can certainly hope to see some new faces help LD keep his goal-scoring streak alive. Maybe some JMapp action? Keep your fingers crossed.
Euro 2008 Qualifying
Just in case you didn’t catch some of the other games, we figured we’d let you know about some of the other scores from this soccer-filled weekend and highlight a couple of the usual suspects. Cristiano Ronaldo further bolstered his Player of the Year campaign after striking twice in Portugal’s 4-0 win over Belgium. At this point CR7 seems unstoppable. Not to be outdone, however, Ronaldinho kept pace with two goals of his own as Brazil beat Chile 4-0 (goals at 4:09 and 6:25 in this highlight).
Exciting stuff all around, at home and abroad!
CHANGE REGION