This one really had me running the spectrum of emotions last night. I went from throwing my hands up in mild disappointment after the USA defense, in a collective brain fart, allowed Costa Rican striker Bryan Ruiz to slide one past Tim Howard early on in the game, then I threw my remote at the wall when in another brain fart the US defense gave Ruiz way too much space and allowed him to absolutely laser the ball into the top left corner. Finally I shouted for joy as the US eventually equalized in the second half.
Up top, Casey scuffed an early chance when he was set up by a perfect pass from Altidore, sending the ball embarrassingly wide of the net. After that initial chance Casey remained largely inactive and I was glad to see him come off at the half. Staurt Holden, a player I backed to develop well in my last national team post, played almost no role in any of the drives, giving questionable service into the box on the occasion he did gain possession. Donovan and Altidore were by far the most active players for the USA on the pitch. Donovan scuffed a chance of his own, and missed a early free kick, but regained his composure and played out a decent first half, and a fairly good second half. We didnt see a repeat of his free kick magic, but he had a large part in the US's first goal, as his blocked shot rebounded to Michael Bradley who put the ball away in the second half. Altidore was by far the stand out. Jozy was a man possessed in this match, certainly playing with the injured Charlie Daveis in mind. Altidore played in an extremely physical manner, reminding us that although he doesnt always play like it, hes a lightning fast six foot tall beefy forward, who can muscle defenders around if he really puts his mind to it. Altidore had his own problems though, and that immense energy he displayed with energy might have worked against him as he over struck some of his chances in the first 45.
In the back the standout was Onyewu, but not because he played well. The mistakes which I deemed out of character for him in the last game came back, this time with consequences as he was beaten badly to let in the first goal. Im starting to worry that sitting around in Milan could be dulling some of his skills, as the normally rock solid defender looked quite lax for the entirety of the game until he was taken out in the 83rd with a bad knee injury.
Im going to assume that most of our readership has watched the game or at least knows the goal scorers, so I wont go into the details of the second half. I will say that Robbie Rogers really impressed me with his pace and energy. I had never seen Rogers play since I missed most of the Gold Cup, but it was easy to notice how he added a much needed spark to a desperate USA. I have a bad habit of getting very excited over young players who tend to fizzle (Freddy Adu), but I will certainly be watching Rogers in the future. In the end, the USA keeps their home unbeaten record going, and ends their world cup bid as champions of their group. I did feel a little sorry for Costa Rica, who played a fantastic first half, but if its between our home unbeaten record and your world cup qualifying, ill take our record any day. It should also be noted that by beating Costa Rica the US allowed Honduras to qualify, a country which hasnt been to a world cup in 27 years, and a nation which could really use some good news in a tough political climate. The mistakes need to be worked on, but an excellent display of spirit from the USA.
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