It’s been a while since we’ve seen the United States national “varsity” team out on the field in force. Months, in fact, really since an October 10, 2009 win in Honduras. Yes, there have been a few games since then, but you get the feeling the US is taking this one seriously, even though they’re missing Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, and Clint Dempsey among others. But today, the US takes on the Netherlands in Amsterdam. And, in case you were geographically lost, Holland is not in CONCACAF. And they’re better than El Salvador.
It’s a friendly, but I’m fired up.
Pregame – We are live at a half-empty Amsterdam ArenA (why the extra A? They’re Dutch, silly, they do that kind of thing). Evidently, they’re not as fired up as I am, good sections still available.
John Harkes takes no time to say “Stuart Holden is having a great season at Bolton.” It’s hard to be an international commentator when you really don’t watch many games. He does identify the fact that Wesley Sneijder is Holland’s hottest player.
Bob Ley!!! He should just do play-by-play, color, and sideline reporting. He can do it, he’s Bob Ley.
Is anyone else as tired as I am of the rankings? If I have to hear the Netherlands is ranked third in the world again, I’m going to personally hit the mute button. This is not college basketball, people.
Alexi Lalas: “Everyone has to wrap their heads around the fact that Landon Donovan is the best player in American history right now.” I don’t even have to add anything. Does he write his own stuff?
Ley says Toffees on first reference. Wait, I’m an American, I’m not supposed to get that.
Great that Maurice Edu scored in the Old Firm Derby, but not much of a goal, huh? Pretty sure Harry Redknapp’s mom could have scored that one, no offense.
Lineups – Robbie Findlay and Jose Francisco Torres are the two surprises in the US lineup. Torres should be a popular choice among the fans, Findlay? Well, I’d rather see Eddie Johnson, for sure.
The Dutch go 4-3-3 and I like it, and not just because it’s my preferred coaching formation. Robben, Kuyt, and Elia (a very underrated player in the Bundesliga) will be a handful for the US defense, and Sneijder can nip in behind them. The back is a little weaker: Van Der Weil, Mathieson, Heitinga, and Van Bronckhorst, with Stekelenburg in goal.
This music is awful and loud. We have a Turkish officiating crew and we’re under way.
0:00 – Don’t know about the new road blue US uniforms. So far, so good, at least from far away. The Dutch are in white, which seems silly to me, wear the orange already.
2:00 – Not a heck of a lot happening early, Dutch with plenty of possession. Arjen Robben on the right turns Bornstein and then Donovan on back-to-back possessions, but the crosses are dealt with. Donovan is not much of a defender, is he? US is very weak on that side, Robben will be dangerous.
4:00 – DeMerit almost runs into Howard on a long ball with no one around them, also not terribly encouraging early.
5:00 – Ryan Babel on the bench for the Dutch, poor guy can’t get a game anywhere right now.
6:00 – Holden is wide right, Torres attacking, Bradley defending, Donovan out left for almost a diamond midfield. A chipped ball almost causes trouble with Elia roaming around, but it’s dealt with by the American defense.
7:00 – US is set up to counter it looks like, which is probably wise, but giving the Dutch plenty of space.
8:00 – Elia abuses Spector with some of that Dutch skill. His cross is allowed to roll far too long and youngster Gregory van der Wiel almost gets on the end of it. US defense slow to the ball early, it won’t stay scoreless long if that is the case.
9:00 – I’m taping all these games and the scores continue to roll at the bottom of the screen. God, I hate that.
10:00 – Altidore (wearing #12) gets called for a foul, but at least I can mention his name for the first time.
11:00 – Holden gets a cross in, Findlay tries to attack but he’s got no chance against the tall keeper Stekelenburg from Ajax. Tall boy, Stekelenburg, as the Dutch have plenty of goalkeeping depth, too.
12:00 -DeMerit is called for a questionable foul. Quick restart causes problems, and I really don’t know what Torres is trying to do as his clearance almost gets over Howard’s head from 35 yards out. Howard did well to push it over the bar for a corner, obviously he wasn’t expecting that. Corner amounts to nothing. Torres looks very nervous.
13:00 – Americans called for another foul, and a little trash talk with Altidore, Torres, and the Dutch. A little life to the game.
14:00 – Sneijder tries a shot from 30 yards, but doesn’t catch it and Howard saves easily. Not nearly enough pressure on the ball from the US thus far.
15:00 – Holland is No. 4 in ESPN’s “Power Index”. Whatever that is.
16:00 – Findlay sneaks behind the Dutch defense, but hits it right at Stekelenburg from a tight angle.
17:00 – Stay on your feet, Michael Bradley, would you? Looks like my 11-year olds sometimes sliding all over the place. Have to think they’re going to call it tight again at the World Cup in light of recent events as well.
18:00 – Torres wipes out Sneijder late, should have been carded.
19:00 – Sneijder’s ball over the top finds Robben behind the defense, but his first touch is poor. In fact, he never really had a first touch, it just went out of bounds for a goal kick. Beautiful run, beautiful ball, and Bornstein was caught out (as was the rest of the US defense).
20:00 – Robben takes advantage of a Bocanegra mistake, and gets into the box, but Bradley does a good job covering. De Jong and Bradley are two of the best at their jobs in the world, and will be key to both teams progression in a couple of months.
21:00 – Landon Donovan is on the field? Wouldn’t know it. He’s fouled by van der Wiet. I like this van der Wiet guy.
22:00 – Maybe if I mention the fact that the last three Dutch friendlies have ended scoreless it will get some action going.
23:00 – Altidore briefly got loose off a throw-in and nearly made a shot out of nothing. Not a great sign there for the center of the Dutch defense, they were overpowered.
24:00 – Sneijder beats two players, but probably should have pulled the trigger. Instead, he looked for Kuyt, but Kuyt went the other way and the chance was gone. He could play for Arsenal doing that. Sneijder does shoot off a Kuyt pass seconds later, but it was from a bad angle and an easy save for Howard.
26:00 – Would like to tell you this is a heartstopper, but it looks like a friendly so far? What? Is it a friendly? Damn.
27:00 – Donovan gets outworked by De Jong and then grabs him for a foul. The more I watch De Jong play, the more impressed I am. And he couldn’t make Mark Hughes’ lineup.
28:00 – Altidore almost springs Findlay with the Dutch playing a really high line. Findlay’s in there for his pace, I’m sure.
29:00 – Oops, I spoke too soon. De Jong takes out Holden late, and it didn’t look good on the replay. Wasn’t that late, but you see Holden’s leg get bent back, and he’s still down. Someone get Arsene Wenger on the phone, quick.
30:00 – With it being a friendly, Holden’s night should be done no matter how bad it is. DeMarcus Beasley is up.
31:00 – Holden limps off, but he’s done. Dutch fans whistling. Ridiculous.
32:00 – Well, Aaron Ramsey it’s not, but Holden looks to be injured failry seriously as he sits on the bench. Let’s hope it’s not too bad. Beasley is on, he’s your chance, DeMarcus.
33:00 – Torres, who has been poor thus far, unleashes a rocket from 30 yards out that very nearly sneaks in for an opening goal. Best chance of the game, really, for either team.
34:00 – Oops, Beasley is just coming on now, so the US was playing with 10 for a while. I guess De Jong was booked for that challenge, although we didn’t see it.
35:00 – Beasley was in the Dutch league for a while and apparently knows a lot of the guys out there.
36:00 – The MLS opener is three weeks ago, and I’m wholly unprepared. Some research definitely needed by me there.
37:00 – Altidore is cut down by Hamburg’s Joris Mathijsen. Someone call Phil Brown. Dutch names are tough to spell, by the way.
38:00 – We get a score alert for Spain-France, which is impressive by ESPN.
39:00 – Penalty for the Dutch. van der Wiet gets loose, makes a nice pass to Sneijder, but gets by Bornstein, and Bornstein just grabs him in the box. Don’t really know what Bornstein was thinking.
40:00 – GOAL. Kuyt puts Howard the wrong way, and it’s 1-0 Netherlands. Well, at least it won’t end scoreless.
41:00 – Honestly, I don’t think Bornstein should be on the field in the World Cup anyway, so hopefully that enforces it to Bradley the elder. He’s not a good enough defender to go up against high-level competition. Spector is bigger, stronger, faster.
42:00 – DeMerit goes down. Call the Watford manager. Don’t know who that is anymore. Whatever happened to Andy Boothroyd and his cool attire? DeMerit is up and looks OK.
44:00 – Van Bommel with a tremendous ball to Elia, whose cross goes through everyone and hits Bornstein on the hand. Luckily for him, the official feels sorry for him and doesn’t give it. He didn’t exactly catch it, but he came close. We need Cherundolo healthy. Harkes says he might be available tonight.
46:00 – Halftime. 1-0 Netherlands. Neither team really created much, Holland had much better possession. Where is the offense coming from for the US? We shall see. Dutch crowd singing “Na-na-na-na, goodbye.” At halftime. Silly Dutch.
Halftime commentary – Lalas actually making salient points. Findlay can’t hold the ball. Didn’t we know that already? Really, there shouldn’t be any MLS players on the field in South Africa. Bornstein can’t keep up, either. Torres might have blown his chance here, although that shot at the end helped. But I expect to see Edu for the second half.
Meanwhile, Sneijder is the best player on the field by far, while Robben and Elia are more dangerous than anyone the US has.
Went back and looked at the De Jong challenge. Ugly. Ironically, the opposite of the Shawcross-Ramsey from the weekend. The ball got away from Holden, except unlike Shawcross, he got back to it first. De Jong was only fractionally late, but he left his feet. Just as bad as what happened over the weekend, folks, and I like De Jong. More later on that, I’m sure.
Second half – Looks like Heath Pearce is coming on for Bornstein. Maybe Bradley can just throw a different guy out there every 10 minutes and see if one can play. Or maybe recruit Wayne Bridge. He must have some American relatives somewhere.
Holden diagnosed with a shin contusion, which is actually good news. Doesn’t seem like a knee or anything. He’s been taken for x-rays, though.
Klaus-Jan Huntelaar on for Robben. I wouldn;t risk him getting hurt in a friendly, either. Huntelaar is showing good form for AC Milan.
Vlaar also on for Mathijsen. Vlaar plays for Feyenoord with the captain van Bronckhorst.
As predicted, Edu on for Torres. But Bornstein stays in, as does Findlay. Interesting.
46:00 – Altidore turns Vlaar with a clever backheel, but his pass across is a little too light and is cleared. Good stuff from Altidore, though.
47:00 – Someone wake up Landon Donovan, please. He looks like he’s in MLS speed.
48:00 – Little brighter start to the second half for the US. Little more possession.
49:00 – Elia also found Huntelaar, but DeMerit reads it well and clears and it spiked by Huntelaar, who got there a little late. That will leave a mark, but DeMerit is back up.
50:00 – Elia somehow gets behind the US defense, but couldn’t get the ball out of his feet. I’ll give you three guesses on who played him the tremendous ball and the first two don’t count. Sneijder has been tremendous.
51:00 – Sneijder almost finds Elia again, but Howard gets there. Really, on the first breakaway, it should have been Bornstein covering again, although Bocanegra got a late start, too.
52:00 – Free kick to the US 35 yards out. Good service from Donovan, but it’s cleared. A little more action in this half at least. Huntelaar looked like he was in, but he’s offside. Replays show he wasn’t and again no cover on the weakside, this time DeMerit and Spector. Please point that out in the film sessions, Mr. Bradley.
53:00 – Elia just abusing Bornstein at the moment. This is why I love the 4-3-3, those weak outside backs are just isolated.
54:00 – If you give Sneijder that much time and space, he’ll kill you. Hopefully Carlo Ancelotti is watching. It’s all Holland at the moment.
55:00 – Hey, Donovan touched the ball. Tried a 1-2, but when it didn’t work, he fouled De Jong.
56:00 – Elia goes around Bornstein again. Nice stop and go move. US lucky to get away with just a corner when it caroms out of bounds. Again, Sneijder plays a nice ball, but Huntelaar can’t keep the header down.
57:00 – Bradley goes in hard and gets called for a foul even though he never touched De Jong. Don’t mind the call, though, in a friendly. You think Bradley knew it was De Jong on the ball? I think so.
58:00 – Beasley was in momentarily, as De Jong made a mistake, but was smart enough to fall to make it look like he was fouled at least. Not De Jong’s finest match, either. That could have been a break for the US, Beasley was only 20 yards from goal.
59:00 – And that’s the end of the night for De Jong. Rafael van der Vaart comes on for him. Good player, but different player.
60:00 – Sneijder is loose again, tries to slip a ball to van der Vaart, it actually falls to Huntelaar, but the carom goes to Howard.
62:00 – Huntelaar almost in again, but DeMerit deals with it this time.
63:00 – Alejandro Bedoya comes on for Findlay. Interesting. Haven’t seen him much, big chance for him.
64:00 – US looked like they were trying to play a high line, but Bocanegra stepped and DeMerit didn’t, keeping Huntelaar onside. Luckily, he beats Huntelaar and clears the danger.
65:00 – Best passage of the game for the US. Bedoya finds Bradley who roams forward, slips it to Beasley, who is able to cut it back, but Altidore was just a couple of steps late and could only put it into the side netting. Good stuff, though.
66:00 – Celtic’s Edson Braafheid comes on for van Bronckhorst as the Dutch look at some different players.
67:00 – Donovan has moved central, by the way, with Beasley wide left and Bedoya wide right. Not a bad move, IMHO.
68:00 – Spector has gotten forward a few times and it pays off as Donovan finds him. He gives a great cross, but no one gets it, and Dutch clear out for a corner. Bocanegra almost got that one, but Kuyt did a good job to clear. Better from the US.
70:00 – Bedoya fouls Sneijder. Doesn’t look as nervous as Torres earlier.
71:00 – DeMerit is off, Pearce on. On the way out, he tells Bradley, “it just tightened up a little bit”. So that seems like an injury sub. Meanwhile, Elia still running at the US defense, good cover from Edu stops the threat. Bornstein has moved central, Pearce wide right on defense.
72:00 – GOAL. 2-0 Holland. Sneijder given way too much time and space, eventually finds van der Vaart, who’s everywhere, too. He gives it to Huntelaar, whose shot hits Bornstein and caroms behind a wrong-footed Howard. Tough night for Bornstein, who is now out of position, but probably should have stepped up earlier. Still unlucky, though. Lucky for the suddenly in-form Huntelaar, though.
75:00 – Eddie Johnson on for Donovan. Makes sense, Donovan has played a lot, and wasn’t really into the match tonight anyway. Chance for Johnson, though, I think he needs to make this squad.
77:00 – Ibrahim Afellay, a crowd favorite from PSV, is on. He’s only 22, wish I could watch more Dutch league, but there’s only 24 hours in the day. If that changes, let me know.
78:00 – Good spell for the US. The ball made its way through for Johnson, who looked like he had a streaking Bedoya, but Johnson chose to play it back. Eventually, though, Altidore is fouled just outside the box.
79:00 – Looks like Bradley wants it, and he likes to power balls. And Bradley hits it right into the wall. Might have actually hit Altidore actually.
80:00 – Ryan Babel comes on for Kuyt. All I can say about that is: LOL. Poor Ryan Babel. He’ll be fine in La Liga or the Bundesliga soon somewhere.
82:00 – Good movement for the Dutch. Van der Vaart finds Elia and wants it back, but his cross is cut out. The ball eventually gets back to van der Vaart, whose tremendous curling 20 yard shot forces Howard to make his best save of the night. Ball bounces around the US box off the corner, but they finally clear.
83:00 – Beasley puts a good cross in, but Heitinga clears. We’re going end-to-end now.
84:00 – Sneijder – who will apparently go 90 minutes – and van der Vaart look head and shoulders above anyone else on the field. For either team. The Dutch can ride that pair, along with Robben, De Jong, Elia and a couple of others pretty far. I’m impressed tonight.
85:00 – Huntelaar clashes heads with Pearce. They both look OK, though.
86:00 – Clarence Goodson on for Bornstein. Tough, tough night for Bornstein. Goodson apparently ahead of Chad Marshall on the depth chart these days.
88:00 – US free kick bounces around the Dutch box, but finally dealt with.
GOAL. 2-1 Holland. On the ensuing free kick, Beasley puts in a nice ball and to say Carlos Bocanegra was unmarked would be generous to the Dutch defense. I mean there was no one within 5 yards of him. Stekelenburg came, but had no chance.
89:00 – Appeal for a penalty for the US and the whistle goes …. but it’s just outside the box. Nice 1-2 by Bedoya and Bradley caught the Dutch defense napping and Braafheid blocked off Bedoya and a free kick just outside the box.
90:00 – Beasley gets the ball around the wall, but Stekelenberg wasn’t cheating and makes a fairly easy save.
91:00 – US gets a corner, bounces around and Goodson gets a foot to it, but it goes over the net. A chance, though, and a good finish from the US. Unfortunately, they may run out of time.
92:00 – Good buildup, they find Spector all alone, but Spector gets caught in two minds and his cross goes way out of bounds with at least 6 US blue shirts in the box. His teammates aren’t happy with him and he’s not happy with himself, either.
93:00 – Bedoya running through almost gets on the end of a ball, it’s clearedand it looks like the chance had passed for Altidore, but somehow he finds room to unleash a blast from 25 yards than can only be pushed out by Stekelenburg.
94:00 – With everyone up, Holland gets a couple of chances to add to their lead, but they can’t quite put it together and the final whistle blows.
Final analysis -
Well, it was a good friendly against good competition for the US. I agree with Lalas twice in one day. Mark it down. He says that we must remember that a lot of subs were in the game when the US controlled play at the end.
At the same time, while Holland was better, the US wasn’t outclassed for most of the contest. They just simply had Wesley Sneijder and the US didn’t on this night.
I would say for the US:
Good – Bradley, DeMerit, Bocanegra, Beasley, Bedoya
OK – Altidore, Spector, Howard, Edu, Goodson
Poor – Donovan
Ugly – Bornstein, Findlay, Torres, Holden (because he was injured)
But if you add Dempsey, Onyewu, Cherundolo, and hopefully Davies to that squad, there’s good reason to think that they can do some damage in June.
So, if I had to sum up the US performance I would say:
Short answer – Not great, with a but
Long answer – Good, with a maybe
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