3 Points, Goodbye

Lots to talk about after a hard fought 1-0 victory for the US MNT in its opening match of the 2007 Gold Cup. A first half chalk full of creativity, incisive thru-balls, and dangerous crosses for the Americans, and then a second half of grit, scrap, a couple of cards that made the contest look little bit more personal than necessary. In the end, the US walks towards Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday afternoon with three points in its back pocket.

Here are some comments on the first half:

Maybe it’s the cactus-colored Merc Vapors Clint sported on Thursday night, but we’re definitely seeing a spike in his game (badum-ching…ahh, cactus humor). After heading home another goal in the friendly against China, Deuce seems more than adept at finding his spots in the box and using his taller frame to attack the net. On the goal against Guatemala, he ran well alongside Twellman, whose burst of speed along the left side and then short cross back to the PK spot made it an easy finish for the Texan. Deuce also seemed to be linking up really well with DeMarcus. In the 20th, Beas sent an ambitious cross from the left side that floated over the Guatemala backline and gave Deuce the opportunity to finish what would have been a ridiculously acrobatic volley. He just mis-hit it, or else we would all be watching top ten highlights right now. Then three minutes later, Clint found DeMarcus on a well timed through ball that left the winger alone in front of the goal for what was probably the second best US scoring chance of the night. All in all, Coach Bradley’s decision to try Deuce up top worked out well for nearly 60 minutes.

(By the way, those Cactus Merc Vapors are a Eurosport exclusive. Here’s a rendering from a German site.)

In general, the US’s offensive strategy against a Guatemalan team that we all know is more than willing to pack it in and play for the tie looked solid for the first 45. In addition to his assist, Twellman looked dangerous a number of times, especially in the air. Who can blame Bradley from having his offense rely on crosses when the US had a significant height advantage down the center of the field? Like Clint, Twellman found his chances inside the box, and if not for a couple wary headers, the score could have easily been higher.

In case you didn’t notice, Carlos Bocanegra was wearing the captain’s armband on Thursday. For solid defender whose contribution doesn’t always show up in the box score, it’s a testament to his maturation as a technical player and a leader. Maybe it’s because he’s used to a physical brand of soccer from his experience with Fulham, but he looked composed when things started going haywire late in the game and kept an organized US defense. Maybe it was because they were more interested in “other,” more ticky-tack aspects of the game, but aside from set-pieces, Guatemala really never crafted a legitimate scoring opportunity.