USA vs. Haiti: Score, Grades and Reaction for 2015 Gold Cup

The United States received all it could handle from a rugged Haiti side on Friday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Americans picked up a 1-0 win, which guarantees them a place in the 2015 Gold Cup quarterfinals as the top team in Group A. 

Clint Dempsey was the lone goalscorer, with Gyasi Zardes logging the assist. The score masked what was a rather lackluster performance on the pitch for Jurgen Klinsmann's men. A draw or defeat wouldn't have been the end of the world, but it might have led to more backlash for Klinsmann.

Instead, he can point to the final result and argue it's a job well done.

The United States kicked off its Gold Cup with a 2-1 win over Honduras on Tuesday. That victory wasn't entirely convincing, either.

Since the United States already had one foot in the knockout stages, Klinsmann wanted to ensure his players didn't grow complacent against a tricky Haiti side, per Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated:

"

We talked the players through that already in training and we just had a team meeting about Haiti. It is a team full of individual quality. If you look at their roster and if you look at the places where they play, quite a lot of them play in Europe.

I think Panama got that lesson and we have to make sure that we’re not getting caught on the wrong foot here. Obviously our expectation is to get through [to the quarterfinal] and we know that to go through the fastest way possible is with three points [Friday] night.

"

Perhaps complacency crept in a bit, or maybe the U.S. players simply had a hard time dealing with the temporary grass at Gillette Stadium. Either way, the Americans lacked any sort of fluidity through the first half Friday.

They were sloppy in possession and were obviously still working the kinks out in a back line that hasn't spent a lot of time together on the pitch. Klinsmann was lucky his team didn't head into the dressing room down a goal or two at halftime.

Mechack Jerome was inches away from giving Haiti a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute, as his free kick skimmed the top of the crossbar (via Fox Soccer):

Haiti was finding acres of space on the counterattack, and that led to a strong scoring chance from Wilde Donald Guerrier in the 21st minute. Guerrier turned Greg Garza around before getting the ball on his left foot and firing a shot that sailed just wide.

Luke Lohr posited the constant barrage was bringing back memories Brad Guzan would like to forget:

The U.S. couldn't even catch a break from the linesman, who incorrectly called Aron Johannsson offside as the AZ Alkmaar striker looked to have put the Americans ahead (via Fox Sports):

Goal.com's Seth Vertelney presented the evidence showing the goal should've counted:

The USMNT did improve as the first half went on, but it was the second-best team on the balance of play over 45 minutes. It was as if the two teams reversed roles—Haiti was the established CONCACAF power with recent wins over Germany and the Netherlands to its name, while the United States was the plucky underdog.

Former national team striker Herculez Gomez offered his critique on the game through the first half:

The poor performance wasn't lost on Klinsmann, who opted to make a substitution to start the second half—off came Jozy Altidore and on came Zardes. The decision paid almost immediate dividends as Zardes set Clint Dempsey up for what proved to be the game's only goal.

In the 47th minute, the Los Angeles Galaxy attacker displayed great vision to find Dempsey just on the edge of the penalty area. His pass set up Dempsey perfectly for the finish, as noted by Fox Sports:

ESPN's Taylor Twellman thought Zardes did exactly what was asked of him as a substitute:

Haiti nearly equalized in the 57th minute after Duckens Nazon got in behind the American back line. He had a one-on-one with Guzan. The U.S. goalkeeper ran off his line to cut down the angle for Nazon and swallowed up Nazon's shot on goal.

Although Haiti continued applying pressure to the United States defense, that was its last great chance to score for the rest of the match. And the further forward it pushed in search of the goal, the more it found itself susceptible to the U.S. on the counter.

Zardes almost had a second goal in the 89th minute after he rounded the keeper, but he ran out of real estate and lost possession out of play.

In the end, the Americans improved in the second half, but it wasn't a marked step up from what they displayed over the first.

This stat from Soccer America's Paul Kennedy is somewhat telling regarding the United States' start to the Gold Cup:

U.S. supporters will likely hope the squad takes a step forward as it closes out the group stage against Panama on Monday, but there's no guarantee that Klinsmann will field his strongest team. Considering the Americans are already locked in as top in Group A, he may throw some more fresh names into the lineup to rest his top players and see if anybody new emerges.

Don't forget coaches can add or remove certain players from the team after the group stage ends and before the quarterfinals begin.

Haiti doesn't have the luxury of an assured future just yet. It sits at the bottom of the group based on goals scored. It shares a goal differential and point total with Honduras. Haiti and Honduras will meet Monday, and the winner (if it isn't a draw) would be in a good position to advance.

Player Grades

Player	Grade
Brad Guzan	B+
Omar Gonzalez	C+
Greg Garza	C+
Tim Ream	B
Brad Evans	C
Michael Bradley	B-
Clint Dempsey	B
Mix Diskerud	C
Graham Zusi	C
Aron Johannsson	C+
Jozy Altidore	C
Substitutes
Kyle Beckerman (on '83)	INC
Fabian Johnson (on '67)	C+
Gyasi Zardes (on '45)	B

Player	Grade
Johny Placide	C+
Mechack Jerome	C+
Kim Jaggy	B
Frantz Bertin	C+
Reginal Goreux	C
Kevin Lafrance	B-
Wilde-Donald Guerrier	B-
James Marcelin	C+
Jean-Michel Alexandre Boucicaut	C
Jean-Eudes Maurice	C
Duckens Nazon	C+
Substitutes
Jeff Louis (on '66)	C+
Sebastien Thuriere (on '71)	C
Sony Norde (on '83)	INC