Fresh Faces Lead United States to Victory Over Guatemala

It seems Bob Bradley has finally listened to the common fan.

The United States national team manager fielded a starting line-up consisting of highly in-demand players.

Included in his starting XI were the likes of Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Kenny Cooper, Sacha Kljestan, and the lesser known Ricardo Clark.

90 minutes and two goals later, the Yanks finished this round of World Cup qualifying with an impressive 5-1 record.

This U.S. squad fielded only one truly seasoned national team player in Pablo Mastroeni. What this team lacked in experience, they made up for in terms of tenacity and intensity.

Sam’s Army played a very composed, yet aggressive style of football in their complete control of Guatemala. The visiting team’s only real threat came late in the game with no consequence.

The Americans used the first half very well. They didn’t try to do anything outrageous or go out of their comfort zone and it showed with the score staying at 0-0 after 45 minutes. This is usually the result when controlled passing is mixed with disciplined defense.

The second half started with a much quicker pace than anything experienced in the first. Jozy Altidore and Kenny Cooper occasionally drifted out wide and closed the gap between the midfield in an effort to put more pressure on the Guatemalans.

Freddy Adu seemed to give himself a little more freedom in terms of his positioning offensively and showed flashes of defensive capability.

Kenny Cooper registered first on the score sheet in the 54th minute. Jozy Altidore took the ball out wide to the left and, after a few stopovers, laced in a tight one-hop cross to the six yard box. Cooper finished the ball between the Guatemalan keeper’s legs and most likely added to the cat calls coming from U.S. fans wanting to see more of him on international duty.

In the 69th minute, after running down a nicely weighted through ball, Jozy Altidore was pulled by a Guatemalan defender to set up a free kick from 20 yards out. After a few moments of dispute between Kljestan and Adu, Freddy was granted the opportunity. The result was a beautifully curled shot to the far post to beat the keeper and give Adu his first international goal.

The match ended without much more excitement except for one powerful Guatemalan shot on goal that Brad Guzan deflected.

Match Ratings

GK – Brad Guzan – 6.5 – Rarely challenged throughout the evening but made a solid save late in the game to keep his clean sheet.

RB – John Thorrington – 6 – Pushed well up the flank in the first half and played solid defense. His energy level faded in the second half and was never really challenged to defend much of the match.

CB – Clarence Goodson – 6.5 – Kept a good back line with Parkhurst and showed a capacity to win headers.

CB – Michael Parkhurst – 7 – You know you did a good job defensively when your name isn’t mentioned much. Parkhurst did it at the Olympics and continued it last night. He is certainly making a push to be considered in the depth chart for center back.

LB – Jonathan Bornstein – 6 – Looked unbalanced and showed poor crossing ability. He did show an awareness of when to overlap on the flank.

RM – Freddy Adu – 7.5 – A beautiful free kick goal combined with solid passing and even flashed defensive willingness.

CM – Pablo Mastroeni – 6.5 – The captain deserved the armband much of the match except for a late unnecessary yellow card.

CM – Ricardo Clark – 6.5 – The Houston Dynamo midfielder showed a great passing touch and good awareness to push the field. His chip pass to Kenny Cooper—who was called offside—in the box was well placed. This kid definitely put himself on the radar for more starts.

LM – Sacha Kljestan – 6.5 – What else is new? Sacha passed well, ran all over the pitch, and defended all night.

ST – Kenny Cooper – 6.5 – A few offside calls early were most likely due to being a relative newbie to the national team. Finished well from Altidore’s cross. Goodbye Brian Ching?

ST – Jozy Altidore – 7 – The Villareal striker, only 19, was a man among boys. Stronger, faster, and more skilled than anyone on the Guatemala back line and it showed.