Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Victory in Krakow

I didn't get to see enough of the USA/Poland match to write a full match report, but I just wanted to come on here to quickly point out how great our defense looked against a quality European team. It wasn't enough for Bocanegra and Onyewu to just shut down every one of Poland's attacks, they also felt the need to each score a goal too!

Two goals from central defenders, another goal by Eddie Lewis (who was playing midfield at the time but switched to defense later in the match), and almost a fourth goal as Jay Demerit's header went wide by about six inches. Most of Poland's best scoring opportunities came off of set pieces, so Michael Bradley and Rico Clark also deserve some credit.

Steve Cherundolo played fantastic as usual, but I think Heath Pearce's play impressed me the most, just because it's been so long since we had a left back who we could consistently rely on. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm feeling pretty confident right now about a Dolo/Gooch/Boca/Pearce back line in South Africa.

Now in regards to the offense... Not the most impressive outings from Dempsey and Johnson. Landon Donovan didn't play his best game either, and he STILL managed to get two assists. This isn't specifically a point derived from his play in this match, but more of just a broad statement...

Landon Donovan will retire as the greatest player ever to wear the US National Team jersey, but he will someday be eclipsed by Freddy Adu.

Agree or disagree?

1 comment:

DM said...

Agree, except that he will be eclipsed by a plethora of players. Adu and Altidore will be the first of many.