The U.S. silenced a few critics who said they weren’t able to score and that they didn’t have anybody willing to step up and take the role of dominant goal scorer. DeMarcus Beasley showed us, and the world, that he has a knack for the back of the net and when given chances, he can take advantage of them.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the U.S. team dominated the middle of the field. Obviously Cuba isn’t a great team, but there were a few possessions where the USA showed its dominance and ability to move the ball quickly and to find the open player. The match was no contest from the beginning. The US squad clearly dominated in time of possession as well as shots and shots on goal. This time, luckily, the US played the roll of Varsity Team and Cuba looked like the Junior Varsity squad out there.
While Tim Howard’s streak of shutouts was broken up by an incredibly lucky toe poke by Cuba’s Hensy Munoz, the US defense should go away happy with their play. Rarely did Cuba have a real opportunity to score.
They haven’t qualified yet, but they looked good and perhaps they finally have the right pieces in place to make a decent run during the World Cup.
