USA v Honduras: Game Log

Halftime thoughts:

Overall we are easily outplaying Honduras, from whom I actually expected much more of a fight. We seem to have put the Costa Rica performance out of our minds, as we are really going after this game, possessing the ball well, and dictating play reasonably well.


Their goal was well taken, a capitalization on Dempsey's dribbling error. Other than that goal, however, I have not been scared by many of the Hondurans' possessions. Palacios looks good in the middle (TOTTENHAM REPRESENT, SON!!!) but he has been offset by the total anonymity that his midfield partner Amado Guevara has assumed.

Our goal was (what else?) a Landon Donovan penalty, perhaps an unlucky break for the Hondurans, but it was fully deserved according to the run of play. The last 30 minutes of the half I felt were a solid shift for the US, particularly Clint Dempsey, who seems to have pulled his finger out of his anal sphincter. He has actually seemed to care this entire game!! It's a miracle!! Seriously though, I wonder what Bob Bradley did to motivate Dempsey... I am willing to bet it went something like this:

"Hey Clint, is there anything I can do to motivate you?"

"Sure Bob. Here is the starting line-up I want... Make it happen, or I will once again roam around as if I am 7000 times better than the rest of my country."

Other than Deuce coming through with some sick skills, Specter has looked like a stud out there, hopefully he can cement a place in the first team (perhaps at LB, with Cherundolo when healthy at RB). Clarke I think has looked good, especially when you see him next to Pablo Mastroeni who has been AWFUL once again (looks like he is being subber out for Feilhaber at halftime... nice). Altidore and Casey have been putting in the effort... no results yet, but don't be surprised to see one or both of them get on the scoresheet.

OK, second half is starting... peace out, suckas!!


2nd Half:

Feilhaber is immediately making an impact, and a BIG one. I wasn't there when Napoleon came out of exile and shook stuff up in France, but I would imagine that it was something like what Feilhaber is doing right now. This is arguably the most influential substitution that I have ever witnessed in any USA match. Take the black hole that is Pablo Mastroeni and replace him with Napoleon. It's kind of strange to say this, but Feilhaber's greatest strength (which he is displaying finely tonight) is that he just knows what to do. His field vision leads him to make the correct play almost every time.

******

(In proofreading the above paragraph, I realize that I may be jumping to conclusions with Feilhaber... He has provided excellent play for the US in the past (Gold Cup 2007 anyone?), but 45 minutes of excellence tonight does not forgive his 21 consecutive months of not impressing for club or country. Here's to hoping that Feilhaber can finally realize his massive potential.)

******

Other subs:

Jay Demerit played 20 solid minutes after Bocanegra went off. If Boca is going to be out for the Confederations Cup (I have no idea how serious his injury is, just saying worst case scenario) then I would feel pretty confident in Demerit to fill in. The only thing is that we would need someone else in the outfield to step up in terms of leadership (Boca is captain, after all...). This is where Benny "Napoleon" Feilhaber steps in...

Beasley looked below average, he didn't make any of the blunders that he made in Saprissa but he also did nothing to impress. He made a few stupid passes, had a few miscommunications, and all in all was unimpressive. Amazing that he managed to do so all in what, 10 minutes?

On to Donovan, who picked up his game big time in this second half. That LM role which has been often filled by Beasley seemed to suit Donovan well in the final 45 minutes (the first half not so much... I will give him a mulligan, as I can't remember a time when he has ever had to play LM before). He settled in perhaps a little more forward than the rest of the midfield line, but still behind the strikers enough that he could provide service from the left flank. Perhaps we have finally found a position for the jostled-around Landycakes?

Player Ratings:

Howard: 7- made some great clearences, even coming out of the box on several occasions

Specter: 7- solid defending, got forward very well... definitely convinced me that he should have a spot in the team.

Bocanegra: 8.5- best performance out of him since Guatemala. Classic Bocanegra goal, no scary moments that I can recall.

Bornstein: 6- didn't do much to impress until the final 10 minutes, which at least means that he's got plenty of endurance. And you know as a marathon runner myself that I value endurance very, very much.

Dempsey: 8 (MotM)- finally we see the same Clint Dempsey that plays at Fulham play for the USA. He wanted this game, you could see it from the opening minute when he chased down Guevara right off of the kick-off. Great footskills, which the USA sadly lacks very much, he took people on and scared the crap out of Honduras' defense.

Clark: 6- I was not blown away by his attacking, but he was great in the middle, breaking up play all over the place (a la Wilson Palacios?). I would assess him at this point as a poor man's Maurice Edu.

Donovan: 6.5- silent first half was made up for by a stellar second half. He looked comfortable on that left wing and did well to take players on 1v1. Also ran past Wilson Palacios like he was a red headed stepchild. But then he gave it away. But it was sweet.

Altidore and Casey: 5 each- like I said, they were trying really hard, running after everything (or maybe "chasing" after everything...implications that they were a bit unsuccessful), but just could never get anything to really scare los Catrachos. We missed Brian Ching, who is great at setting his strike partner up. Too bad Brian Ching is injured (NEVER thought I'd say that... but I am warming up to Ching. He's like a poor man's Emile Heskey).

Subs:

Feilhaber: 8- Napoleon reincarnated. Need I say more?
Demerit: 6- no-nonsense defending that he has put into practice in England for years. Great to have him as backup.
Beasley: 4.5- what has happened to the man who was at one point our undisputed 2nd best field player? He and Donovan used to tear it up. He needs to get his club career back on track, either by coming back to MLS (it might be a little early to do this, but the league would certainly welcome him) or maybe a move to a midlevel team in a league like France, Portugal or Holland. Anywhere really, just so long as he gets on the field with regularity, otherwise this could be the beginning of the end for the once feared DMB.


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Also I just want to say that as I have been writing my post game analysis, I have had the last 20 minutes of El Salvador vs Mexico on Telefutura... I love El Salvador. Period. They may have taken 2 points away from us, but they took all 3 away from Mexico tonight! Mexico are, as I write this, NOT in a good enough position to qualify for the World Cup (not even for the playoff with CONMEBOL). I fully expect them to turn it around and at least make come in 4th, probably 3rd, in the hexagonal... but here's to hoping...

This is Scoops Callahan... over and out.