A lot of things have gone wrong for the US Men's National Team (USMNT) over the past couple of days, with Charlie Davies' severe injuries sustained in a fatal car crash by far most painful. Between the news about #9, the lethargic start last night and Gooch's knee injury, it seems strange to be so excited about a 2-2 home tie against Costa Rica.
And yet, with the way the Yanks dominated through most of the first and all of the second half, tying Los Ticos in the 95th minute to stall their World Cup Qualifying dreams and put a good Honduras team (I'm a big fan of them this year) through, it's tough not to be excited about US soccer today.
The USMN could be forgiven for coming out a little flat. They had already punched their ticket to South Africa and were shaken by news not 48 hours earlier about the car accident that came very close to ending Charlie Davies' life and seemed at the time likely to end his career (it now appears likely that he will make a full recovery). And yet in a game in which Costa Rica desperately needed 3 points while the US needed zero, the US had the better of play from the opening whistle. It was a couple of defensive lapses that allowed Los Ticos to take a 2-0 lead, but 90+ minutes of dominating soccer that allowed the US to come back. So without further ado, a few notes on the player performances are in order.
Tim Howard 6: An unbelievable save in the 11th minute kept the game knotted at 0-0. It would have been nice if Howard could have saved the defense on that first goal, but he can't be blamed for conceding a point blank chance. He had no chance on the second goal. It is tough to put any blame on the keeper for those two. He would have earned a higher score if had been made to work a little more. Is there any keeper in the world that is definitely better than him? If so, I'm not aware of them.
Steve Cherundolo 6: Probably a better effort than Specter has turned in over the past 3 matches, and that's saying a little bit as Specter has been decent. It would not be the end of the world to see him win that spot from Specter, as the left back situation is much less secure and Specter plays on the left in the Premier League. The difference between Steve's performance tonight and the stinker he turned in against Mexico was night and day.
Oguchi Onyewu 4: Not Gooch's best game, as the lack of club playtime time seems to be catching up with him. He was beaten badly on the first Costa Rican goal. However, he is becoming more comfortable with the ball at his feet, and doing a better job of passing. I see progress for Gooch and the promise of greater things to come. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery. This grade is only so low because I expect much better.
Carlos Bocanegra 5: Another solid game turned in by Bocanegra after a somewhat shaky start. With Gooch out, we need the captain to step up and steer the ship in the back line. We are likely to not see him out on the left again for awhile.
Jonathan Bornstein 6: He has steadily improved in the left back position. That's nice to see of course, although I still would like to see Castillo get a shot at starting there in the World Cup, as well as Specter if Cherundolo works out on the right. The goal bumps him up to a 6 from a 5.5.
Stuart Holden 5: It shouldn't come as a surprise that he has not looked quite as strong playing entire games than he has coming off the bench for 20-25 minutes. He certainly had his moments, but he also had some awful touches and turnovers. I'm comfortable with him in either role (off the bench or starting) which is a compliment.
Benny Feilhaber 4: Benny certainly had the least inspired performance of them midfielders. He wasn't awful, but he once again did nothing to show that he deserves that starting spot. A few decent balls, a few bad turnovers, no dangerous chances created. His performance might have seemed worse than it was because Torres came on for him and showed why he should have started instead.
Michael Bradley 6: He passed well and took shots in the right places. Though his long distance shots didn't go in, he showed an ability to keep the ball low which both Donovan and Casey did not on their chances. He is most valuable to the US when he plays more of a holding, defensive role. Unfortunately for him, that is the role we all hope to see Jermaine Jones playing within the next couple of months.
Landon Donavan: Good as usual, but not great for the first time in awhile. He was a quiet leader when we needed one. This was the first game in a long time that Donovan didn't score or assist on a goal for the US.
Josy Altidore 7: Jozy deserves an assist for his 9th minute feed to Conor Casey after drawing a triple team of Costa Rican defenders, a chance that any striker over the age of 16 should have put away. Jozy was tenacious defending in the attacking third as well, causing obvious headaches for the Costa Rican back four. His size, speed and strength are all great, but what I'm convinced is his biggest asset, when he is able to harness it, is his freakishly long limbs. He can reach balls that other players can't, and he can push someone off the ball from like 3 feet away. Defenders were frequently left with no recourse but to foul him. He was unfortunately given a phantom yellow card that caused him to play verty cautiously for the rest of the match.
Conor Casey 4.5: What goes up must come down. Come to think of it, Altidore deserves two assists on balls to Casey, the first of which Casey just missed, the second of which he let Donovan take (they can share the blame equally for that one). Casey still had a couple of nice give and gos, and I'm not convinced that Ching or Cooper are better options in the absence of Davies, but this performance did not earn him any gold stars.
Jose Francisco Torres 6.5: He came on in the 62nd minute and immediately began playing some pretty creative balls. There is an enormous difference between the passes he makes and the passes a lot of the other players make. He plays the ball quickly along the ground and delivers the ball directly to a player's feet, leading the player and hitting him in stride. There is a huge difference between this and what Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey or Ricardo Clark bring to the table. Among US midfielders, only Donovan matches his passing ability. People will talk about Robbie Rogers' corner and Jonathan Bornstein's header, but let's remember that it was Torres who won the ball one on one deep in the USA end just as the 95th minute started, Costa Rica was in full possession of the ball and looking as if they would be able to kill the clock for the remainder of extra time. Torres saved the game.
Robbie Rogers 5.5: Rogers came on in the 69th, played fine, and gets an extra half point for assisting on the winning goal. He did do pretty poorly with a chance in the box in the 73rd minute.
Kenny Cooper 5: Cooper came on late, and with not too many minutes it's difficult to judge. When he had the ball, he didn't do anything wrong. He also didn't do too much to impress.
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