Photo credit: Getty Images
Guatemala tied the US today in the second game of World Cup Qualifying in a game that could and should have gotten the United States the full 3 points for a win. To start, let's face it, not many of us were able to watch the show because it was on a pay-per-view and not feasible in this economy. Still, we find ways to watch our favorite team. Unfortunately, that translated into only the last 23 minutes for the futbolusa.net desk.
From a "fashionably late" entry, the match seemed pretty good and all about defense and snatching away a second goal. For all the forays by Bradley and Jones, the Guatemalans seemed to slide into every pass. The Chapines blocked the middle with accuracy and most of Donovan's passes were undone. For the last 20 minutes, at least, there wasn't much of an areal attack, something that should have been exploited in this match.
The defense looked pretty stout most of those last twenty minutes, and it is precisely this that caused Guatemala's tying goal. For all of Fabian Johnson's attributes and the general clamor he was getting by fans and media alike, his ultimate delivery was unfortunate: a badly timed tackle outside the area in a prime free kick position. Marco Pappa usually nets these for the Chicago Fire and today it went past the USA wall and a frozen Tim Howard. In retrospect, Timmy might have gotten to that one on another night.
Winning away from home is difficult for any team, regardless of the pedigree and regardless of the circumstances. Today's tie feels more like a loss because the United States was more than Guatemala for most of the match. They had the better chances, the better numbers, the best possession and generally looked more composed.
Playing for points in Jamaica looks more difficult than Guatemala at this point, as was shown in the Reggae Boys' win over the Chapines. Still, Jamaica managed only a tie away to Antigua and Barbuda, so if the US can snatch a point in Kingston, then the final three games will have Team USA in a better position. Guatemala will get two looks at the minnows of the group, Antigua and Barbuda, so they could conceivably be up to 7 points by match day 5. The key will be to win both home games by large scores and to snatch a win at A&B at the very least. So, even if they lose in Jamaica, a magic number of 13 might do the trick.
Player ratings:
Howard................6
Cherundolo...........6
Bocanegra.............6
Goodson...............5
F. Johnson............4.5
Edu.......................5
Jones.....................6.5
Bradley.................7
Dempsey...............7.5
Donovan...............7
Gomez..................5
Subs: Altidore (6), Cameron (6.5), Beckermann (N/A)
1 comment:
Too bad, we would have liked to have watched it.
Post a Comment