US Soccer team off to a good start for the CONCACAF tournament in the USA (6/07)
The USA Soccer Team opened the CONCACAF 2007 tournament with a tough 1-0 victory over Guatemala. Clint Dempsey, who was voted USA player of the year in 2006, scored in the 26th minute on a great touch pass from Taylor Twellman and beautiful rush by Demarcus Beasley. Beasley made a great move to also record an assist on the play before giving it to Twellman who fed Dempsey for the game’s only goal. Tim Howard played very well in goal but the defense was the key. They kept ex- Galaxy player and physical forward Carlos Ruiz intact especially playing one man down for the last 20 minutes or so. Big defender Oguchi Onyewu received his second yellow card of the match in the 73rd minute. The first yellow card was absurd as the Guatemalan player took a dive. Onyewu is automatically out for the next game for getting two yellow cards. Coach Bob Bradley had his “A” team out there on June 7th for the opening match.
The second match was on June 9th and pitted Trinidad and Tobago vs. the USA team. Bradley decided to switch things up and had basically his whole second team playing with the exception of Benny Feilhaber, the only player to start the first two games. The first half was close with the Brian Ching netting the loan goal with a fantastic move and assist by unheralded Justin Mapp. Mapp started on the left side and proved his worth dribbling quite a few times around the defense to set up shots. I thought he was the player of the game as he controlled the ball and made some great passes. Landon Donovan came in to start the second half and took a pass and sprinted past the Trinidad and Tobago defenders to come in along against the goalie. He then slithered a perfect pass to Eddie Johnson who tapped it into the empty goal after the goalie came out to challenge Donovan. Kasey Keller started in goal for the US and made some spectacular saves to preserve the game and shutout.
Next up is the third game in their division vs. El Salvador on June 12th. The US is in first place and have clinched a birth to the next round as the quarterfinals are on June 17th and 18th. The first two teams in each of the 3 divisions advance with the two top third place finishers. The USA is favored to win this North America/Central America/Caribbean tournament that transpires every two years. Mexico is probably the second favorite but they have not yet secured a birth going into their third game today as well. For more information on this tournament, visit www.ussoccer.com and click on the Gold Cup Photo/Link.