2013 Gold Cup

Only saw the 2nd half. midfield scared the hell outta me, painful to watch at times. One heck of a huge save there by Sean Johnson with the immediate counter-attack and score.

Couldn't help laughing at the time wasting by CR until the goal.

 

It's a Brek Shea sighting! To be fair, a helluva pass by Landon, but the kid did well to control it and get it past the keeper.

 

While the quality in the final third was lacking for both teams, it was a competitive match in terms of intensity. It's obvious that this rivalry is heating up. Great save by Johnson then counter by the US for the goal, and while it wasn't pretty, Brek Shea with a hugely important goal for his psyche. We were saying in the chat that JK must of only put Shea in to boost his confidence and low and behold the kid scores. Full credit for the great run he made to get in that position and 2 back to back passes from Corona and Landon to put Shea in.

Goodson: Thought he played his best match in a US jersey for a long time, total command of the back, motm for me.

Wondo: Put himself in good positions, but his final touch was off.

Holden: Mixed bag, but thought he got better as the match went on, which is a good sign since he went the full 90.

Bedoya: He ran out of gas and Corona subbed in for him, but he looked lively and played well.

Tater Torres: Played better than last time out, and his curling free kick over the wall was saved at the last second by the CR keeper.

Landon: Obvious that CR's game plan was to stop him first, there always seemed to be two guys around him at all times, but on the decisive goal his pass was perfectly weighted. He's the best player in the GC and has to be the reason the US should be favored to take it all.

Could very well see CR again in the semi finals, but winning the group means playing El Salvador, while the TIcos have a very tough match w/arch rival Honduras.

 

I thought that tonight was probably Torres' best game ever for the US.

Landon's vision and pass was great on Shea's goal. Most players probably don't pass that right away and end up keeping the ball and pass it too late after dribbling.

 

Quick thoughts on the match:

Sean Johnson performed well with a clutch save but his distribution under pressure was poor. Overall I really liked what I saw.

Was it just me or was Parkhurst the invisible man last night?

The pairing of Orozco and Goodson was excellent.

Run DMB started strong but I would have like to see him feature with a few more runs on the chalk as the match wore on. He was solid none-the-less and dangerous when he did get forward early.

Bedoya was someone who I thought was on the edge of making something happen but it never quite evolved. In the end Costa Rica seemed to handle him when they needed to. I am looking forward to seeing more of him as he did keep the field spread and liked to play with his heels on the chalk.

Holden, Diskerud and Torres all did well in possession but were never able to unlock a very good Ticos defense and let’s not kid ourselves that was an excellent defense with an excellent game plan. Holden tried a few killer passes early and then faded a bit as the match wore on which is understandable given this was his first 90 minute match in quite some time according to Klinsman. I thought Holden’s overall movement was the best of the three and that he came closer than anyone to opening up Costa Rica. Mix looks like the proverbial field general to me. He constantly moves to receive and recycle the ball but I would like to see him try a few more Holdenesque passes. Torres was a nice mix of Holden and Mix but we were missing something on the left wing when neither he nor Beasley were making the wide run to balance Bedoya’s runs on the right.

Donovan, Donovan, Donovan. He was in the running for my invisible man of the match award until Corona found him with a pass to set him free on the counter that led to Brek Shea’s goal. Costa Rica had closed him down the entire night by either denying him possession or pressuring him with multiple defenders when he did touch the ball and then he gets time and space and plays the perfect ball to Brek. Sometimes all the great players need is one moment in time to beat you.

Wondolowski is going to get criticized by some for his performance last night but not by me. He made good runs in front of the goal and nearly got on the end of a couple of balls. Forwards like Wondo need service and he managed to be dangerous even with limited service. There was a time when I thought that Holden and Wondo were beginning to click but it never quite came off.

How critical was the bench last night? Corona to Donovan to Shea. Thank you and that is all.

 

Has anyone heard anything regarding the hit Beasley took to the babk of the head? He seemed to slow down a bit after that and I am hoping it was tactical and not physical.

 

RT @ussoccer: #USMNT @J_Klinsmann makes 4 changes to Gold Cup roster. In: Besler, Gonzalez, Gordon, Johnson. Out: Ashe, Gomez, McInerney, Onyewu.

 

Grant Wahl said that Gooch picked up a knock in the Cuba game while Gomez was sent back to Tijuana since they wanted him back (although Klinsi wanted Gomez to stay).

 

Grant Wahl reported on air prior to the Costa Rica match that Gooch picked up a knock during the Cuba match.

Speclation is that Klinsman did some negotiating with coaches by allowing Herc to leave at Tiajana's request, not taking Omar until the semi's and not taking both Besler and Zusi from KC.

 

Great minds and all that jazz.

 

Heather, I was listening to a reporter earlier in the week who said the players in camp he spoke with all agreed that McInnerny had a great camp. My guess is either Wondo stole his game time or Klinsman brought him.in to look at him for the future.

 

Have fun at the match Heather. Doesnt matter if you're out numbered as long as you make some noise and dress in the colors. When I went to a Gold cup match at RFK in 2011, El Sal's game followed our game. By halftime of the USA/Jamaica game, it looked like half the people in the stadium were El Salvadorian fans. Fights were breaking out before their game even started so be ready. Go USA!

 

Another ho-hum 5-1 win.

The US had scored 5+ goals in a game 18 times coming to this year. They have now done this three times in this month alone.

 

Best post of the year? How about EVER?