The United States Men's National Team got off to a great start in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday night, with Bob Bradley's squad marching into Guatemala and emerging with a 1-0 victory. It was the first time in history that the US earned a win in a WC qualifier on Guatemalan soil. Captain Carlos Bocanegra was the hero, heading home a DaMarcus Beasley corner kick in the 69th minute to give the Nats all they would need.
Some thoughts on the game:
-- Heath Pearce no longer looks like the solution to our left-back problem. He was continually beaten down the line by his opposing player and looked completely out of gas in the final minutes of the match. Bob Bradley needs to explore other options at this position.
-- Landon Donovan was on the field in the second half, right? I mean, I was watching pretty closely and I didn't see him much after halftime. It was another LD disappearing act - Bradley cannot continue putting him on the right side of midfield... he needs to be in the center of the field, where he can run at the defense.
-- The refereeing - as expected - was god-awful from start to finish. While I agree that Steve Cherundolo deserved his second yellow card, I thought that the first one was issued far too quickly and too early in the match. In all, the US was booked six times, while Guatemala was booked just thrice. It should've been the other way around. Ironically, I didn't think that Guatemala's red card was deserved.
-- Carlos Ruiz is a thug. I'm shocked that Tim Howard didn't make a Filet-O-Fish out of El Pescadito after getting kicked in the head in what was a classic Ruiz moment. Ruiz looks frustrated that his best days have passed him by, and appears to love lashing out at anything and anyone around him. Why did any MLS team want to take another chance on this guy?
-- Clint Dempsey should NOT play in the next qualifier. He was absolutely useless on the field, and proceeded to sulk at coach Bob Bradley when taken out, spending the rest of the game on the bench. I understand that Dempsey has talent, but his attitude and ego are out of hand and have no place on this team.
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2 comments:
I would like to know how much the gringos paid to the referee to make them win against Guatemala. It was obvious that Guatemala dominated the last part of the 1st period and all the second period. Guatemala was given a red card for an accident just because the referee spoted some blood on a gringos' face. The referee denied a penalty shot when it was obvious that a defence from the US thought he was playing volleyball.
Too bad that the Guatemalans can't afford to pay the referee like the gringos do.
suck it easy cry baby. the better team won. even though they played like garbage the good teams find a way to win and bad teams (guatemala) find a way to lose.
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