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USA 0 - 0 Guatemala; A Scoreless Draw

March 28th, 2007 | By: Connor Fabiano | 7 Comments »

Well, we couldn’t score a goal, so I’m upset right now. Guatemala went in with a 4-5-1 and basically walled up their entire half of the field.

Landon Donovan was marked very well and wasn’t able to do much of anything. Eddie Johnson had several chances that he couldn’t quite put in and Clint Dempsey was in the same boat.

I think what this game ultimately came down to was a number of less experienced players who didn’t know how to approach this type of game play. The US has proven that they can win in a normal situation, but the game becomes very different when the opponent focuses all of their energy on defense. We saw the Americans conduct countless plays over and over again (i.e. cutting inside, not going on the wings), each without success due to the tight marking on the Guatemalan side.

This is something that Bob Bradley needs to work on in their next camp, as the US will meet Guatemala again in June during Gold Cup play. That brings up another question. Is Bob Bradley going to stay? Well, he should. If Sunil Gulati replaces him at this juncture, I think it would be extremely disrespectful, and make the US Soccer Federation look like a bunch of buffoons. He’s 3-0-1, and won his first three games as head coach of the US National Team - something that has never been done before in the history of American soccer. I think Bob is a fair coach and and seems to be a good communicator (obviously I know this because we’ve talked together so many times). I’m interested to hear your comments on the US coaching situation.

Back to game play, one thing that I noticed was Justin Mapp’s performance. I thought he was outstanding. Sure there were moments when he made the wrong decision, but I think that is due to his age and lack of experience on the MNT. I saw tremendous spirit and flair coming from Mapp, both on the defense and the attack. He could become a real force up front for the United States.

About Eddie Johnson: will he be called up again, or should he be? I agree with Eric Wynalda’s comment on how the US team is for the best American players at this moment. Maybe he needs to take a break from international play for a bit and work some things out with his club.

Some people might think that Donovan slowed down this game, but I don’t think that’s the case. I saw the same effort from Donovan that gave us three goals last Sunday. The main trouble was that he was marked superbly. On a good note, it looks like his set-pieces are getting better, so we have that to be excited about.

I’ll post highlights when they become available.

Tags: bob bradley, Eddie Johnson, Friendly, Guatemala, Justin Mapp, Landon Donovan, USA

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Comments

By Evan | March 29th, 2007 at 6:31 am

A few thoughts.

1. Justin Mapp was one of the few players to dribble around guatemalan players and show creative flare. That said, sometimes he tried to do too much with the ball and should have passed it.

2. Eddie Johnson had his best game in a long time. But I agree with Wynalda that Eddie needs to be away from the national team and regain his form on the club level. I’m surprised Brian Ching didn’t start after his strong performance in the 2nd half against Ecuador. Too bad Twellman was ill - I was looking forward to him being given a chance to prove himself.

3. I think Bradley should stay on as coach. He is good at making adjustments (ecuador), his players respect him and they work hard while on the pitch.

4. After two ames together, any thoughts on Bradley and Feilhalber? Better or worse than Pablo Maestroeni and Ricardo Clark?

Posted from United States

By Connor | March 29th, 2007 at 8:52 am

Yeah I feel bad for Twellman. I was surprised Brian Ching didn’t start too, so I looked on ussoccer.com and saw he wasn’t on the roster…? I don’t know why - he wasn’t one of the 4 players released last Sunday.

I’m not sure about Bradley-Feilhalber v. Mastroeni-Clark yet. I think I like Bradley-Feilhalber better but I’m not sure. What about you?

Posted from United States

By chuck | March 29th, 2007 at 9:09 am

This was close to an U-23 team we fielded.

Seven of the guys that played in this game were under 23 (Bradley, Spector, Simek, Feilhaber, Mapp, EJ, and Cooper), though EJ turns 23 at the end of this month.

What is more, Dempsey turned only 24 earlier this month, while Landon Donovan just turned 25 earlier in March.

Usually, American players in their PRIME would be able to make the grade on the European club teams, but nowadays, many of our young guys are getting experience over there.

The guys I mentioned, along with several I haven’t mentioned (like Beasley and Onyewu) will be the nucleus for the 2010 WC, as well as the 2014 WC. The 22-year olds will be hitting their prime years in 2014!

So, despite the 0-0 result against Guatemala, I am still encouraged and very excited to see these guys get to work together.

Posted from United States

By Connor | March 29th, 2007 at 9:31 am

That’s a good point Chuck. I thought there was a lot of talent on the field.

Posted from United States

By Luis Carlos | March 29th, 2007 at 10:24 am

That’s win for Guatemala (0-0). Seriously, I don’t think USA needs another coach, he has done a good job beating tough oponents like Ecuador and Mexico in their first matches. The quality of the american players is ok, but the mentality of the team is what makes them better. Contrary to our team(Mexico). Good luck in the Copa America and the golden cup.

By chuck | March 30th, 2007 at 8:29 am

Connor,

I found a mistake in your second sentence. Guatemala actually didn’t play in a 4-5-1 formation.

I think it was in fact a 9-0-1 formation.

Heh.

Posted from United States

By What!!! | March 31st, 2007 at 9:57 am

What!!! 9-0-1 yeah right.

Anyways I do believed that the USA will get a tough game when it comes to Copa America at Venezuela. Nevertheless, I do believed that the US can beat Argentina. For some reason I feel that Mexico and the US has grown tremendously to a level that they can now beat Brazil and Argentina. What Argentina and Brazil have is history and reputation, but the US and Mexico has generated so much money into their leagues and national team, that finally the quality of their players are individually improving and going to European leagues.

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