U.S. facing virtual must-win tonight
By Brent Latham
ESPN INSIDER
For the American U-23s, the good news over the weekend was that their flat performance in a surprise 2-0 loss to Canada didn't come in the all-or-nothing semifinal round. The bad news is that qualifying for the Olympic Games has become exponentially harder for Caleb Porter's team heading into Monday's final group match El Salvador, which now becomes the first of two must-win matches for the U.S., the second of which will almost certainly be against Mexico.
As Luke Cyphers pointed out in his recap of Saturday's train wreck, the game against El Salvador will show what the U.S. is made of. The U.S. players Sunday said they've put the Canada loss behind them, and coach Caleb Porter said his team is good with its back to the wall. "This team has always responded positively to adversity," he said. He cited a January trip to Costa Rica in which his club was flat against Saprissa but rebounded to play well against Alajuelense. "They're going to be determined and hungry."
But the loss to Canada showed, among other things, that the team is nowhere near as invincible as many seemed to think, after the mirage of a 6-0 cakewalk over a poor Cuban team in the opener. It's clear now that that result -- over an overmatched 10-man side -- didn't stand up to scrutiny.
The true form of this U.S. team, severely depleted by injury and club commitments, is somewhere in between. But against Canada it looked like not only the team, but the coach as well, had bought into the hype. Canada brought a heaping dose of defense and tough tackling to the match and came away with a much deserved victory, leaving the home team in third place and teetering on the brink of elimination. Barring a Canadian letdown in the early game Monday against an already-eliminated Cuban team outscored so far 10-0, only a win against what could be a packed-in, time-wasting Salvadoran team can save the Americans' chances of getting through to that Mexico clash. "They haven't given up a goal," Porter said. "As much as people might focus on their attack, they're pretty organized as well."
With that in mind, and a tired team on his hands, Porter will have some tough decisions to make going into Monday's match.
<offer>The target man
A goal-poaching target man is absolutely vital to the success of Porter's 4-3-3, and yet with Juan Agudelo on the shelf, the coach went with Teal Bunbury up top despite the K.C. man's on-going ineffectiveness. Against Canada, Bunbury pulled an hour-long disappearing act before making way for Terrence Boyd.
The unfortunate timing of Agudelo's knee injury threw a wrench in the goal-scoring works, and Porter doesn't have any time left to get this one right. Convinced or not, he'll probably need to hand the spot to Boyd -- who scored several goals for the U-23s in preparation matches -- and hope for the best.
Midfield congestion
The central midfield that looked so good against Cuba made a bit of a mess of things as the game wore on against Canada, and the northerners packed it into their defensive third. The Canadians played physical and tough throughout, taking the U.S. out of its passing game, but when the Americans went down a goal and push turned to shove, there looked to be some confusion in terms of spacing between the three central mids in Porter's scheme.
It doesn't help the team's balance that Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud and Jared Jeffrey are all primarily attack-oriented mids, with Diskerud and Jeffrey doing their best to fit in on defense here and there. Jeffrey hasn't been particularly effective in a No. 6 role, meaning too many times Saturday the back four -- already the weakness of the team -- was left exposed to counters from Canada's speedy attackers.
But that's not the only problem with the offense-heavy three man midfield team. Corona, who had been among the Americans' best players for 135 minutes to that point in the tournament, was sacrificed at half time, then commented after the match that he was taken off because things were "a little crowded in the middle." With Jeffrey a part of that congestion, and doing little to boost the defense, it probably makes more sense to replace him in Monday's lineup. In this team's best performance to date, the 2-0 friendly win against Mexico, Alfredo Morales in defensive midfield was the linchpin that held the team together. Though Amobi Okugo doesn't quite give the U.S. the passing and field vision Jeffrey offers, he can play a Morales-like role by adding bite on top of the back line.
Speaking of tough choices, it's probably time for Porter to decide on a No. 10 as well. Playing Corona in the middle and pushing Freddy Adu out wide has put the captain in a right midfield role that doesn't particularly suit him. Adu looks a little like Landon Donovan out wide for the senior team -- a quality player holding down a less than ideal spot. But unlike Jurgen Klinsmann, Porter has better options on the wing. With Joe Gyau available from the start as a true winger to mirror Brek Shea on the left, the attack would probably look all the more potent.
Defensive game plan
Lax marking on set pieces cost the U.S. against Canada, but the central defenders, particularly Ike Opara, were not quite as smooth on the ball as Porter might like either. With do-or-die matches on the horizon, it's probably time to pull Opara and the rest of the defense aside for a chat about getting the ball out of trouble when necessary. Holding possession and starting the offense from the back third is great, but a single error on the ball from the back four -- which on the evidence so far looks like only a matter of time -- could mean elimination at this point.
General mentality
The U.S. actually looked a bit surprised that Canada refused to roll over and play dead in the face of the Yanks' potent passing attack, and as the match wore on the team found it more and more difficult to stick with the strategy of keeping the ball on the ground. That turned things into an ugly trench battle which favored the Canadians. If the U.S. allows that to happen again against a scrappy El Salvador side, they're going to be in for a long night.
If there's any positive to be taken from the disastrous loss heading into Monday's match, it's that this team clearly needed a wakeup call. With survival on the line tonight, the Americans have gotten that and more. Suddenly reeling and short a number of key players, only a win will help get the mojo back heading into the knockout round and keep the Olympic dream alive for the Americans.
</offer>
By Brent Latham
ESPN INSIDER
For the American U-23s, the good news over the weekend was that their flat performance in a surprise 2-0 loss to Canada didn't come in the all-or-nothing semifinal round. The bad news is that qualifying for the Olympic Games has become exponentially harder for Caleb Porter's team heading into Monday's final group match El Salvador, which now becomes the first of two must-win matches for the U.S., the second of which will almost certainly be against Mexico.
As Luke Cyphers pointed out in his recap of Saturday's train wreck, the game against El Salvador will show what the U.S. is made of. The U.S. players Sunday said they've put the Canada loss behind them, and coach Caleb Porter said his team is good with its back to the wall. "This team has always responded positively to adversity," he said. He cited a January trip to Costa Rica in which his club was flat against Saprissa but rebounded to play well against Alajuelense. "They're going to be determined and hungry."
But the loss to Canada showed, among other things, that the team is nowhere near as invincible as many seemed to think, after the mirage of a 6-0 cakewalk over a poor Cuban team in the opener. It's clear now that that result -- over an overmatched 10-man side -- didn't stand up to scrutiny.
The true form of this U.S. team, severely depleted by injury and club commitments, is somewhere in between. But against Canada it looked like not only the team, but the coach as well, had bought into the hype. Canada brought a heaping dose of defense and tough tackling to the match and came away with a much deserved victory, leaving the home team in third place and teetering on the brink of elimination. Barring a Canadian letdown in the early game Monday against an already-eliminated Cuban team outscored so far 10-0, only a win against what could be a packed-in, time-wasting Salvadoran team can save the Americans' chances of getting through to that Mexico clash. "They haven't given up a goal," Porter said. "As much as people might focus on their attack, they're pretty organized as well."
With that in mind, and a tired team on his hands, Porter will have some tough decisions to make going into Monday's match.
<offer>The target man
A goal-poaching target man is absolutely vital to the success of Porter's 4-3-3, and yet with Juan Agudelo on the shelf, the coach went with Teal Bunbury up top despite the K.C. man's on-going ineffectiveness. Against Canada, Bunbury pulled an hour-long disappearing act before making way for Terrence Boyd.
The unfortunate timing of Agudelo's knee injury threw a wrench in the goal-scoring works, and Porter doesn't have any time left to get this one right. Convinced or not, he'll probably need to hand the spot to Boyd -- who scored several goals for the U-23s in preparation matches -- and hope for the best.
Midfield congestion
The central midfield that looked so good against Cuba made a bit of a mess of things as the game wore on against Canada, and the northerners packed it into their defensive third. The Canadians played physical and tough throughout, taking the U.S. out of its passing game, but when the Americans went down a goal and push turned to shove, there looked to be some confusion in terms of spacing between the three central mids in Porter's scheme.
It doesn't help the team's balance that Joe Corona, Mix Diskerud and Jared Jeffrey are all primarily attack-oriented mids, with Diskerud and Jeffrey doing their best to fit in on defense here and there. Jeffrey hasn't been particularly effective in a No. 6 role, meaning too many times Saturday the back four -- already the weakness of the team -- was left exposed to counters from Canada's speedy attackers.
But that's not the only problem with the offense-heavy three man midfield team. Corona, who had been among the Americans' best players for 135 minutes to that point in the tournament, was sacrificed at half time, then commented after the match that he was taken off because things were "a little crowded in the middle." With Jeffrey a part of that congestion, and doing little to boost the defense, it probably makes more sense to replace him in Monday's lineup. In this team's best performance to date, the 2-0 friendly win against Mexico, Alfredo Morales in defensive midfield was the linchpin that held the team together. Though Amobi Okugo doesn't quite give the U.S. the passing and field vision Jeffrey offers, he can play a Morales-like role by adding bite on top of the back line.
Speaking of tough choices, it's probably time for Porter to decide on a No. 10 as well. Playing Corona in the middle and pushing Freddy Adu out wide has put the captain in a right midfield role that doesn't particularly suit him. Adu looks a little like Landon Donovan out wide for the senior team -- a quality player holding down a less than ideal spot. But unlike Jurgen Klinsmann, Porter has better options on the wing. With Joe Gyau available from the start as a true winger to mirror Brek Shea on the left, the attack would probably look all the more potent.
Defensive game plan
Lax marking on set pieces cost the U.S. against Canada, but the central defenders, particularly Ike Opara, were not quite as smooth on the ball as Porter might like either. With do-or-die matches on the horizon, it's probably time to pull Opara and the rest of the defense aside for a chat about getting the ball out of trouble when necessary. Holding possession and starting the offense from the back third is great, but a single error on the ball from the back four -- which on the evidence so far looks like only a matter of time -- could mean elimination at this point.
General mentality
The U.S. actually looked a bit surprised that Canada refused to roll over and play dead in the face of the Yanks' potent passing attack, and as the match wore on the team found it more and more difficult to stick with the strategy of keeping the ball on the ground. That turned things into an ugly trench battle which favored the Canadians. If the U.S. allows that to happen again against a scrappy El Salvador side, they're going to be in for a long night.
If there's any positive to be taken from the disastrous loss heading into Monday's match, it's that this team clearly needed a wakeup call. With survival on the line tonight, the Americans have gotten that and more. Suddenly reeling and short a number of key players, only a win will help get the mojo back heading into the knockout round and keep the Olympic dream alive for the Americans.
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