USA v Jamaica

[Titanxman04]

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!

(Ugly goal, but it counts the same, right?)

Jones rips a shot, deflects off of a defenders leg and the goalie was already going one way with the ball deflecting to another.

USA 1
Jamaica 0

[golfitup]

I like Lichaj. Here's to Bornstein never having to play again for the national team.

[Titanxman04]

Jamaica pushed too far up. Nearly hurt them several times until now. Dempsey gets a goal. 2-0 USA.

[Blueblob4life]

GOOOAAAALLLL for Clint "Deuce" Dempsey. Love that man

[Porkopolis]

Glad to see Dempsey redeem himself with a goal. One of my all-time favorite players who doesn't get enough credit for what he does.

The US turned it up a notch in the second half, but they'll need to turn it up two from here on out. They can move the ball well at times and look like middle schoolers at others. As folks have pointed out, we have major weaknesses on the left side and up front. The backs looked frighteningly shaky at times, too. OTOH, Howard is nails.

[Emp]

OK, I have to eat at least a half a crow, Dempsey put the ball in the net. Against Panama. Big whoop.

We're still not going to be making it past the group stages in major world competitions until we find some finishers who can score at that level.

[Denver Muskie]

OK, I have to eat at least a half a crow, Dempsey put the ball in the net. Against Panama. Big whoop.

We're still not going to be making it past the group stages in major world competitions until we find some finishers who can score at that level.

What? I guess you can't recall the 2009 Confederations Cup or the 2010 World Cup.

[Emp]

What? I guess you can't recall the 2009 Confederations Cup or the 2010 World Cup.

You thought the loss to #32 Ghana in the WC was a top tier achievement?

In the Confederations, the US won 1 match and lost two in group, and went through to the semis on a technicality. The match vs Spain was impressive, due credit. The euphoria of being up 2-0 on Brazil after '27 and being unable to hold that lead speaks for itself.

No, I don't think the US is a top tier team. Dreaded mid-major.

[Titanxman04]

You thought the loss to #32 Ghana in the WC was a top tier achievement?

In the Confederations, the US won 1 match and lost two in group, and went through to the semis on a technicality. The match vs Spain was impressive, due credit. The euphoria of being up 2-0 on Brazil after '27 and being unable to hold that lead speaks for itself.

No, I don't think the US is a top tier team. Dreaded mid-major.

Absolutely correct.

The World Cup wasn't much to boast either. We drew England who consistently under-perform at the level. The goal we scored slipped through the goalie's hands ala Bill Buckner.

We had Algeria and Slovenia next. We got by on an incredible last minute goal by Landon Donovan that still gives me chills when I watch, but it honestly shouldn't have come down to that.

As for the Confederations Cup, EMP is exactly correct.

In the end, I really feel there are three stellar problems the US has to address in order to jump up to the next level.

1) Too much ball watching. On both sides of the ball, the Us sort of just stops and watches as a collective whole, and no one moves without the ball consistently. You'll see this on defense primarily, where defenders will charge the goal or make runs behind the play and be WIDE OPEN. It's beyond frustrating to watch, and how this team doesn't learn from that baffles me. Same errors again and again. Thank goodness Jamaica can't finish, or else they would have had a similar goal.

2) No top finisher. Dempsey can score in the premiership, but he's a different player nationally. Donovan disappears and Altidore is a mystery. The ability to score from outside the 18 is suspect at best. Altidore, to his credit, had a rocket of a shot the other day. But how many open netters or solid chances have the US had the past couple of years - especially against considerably weaker teams - and have not come through? The ability to finish when it counts still escapes this squad. Hopefully that'll be changing as confidence grows...which brings me to my final point.

3) Attitude. How in God's name can you put on your countries colors, march out on national television, and come out flat for over a half? It's the US's prerogative to give up an early goal and then spend the rest of the game battling back. It's not even a single player most of the time. It's a whole damn line of players. Their heads are just not in it for the full 90, and this isn't a team that has a particularly deep bench. We can't just swing guys in and out and expect the same kind of talent and ability throughout.

However you want to fix those issues, isn't my call. I'll admit that I am not all knowing as to the inner workings of US Soccer. But these issues seem to continually plague this squad.

[Denver Muskie]

You thought the loss to #32 Ghana in the WC was a top tier achievement?

In the Confederations, the US won 1 match and lost two in group, and went through to the semis on a technicality. The match vs Spain was impressive, due credit. The euphoria of being up 2-0 on Brazil after '27 and being unable to hold that lead speaks for itself.

No, I don't think the US is a top tier team. Dreaded mid-major.

That sure is a lot to read into my saying we have made it out of the group stage in the last two major competitions.

No, I don't think it was a great achievement to lose to Ghana in the Round of 16, but I dont' pay any attention to those rankings. It's like the #20 team in basketball losing to a team that is just outside the rankings in the "getting votes" category. Ghana has a lot more players playing in the best leagues than we do. So I don't think it was a disaster either. Going in, I was hoping for a quarterfinal appearance.

Beating Spain and then losing to Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final was a very good achievement. Not being able to hold a 2 nil lead is not the fault of the US not having guys to finish at that level.