No doubt about it, Argentina is a good squad. They came out firing on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. The South Americans brought the pressure to the U.S. defense, causing Tim Howard and Co. to make several key defensive stands early on. Howard in particular made several point blank saves, including two on Julio Cruz of Inter Milan, one of which came right before half time. Argentina had the better play of the two sides in the first half, implementing a potent and quick counter attack. The Americans had some promising moments as they were able to keep possession on several sequences against the stronger Argentine side. The best scoring chances for USA came from a deflected Dempsey shot and a screaming volley from Heath Pearce on the left flank.
At half time, Coach Bradley subbed Maurice Edu for Michael Bradley. A good attacking run by Pearce in the 47th min almost yielded a goal with the subsequent scrum in the penalty area resulting in the ball hitting the crossbar. In the 50th minute Eddie Johnson showcased his new defensive move, "The Crotch Grab," on Mascherano. Result: pulled groin for Mascherano (yuk yuk yuk). The 62nd minute saw more subs for the U.S. with Jay Demerit coming on for Onyewu and Adu coming on for Dempsey. A phantom red card in the 71st on Mastroeni was a blow to the U.S. team but they managed to hold it together. Play continued to go back and forth until the 85th minute when Mascherano put a nasty studs up tackle on Donovan and was shown a red card as well. The younger U.S. attack of Adu, Edu and Klejstan had several good attacking sequences, but couldn't create any goals. The match ended in a 0-0 tie.
I would have to say that Argentina had the better portion of the play in the first half where the second half was much more even if not slightly in the favor of the U.S. I'm sure the substitutions (especially Messi and Cruz coming off) along with the playing conditions (100 degree plus heat) had something to do with this. My choice for man of the match would have to go to Timmy Howard for keeping the Americans in the match with his clutch first half saves.
This was a good result for the U.S. and I'm sure rather disappointing for the Argentines after dismantling Mexico earlier in the week. This result bodes well for the Americans as they start World Cup qualifying next weekend against the Barbados in L.A.
No comments:
Post a Comment