Veterans Beckerman, Cameron Help Calm USMNT in Vital Win over Guatemala

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In dire straits in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, the United States men's national team turned to a few veterans to get back on track.

With Kyle Beckerman and Geoff Cameron holding down the defense and Graham Zusi adding poise to the attack, the Yanks were able to control their match with Guatemala and leave Mapfre Stadium with a 4-0 result.

It must be noted that every problem the Yanks have faced recently was not solved Tuesday night inside the team's home fortress, but the older players in the side allowed the USMNT to breathe easy ahead of its final two World Cup qualifiers in September against Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Manager Jurgen Klinsmann injected some needed composure to the starting 11 by adding Beckerman, who opened up play for Zusi and Michael Bradley behind Clint Dempsey in a 4-3-3 formation.

"You know he's there," Zusi said of Beckerman. "Kyle's that rock behind you. He allows you to be more aggressive moving forward, and even defensively you can be aggressive because you just know he's there constantly. He's always breaking up stuff and keeping the ball for us."

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With Beckerman patrolling the area in front of the defense, and even on some occasions dropping deeper than the centre-backs, the other two midfielders in the 4-3-3 were able to worry about distributing the ball into the forward areas of the pitch.

In addition to Bradley and Zusi helping with the attack, full-backs Edgar Castillo and DeAndre Yedlin bombed forward in an attempt to open up the Guatemala back line.

"Obviously, the clear message was attack, go forward and score goals," Klinsmann said. "You have DeAndre as a very attack-minded right-back. Edgar is similar. (He has the) potential to cut forward because he's technically very gifted and very clean."

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Yedlin's pace helped create the third tally of the night for the Yanks in the 46th minute. Yedlin cut in from the right wing and found Gyasi Zardes, who then tapped the ball over to Zusi.

"Our goal for the second half was to get the first goal in the second half, and we did early, so it helped," Beckerman said.

Zardes was also a beneficiary of a defender's vision on the first strike of the contest in the 12th minute. Cameron, who shifted inside to centre-back, played a nice long ball in Zardes' direction in the buildup to Dempsey's finish. U.S. Soccer shared highlights of Dempsey's goal that gave the team the lead:

"I just saw Gyasi making a good run, and I got the ball and nipped it in behind," Cameron said. "The two defenders read it. That's what happens. [Zardes] challenges the ball, and it bounced to Clint and he put it into the back of the net.

"That's one of my strengths: I think I can see playing center-back. You can hit those balls and see things in front of you a little bit more," the Stoke City man continued. "Gyasi was making some great runs, and he wasn't the only one."

To go along with his strong defensive performance, Cameron headed home Bradley's free-kick in the 35th minute. The USMNT captain praised the centre-back for his growing influence on the squad.

"Geoff continues to prove himself with our group and to take a bigger role," Bradley said. "He's dangerous on set pieces and, obviously, he scored a good goal on a set piece that came at a perfect time. Again, he continues to move himself forward in a really positive way."

The veteran presence on the field was felt all the way up to the final minute, when substitute Jozy Altidore pounced for the fourth American strike thanks to some pressure by Dempsey.

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After the match concluded, Klinsmann exuded praise for his older players, especially Beckerman and Cameron, who fortified a defensive line that was barely challenged over 90 minutes.

"Every team needs leadership from its veteran players," Klinsmann said. "Kyle Beckerman, he cleaned everything up on the field and was tremendous. I think Geoff Cameron was in more of a leader role. When you bridge toward the younger generation, you need that help. They need their words."

Said Beckerman: "We needed a big reaction (to Friday's 2-0 loss at Guatemala), and I think everybody had the same mindset of needing a big reaction: be aggressive, high intensity, get the ball moving fast. I think that aggression led to everything else that went good for us."

Now, the USMNT's goal is to learn from Tuesday's victory and reap the successes of a similar personnel situation moving forward. The shape of the team will shift once John Brooks, Matt Besler, Fabian Johnson and Alejandro Bedoya return to full fitness, but the win over Guatemala gave a glimpse of how the Yanks adjust without some of their most important stars.

"The reality is we lost Matt Besler, John Brooks and Fabian Johnson in the days prior to the game in Guatemala," Klinsmann said. "Reality is tonight, Alejandro Bedoya couldn't make it. The group of players that we have worked things out, and I think we're doing a very decent job doing that."

Beckerman presented an optimistic front, too.

"I think we'll build off this," he said. "There's some good things. There's some things we can work on. Hopefully, we'll get that and build on those things and see if we can continue to get better at that."

Joe Tansey covers U.S. Soccer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JTansey90.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.