Dempsey and Twellman Make their Case in US Win

February 11th, 2006 | By: WC Bob | 4 Comments »

I’ve never been a big fan of Taylor Twellman. The guy scores a ton in MLS but in international play he has always looked softer than an ice cream cone. Until this year.

Twellman scored another his fourth goal in two games and assisted on two others, part of an overall solid performance in the United States 3-2 victory over Japan in San Francisco. In the process he might have booked his ticket to Germany. It pains me to say it, but he deserves a spot.

Another player who is making it hard for Bruce Arena to leave at home in Clint Dempsey. Following a breakout game against Norway, Dempsey scored the second goal of the contest against a Japan team made up largely of J-League players. Eddie Pope netted the fist goal for the US.

The US controlled the run of play in front of a pro-Japan crowd. That’s right, yet another game played on US soil where the opposing fans turn out in much larger numbers than the American supporters. A pity, since those American fans in attendance were treated to one of the better performances by a US team in the past year. Japan did manage to score two relatively meaningless second half goals after falling behind 3-0.

For the US, the real preparation for the World Cup now really begins. With the European-based players likely to be called up for the March 1 friendly against Germany, the competition for the final roster spaces will be intense. For tonight at least, Twellman and Dempsey can relax a bit. They have shown that they deserve to be in Germany.

Tags: Bruce Arena, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Pope, Friendlies, Japan, Taylor Twellman, United States

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Comments

By daryl | February 11th, 2006 at 1:21 am

I agree Bob, I thought Twellman looked ‘tough’ tonight. With the assists he did the target man job, that nod down to Pope looked convincing. He could even be the long term replacement for McBride.

Posted from United States

By Bill | February 12th, 2006 at 2:31 am

I was at the game, and I think you’re wrong about the crowd. It was about 50/50 between American and Japanese supporters. Sam’s Army was big and there was a ton of Earthquakes fans there too. The Japanese fans were a lot more vocal and excited than the USA fans, but that’s due to the differences in the cultures.

As for the players, I think Twellman and Dempsey punched their tickets to Germany. Dunivant looked great too. Pope and Conrad worked well together. I think the Japan goals were probably mostly an indication that the players are not really match fit at this point. But they will be in June.

Posted from United States

By gostosao | February 12th, 2006 at 4:53 pm

Yeah, I agree with Bill about the way the American fans support they soccer national team. I guess the US fans are not used to the soccer spirit yet. I think that Twellman also played very consistently. Hope he makes to the world cup. I think that techiniqually, the US is below Japan. However, physically, the US is a lot better. They have more power and are very strong when fighting for the ball. The US is a England with its toughness but almost no tequinique or talent. Hopefully they will improve in that area as more American players such as Beasely gets exposed to they real soccer and teaches the players from the MLS.

Posted from United States

By Mick | February 12th, 2006 at 6:51 pm

So we should be happy that only half the crowd were Japanese? That’s a joke. US Soccer must do a better job of finding venues that can draw decent crowds that are pro-US. San Fran was not one of them. Big crowd, yes. Big US crowd, no.

Posted from United States

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