The US looked tense from the opening whistle and were quickly cut to ribbons by a Gerrard run past Ricardo Clark. Onewyu made the crucial error hesitating when the ball was loose and allowing Hesky to hold up and wait for Gerrard to spring free. I love Steven Gerrard and if anyone scored for England I was glad it was him. I had Jan Koller, this was the worse case scenario I had warned against in my preview. The game had not even settled into a flow and we were down a Goal.
Strangely, rather then push forward and look for more chances England retreated and allowed the Americans to find their footing. I am not sure if this was because of Capello's tactical decisions or a result of the US taking hold of the game. What became clear is that the US were having success with Cherundolo and Donovan attacking the right flank. Ultimately, this led to Donovan sending a nice cross to the front of goal that really should have been finished by Jozy Altidore.
Eventually, Milner was replaced by Shawn Wright Phillips which seemed to help solidify that side for England. Although it did nothing to add any teeth to their attack.
In the past I have always joked about selfish Clint Dempsey can be. How he will take a bad shot instead of making a good pass. As long as Robert Green is the goalie Clint can take all the bad shots he wants. Plenty has been written about the "hand of clod", it was clearly bad shot, but I will take a cheap goal every day.
The second half, was about Tim Howard and his ability to keep the US in the game. It was also about Michael Bradley, Jay Demerit and Gooch finding a way to keep Wayne Rooney neutralized. The best chance of the second half belonged to Jozy Altidore who sprinted around Jaime Carragher (easier done then said) and blasted a shot off Robert Green that hit the woodwork. I really would have liked Jozy to finish on one of his two clear chances in this game. Jozy has the body and the moves and he seems to get himself in the right places but he still lacks that clinical finishing that all great strikers possess.
At the end of the day we got a point. The point was deserved and it will be critical especially since Slovenia went up in the group this morning. Friday is now a must win game. We need to beat two teams that we are better then and advance out of the group. After watching Germany today winning the group is key to advancing.
More to come
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