The U.S. national soccer team did what it had to do on Tuesday
night, getting a 1-0 victory over Guadeloupe that sent it to the
quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
By Tom Timmermann – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The U.S. national soccer team did what it had to do on Tuesday night, getting a 1-0 victory over Guadeloupe that sent it to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
How the Americans did it was another matter. They dominated the game, outshooting Guadeloupe 21-5 and having a decided edge in possession, but they scored only on a rocket by Jozy Altidore in the ninth minute. The rest of the game was a steady stream of chances created, which was promising, and chances wasted, which was frustrating. What should have been a one-sided romp turned out to be a game whose result, if largely irrelevant after Panama tied Canada earlier in the evening, was in doubt to the closing minute.
“It was a pretty good performance,” said U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan, who put a shot over the bar from 6 yards out in the second half for his contribution to the offensive struggles. “Better than the other night for sure. We just have to be better in front of the net.”
“Obviously, I thought we could have played better,” goalie Tim Howard said. “But we got the result and at this stage, that’s all that counts.”
Coming off a shocking 2-1 loss to Panama on Saturday, the American team could take solace in getting the victory it needed to move on to the tournament’s quarterfinal round, in which it will face Jamaica on Sunday in Washington. The Americans also could proudly point to the many scoring chances the team created. They just couldn’t point to any goals besides Altidore’s.
No one had a harder night than midfielder Clint Dempsey, who came up with nothing in a game he believed he should have had two goals, possibly more.
“Tonight, I wasn’t good enough with my chances,” Dempsey said. “I couldn’t buy a goal. … I came up short and we still got the win. That’s the positive going into the next round. It shows we expect more of ourselves. I expect more of myself.”
The play that summed up Dempsey’s evening came in the 76th minute, when he got the ball 5 yards from the goal line with an open net in front of him. He hesitated a moment to control the ball, and that instant allowed Guadeloupe’s Dimitri Fautrai to recover and steal the ball off Dempsey’s foot.
“I thought nobody was on me, that I could take two touches,” he said. “That was the wrong decision on my part.”
Add to that a header he put wide from 6 yards out in the 24th minute, a free kick he put off the bar and a few other chances, and you have one aggravating evening.
The evening’s salvation was Altidore, whose goal was an impressive one. Midfielder Michael Bradley played the ball to Altidore, who took a touch and blasted a shot from 25 yards into the top right corner. Guadeloupe goalie Franck Grandel was helpless.
“I saw I had a little space and said, ‘Why not,'” Altidore said. “It’s nice to score goals but it’s more important to win. We’re not playing as well as we should, but we got three points tonight.”
The Americans knew coming into the match that the best they could do in the group was second place after Panama scraped out a 1-1 tie with Canada on an injury-time goal to win the group. All the United States had to do was not lose, which would have been a disaster against a team such as Guadeloupe. Going up 1-0 meant Guadeloupe was going to have score twice, which never seemed likely. But the Americans couldn’t put the game away.
“We feel we should have finished it earlier,” coach Bob Bradley said.
Bradley made two changes to his starting lineup from the team that lost to Panama. He sat St. Louis University grad Tim Ream and moved Carlos Bocanegra in from the left side to one of the central spots and started Eric Lichaj wide. Up front, he went with Chris Wondolowski instead of Juan Agudelo.
The United States could have won the group if Canada had held on to a 1-0 lead in its game with Panama on Tuesday, but the Canadians allowed a goal in the 91st minute for the tie that gave Panama the group title.
