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USA 3 - 1 Ecuador; Donovan Earns #10 with a Hat Trick

March 25th, 2007 | By: Connor Fabiano | 9 Comments »

The US Men’s National Team met a strong Ecuadorian side in sunny (and hot) Tampa, Florida today. Kick-off began at 82 degrees with a record attendance of 31,547. The pitch at Raymond James Stadium was in poor condition, but Landon Donovan - earning a hat trick - was most certainly not.

Donovan opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the game with a beautiful strike past Ecuadorian keeper Rorys Aragon. The Americans proved fortunate to secure an early score, as the tide turned and first half domination was claimed by Ecuador. The defense was horrendous and at times appeared like nothing more than a pack of mindless schoolgirls parading around the pitch. Awkward analogies aside, however, the US defense gave the Ecuadorian strikers too much time in the box. The speed of the visiting forwards didn’t help either. The Ecuadorians up front were able to blaze past the Americans in the back with relative ease. They found their first goal in the 11th minute when Felipe Caidedo surged through a defensive mess and knocked the ball off Tim Howard and into the back of the net.

Fortunately for the Americans, the Ecuadorians weren’t able to put up a second goal, although their chances were abundant and their skill was apparent. As such we went into the half at a 1-1 draw, with victory seeming far away from the boys in their sparkling new uniforms. I wrote in my half time notes that the United States needed to “tighten it up in the back,” and “increase the pace in the front,” otherwise they were facing impending doom and defeat.

Well, what do you know? They listened to me (even though I was watching the game after the fact via Tivo). Ecuador tired and the US exploded. The Brian Ching - Landon Donovan combo proved golden, and “Landy cakes” (a name you’ll hear less often starting today) netted his second in the 66th minute off a beautiful assist from Brian Ching. That wasn’t all though folks. Donovan sent a rocket into the upper right corner of the opponent’s net less than 60 seconds later. And it was DaMarcus Beasley who laid off the gorgeous assist with a pass at the top of the box. Beasley executed brilliant vision, and saw the American superstar kick up the already warm Floridian heat in the 67th minute. That’s a hat trick ladies and gentlemen, and #10 is definitely a fitting fit upon Landon Donovan’s jersey. Claudio Reyna must be proud.

While the tables had already turned at the beginning of the second half, the match was now decisively over. Ecuador was extremely tired and unable to mount a successful offensive. The Americans, on the other hand, were fired up, most likely ignited by the heat of Donovan’s blazing rocket. There was no stopping the onslaught of the Red, White, (and mostly) Blue.

Final Score: USA 3 - 1 Ecuador
U.S. Men’s National Team Game Report via USSoccer.com

Stay tuned for match highlights later this afternoon. Additionally, I’ll go over the game play in more detail and give my two cents on how I thought some of the fresh, new players (as well as the capped vets) performed.

Please post a comment sharing your thoughts on the game with us.

Tags: Brian Ching, DaMarcus Beasley, Ecuador, Friendly, Landon Donovan, USA

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Comments

By Laurie | March 25th, 2007 at 3:44 pm

I couldn’t see the game, so I’m relying on you to post pictures of Landon’s goals as soon as they appear on YouTube.

Posted from United States

By Justin | March 25th, 2007 at 6:16 pm

ya nice win for the US. but wat is this talk about Landon not playing in the Copa America to be with his club for when Beckham comes, that is an excuse… Besides his 2002 decent run in the WC, he doesnt like playin on the big stage thats why he is in L.A instead of the Champions League or somewhere in europe

Posted from United States

By Connor | March 25th, 2007 at 6:39 pm

I think you make a valid point Justin. I believe it was Eric Wynalda who expressed your opinion today during the game. I would be very dissapointed if Donovan wasn’t present in Copa America. This Ecuadorian side was very good, and look at what he did.

Laurie I’m still looking for highlights.

Posted from United States

By chuck | March 25th, 2007 at 7:45 pm

This appears to be a quality win over a quality side. I heard the announcers say that Ecuador was missing two key players. I might ask the guys on the Ecuador blog if that is true and how important these two players are.

The second point was something that Bruce Arena said in the early going, and that is, basically, you don’t know what the disposition of the other team is going to be, meaning, are they out to win, or are they just happy to be in Tampa Bay…? I guess we’ll never know, but I don’t think we got Ecuador’s A-game. Maybe that was because of one of the above reasons, maybe it was the weather… who knows?

My final thought is this:
Was this the best possible team that the USA could have put on the field at this moment in time? Seriously — at this point in time (meaning, you can’t play Pablo at D-mid because he’s injured, and you can’t say something like “McBride would have been better than E.J.” because McBride has retired… So, whaddayathink?

By Connor | March 25th, 2007 at 8:04 pm

Hi Chuck. I agree that this seems to be a “quality win over a quality side.”

I don’t know anything about Ecuador’s missing players, I wasn’t aware of that.

I think Bruce’s comment about the disposition of the other team was very insightful. Ecuador seemed very strong in the first half, however it was as if they gave up in the second part of the second half. But, you’re right, it could have been a number of things: the weather, lack of fitness, missing key playmakers, apathy, etc.

Personally, I think this is the best possible team the USA could have fielded. I mean, I don’t mean that absolutely, but I think it was a very well-constructed team. I think the Donovan-Ching combo was brilliant and I was very happy with the group of players that Bob called up. I thought he did a nice job of picking from both MLS and Europe, and gave some newcomers a chance.

Posted from United States

By Laurie | March 25th, 2007 at 8:05 pm

As a Galaxy fan, I guess I have to ask: Where is it written that country needs to come before club? Yes, it would be wonderful if there were no conflicts, but there are. So should a player choose one over the other, or go for balance the way Landon seems to be doing? What do you think?

I’ll also be talking about the topic this week in the LA Galaxy Offside blog. (Click on my name above for the link.)

Posted from United States

By Connor | March 25th, 2007 at 8:13 pm

I understand the conflict and need for balance between country and club, and so - unlike some fans - I would not be as angry at Donovan if he refused to play this summer, because you don’t have to play for your country. However, I would be dissapointed, as a fan, and dissapointed for the country and for Donovan. If Donovan would/could play like this game (goals aside, his style of play was on fire) he would be a god. I think it is very important for the #10 of a team to be present at summer tournaments with such competition as Argentina and Brazil in order to be ready for the World Cup, because the only other time he’ll play such competition on that competitive of a stage is at the World Cup. I’m interested to see what others think.

Posted from United States

By Gilbert | March 26th, 2007 at 4:34 am

People criticizing Donovan for wanting to play in only 1 tournament this summer are just looking for something to complain about. This national team is more than 1 player - LD knows that; more people need to realize that. You don’t build a team “around” one player; it’s not fair to the team, it’s not fair to the player. The team needs to learn how to play in big games without him. Younger players need to experience big-game atmosphere without LD. His playing in Copa America in 2007 really doesn’t affect his ability to play in 2010 World Cup. This is the perfect year for lots of experimenting with the national team - the only must-win games we have are in the Gold Cup. All the rest are icing on the cake.

Galaxy pays his salary. They have the right to limit his time away from the club. He is expected to lead the Galaxy to success and have them prepared for when Beckham gets here. It’s good to see he’s taking his role seriously. For both club and country.

Posted from United States

By Brian | March 27th, 2007 at 7:54 am

He will forever be referred to as ‘Landycakes’ because he got scared and ran from Europe instead of trying to prove himself at a higher level. Same thing with not playing in the Copa America. It’s a much tougher tourney than the Gold Cup, which coincidentally is played in the US, just like this friendly was, just like all US friendlies seem to be played. The excuse that he wants to play for the Galaxy instead is such a cop-out, because of the retarded format of the MLS, regular season games matter little. Go ahead and defend Landycakes, but he’s pathetic and everything that is wrong with US Soccer. Players like Clint Dempsey, Bobby Convey, Tim Howard, Taylor Twellman, and Brian McBride should be held in much higher esteem.

Posted from United States

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