October 11, 2008 by Jordan
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.
Tags: Cuba Soccer, Demarcus Beasley, US National Team, USA Soccer | Comments (0)
October 6, 2008 by Jordan
Sometime last week balloting closed for the winner of the Honda Player of the Year which is given to the best player on the U.S. National Team for the calendar year. While we often think of the stars - Donovan, Dempsey and Beasley - I think the most valuable player for the U.S. team this year clearly was goal keeper Tim Howard.
Check out his game stats - 5 shutouts in 8 world cup qualifying games this year which includes a 0-0 tie against the number one team in the world, Argentina. In that match, he made 6 or 7 highlight saves and clearly made the difference while the rest of his team played extremely sloppy.
We know that Landon Donovan is having an incredible year in the MLS, but as far as the National Team goes, Howard is the unquestioned MVP.
I think his improvement and leadership have come, in large part, from having played 5 years now in the English Premier League with Manchester United and Everton. Playing in the best league in the world certainly helps improve a player, especially when he is getting shots from the likes of Rooney, Lampard, etc.
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Tags: Demarcus Beasley, Honda Player of the Year, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, U.S. National Soccer Team | Comments (0)
