Donovan reaches landmark of 50 goals in blowout win Bedoya and Wondolowski get first international goals Subs Holden and Diskerud inspire second half performance
Landon Donovan celebrates his 50th international goal for the USA, during Friday night's game against Guatemala. His 5ast would follow shortly afterwards. Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP
Landon Donovan celebrates his 50th international goal for the USA, during Friday night's game against Guatemala. His 5ast would follow shortly afterwards. Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP
So what looked like it might be a typical 2012-vintage USA friendly performance (all cautious experimentation and ponderous movement) began to come to life just before half time and ignited in the second half.
Donovan will doubtless get the headlines and it's hard to say he doesn't deserve the credit after two goals, and just as crucially the tactical shift that opened up an obdurate Guatemala defense for the first goal.
But there were numerous intriguing subplots tonight, not least the half time introduction of Diskerud and Holden that utterly transformed the flow of the USA's approach play. The latter was in fine creative form and looks like a huge welcome bonus for Klinsmann, while Diskerud too looked like a proactive midfielder who wanted to seize his chance.
And speaking of seizing chances, Chris Wondolowski must have wondered how many more opportunities he'd get to break his international drought. He got his first US goal tonight (as did Bedoya) and that will do his confidence the world of good. And with lively cameos by Bruin and Shea, it looked as if some of the US players belatedly remembered that there is a lot at stake for them as individuals in the coming few weeks and there are no prizes for sleepwalking neatly through games.
A good night for the US in the end, and a 12th game without a victory for the Guatemalans since that World Cup heartbreak against the same opponents. They must be sick of the sight of the USA.Thanks for all your tweets and emails. Sorry I couldn't use them all. Hope you'll write in again during the Gold Cup run. See on Tuesday night for the kick off against Belize. Good night.
Holden's first time ball over the top is raced onto by Shea and his whipped in cross reaches the far side of the box where Bedoya is Carlos-Alberto-ing (ask your Brazilian uncle) in to slam a shot home for his first US goal.
So a nice night for San Jose Earthquakes fans, with Wondolowski and Goodson both getting goals. Though with the MLS season in full flow, the sight of their absent players doing well may be a bittersweet feeling.
Bruin gets a header on goal but Jerez gets down to it well.
Klinsmann still on his feet urging his side forward. Another corner.
Beasley sends in an outswinger that Goodson juggles to force a shot goalwards. It squirms clear off the man on the line, but Goodson is first to the loose ball and hammers a close range shot high into the roof of the net.
Guatemala have a free kick inside the US half and Marquez swings one in towards the penalty spot, but Goodson clears comfortably enough. Meanwhile congrats are in order...
Ten minutes to go and it's USA 4-0 Guatemala - which is the proverbial "result I would have taken before the game started" for most coaches. interesting to see what Klinsmann makes of this performance and whether it changes his selection for Tuesday.
Shea gets a little space on the left corner of the box but seems to get over-excited and spanks an intended cross high and wide.
The second half has fairly raced by, and not just because of the coffee I've been pouring down myself for the last hour. Diskerud and Holden have transformed this game.
Holden races forward and slips a lovely diagonal ball into the box where Bruin can't quite get his feet out from under himself to get a clear shot off.
Holden drifts to the right of the box and sends a beautiful deft chip towards the penalty spot, where Donovan meets it with the coolest of finishes for goal number 51. He's immediately subbed out for Bruin, but he's understandably all smiles as he leaves the field.
Donovan makes a surging run towards the D then his slipped pass deflects kindly for Wondolowski, who makes no mistake to slot the ball home for his first international goal. He's had a quiet season after last year's domestic heroics, but that will do him the world of good...
...Beasley's corner evades the leaps of his team mates but the US recover the long clearance and will start to build another attack.
As it turns out Santeliz forces the next chance for Guatemala after some nice trickery near the byline almost sets up a shooting chance. Wait a minute though...
Donovan deceives the defense with a low corner to the edge of the box, but Guatemala recover quickly enough to make sure Holden's shot is charged down. This is a much more enjoyable half of soccer from the US.
Beasley's driven corner is met with a Shea flick level with the near post, but nobody gets on the end of it.
Good approach play by Diskerud spreads the play to Shea, who dinks a nice little return cross that never quite falls for a clean shot for Diskerud, who has followed into the box.
Guatemala trying to take advantage of the changes to the US lineup but Rimando is first to claim a floated ball into the box and now the US attack again. Holden tries a spinning, lofted ball wide for Shea, but he can't keep the ball in.
Beasley overlaps with Shea a minute later and earns a corner...
The US looking a much faster proposition right now and obviously inspired by the goals they've scored either side of half time. Let's see how the rest of this one pans out.
Guatemala coming forward gamely but dispossessed on the edge of the box and now the US are pressing forward again. Big cheer going up round the stadium for the announcement of Donovan's historic 50th goal.
FIFTY GOALS! Donovan was flattened for a clear penalty by Castrillo as a cross came in, and he immediately seizes the ball to take the spot kick. He coolly chips it down the center as the keeper dives to his right and brings up the first half century of goals by a US player.
Diskerud tries a shot from distance that doesn't quite knuckle as he'd like, but he and Holden look to have picked up the pace in midfield. This is a good period for the USA, though they were just thwarted in what looked like an obvious corner call. Hang on...PENALTY!
Nice bit of improvisation from Gomez as he greets a ball over the top with a first time snap volley as it drops over his shoulder, forcing a save. He's fun to watch when he's on his game.
Gomez crowded out on the edge of the box and penalized for a foul as he tries to fight his way through.
Guatemala trying to resume their pressing game early on, but already the US midfield looking a little more lively with addition of Holden, who's trying to spray the ball wide quickly when he can. And now he has a low shot from distance that skims just past the post as Jerez dives towards it.
"It's a game of patience" says Klinsmann, just before the second half gets under way. Diskerud and Holden in for Beckerman and Torres for the start of the second half...
Kyle Martinez is talking about Jozy Altidore's imminent move to Sunderland.
Easy now, Kyle... (veteran bruised and defensive Mackem MBM-er prepares to go all prickly at suggestion Altidore might not be advised to go to 17th place Premier league team managed by apparent madman)
The kind assessment (see FRIENDLY WATCH) is to say that Corona's run was a dummy inspired by Dempsey's near post dart that allowed Altidore to score at the back post against Panama, during last month's World Cup qualifier.
A few times during US friendlies over the past couple of years the kindest adjective I could reach for was "dutiful" — and it seems fairly apt tonight. The US weren't terrible in possession for long periods, just uninspired and conservative. Players looked more concerned with not dropping the day rather than seizing it and the midfield in particular looked like a Ray Wilkins convention (ask your English uncle...) as players made short lateral or backward passes at nearly every moment.
The game changed when Donovan moved inside and forward alongside Gomez and it was encouraging to see that proactive move on the part of the US. Guatemala suddenly looked stretched and the USA duly scored through Gomez.
Not that we'll see the same group of players building on that progress in the second half. Substitutions will be inevitable. Holden, for example, is warming up as we speak.
Gomez hits the free kick high and wide and we drift into the minute of added on time at the end of the half, just as Donovan gets forward down the right and tries to whip in a cross for the head of Gomez. Contreras cuts it out, but the Galaxy man is beginning to pull strings for the US as we approach half time.
Guatemala trying to respond and Castrillo sends a deep cross in that just evades everyone in the box.
At the other end the US are looking sharper and faster and Donovan and Castillo look to have opened up the defense again only for the latter to get nastily clattered some 25 yards out (FRIENDLY WATCH: BOO!). Dangerous free kick position. Castillo back up on his feet after a brief wincing rest. What can the US do with this free kick?
Donovan's shift to the center from those tight pockets on the right, is beginning to bear dividends for the US as they're looking faster and pulling the Guatemalan defense around. Suddenly Torres flicks a delicate ball to the back post and Gomez is there to hammer home and open the scoring.
Great chance for Donovan as he gets to the near post to meet a neat cross from Beasley with a delicate flick that goes just wide of the far post with Jerez stranded. Good work by Beckerman in drawing defenders in the build up too. Best move of the game for the US.
Still USA 0-0 Guatemala but that was very close to goal number 50 for Donovan.
Corona tries a long raking diagonal ball towards Donovan, who appears to have joined Gomez up front in more of a 4-4-2. The ball is cut out, but ambition-wise it beats 15 yard sideways passes - the mode of the day for the US.
Guatemala enjoying a little spell of possession of their own now. The US have dominated possession so far, but mostly in pretty harmless areas of the field.
Now they try to step forward, urged on by a screaming Klinsmann on the sidelines, frustrated at the slow tempo.
The game is living up to its billing as a test for the US in breaking down teams, but there's been an added dimension of Guatemala showing some ambition of their own in flashes. A Marquez shot from distance won't trouble Rimando though.
...Donovan curls a delicate outswinger that's just behind Beckerman, forcing him to arch back for his flicked on header, which floats past the far post. You suspect that set pieces is where the US could do damage tonight, with their clear height advantage. StillUSA 0-0 Guatemala for now though.
Half hour up and the US still playing a rather ponderous possession game. Beckerman tries to switch it up with a chip over the top for Donovan and it's only cleared as far as Corona on the right and he draws a foul near the right corner of the box for a dangerous free kick...
Donovan finds a pocket of space down the right, but his neat ball inside just finds Corona in traffic and he's crowded out. Guatemala handling the US supporting players pretty comfortably so far.
At the other end, Rimando and Goodson have a bit of a mix up as the keeper races clear of the box and gets slightly lucky to get a foul decision off Lopez's challenge as the ball squirts free.
Parkhurst makes a slightly dicey defensive header across his own goal to meet a whipped in free kick with Santeliz lurking behind him. Brave/foolhardy when facing goal, but it worked out.
US press forward and inch their way up the field with patient if uninspiring passing triangles.
Goodson meets a deep Torres corner and forces a save from Jerez with a powerful header. The keeper can only parry and Beckerman almost pounces on the loose ball, but Jerez recovers and it's still USA 0-0 Guatemala
Gomez has not had much of a look in so far, but he pops up to challenge Jerez for an aerial through ball there, only to be adjudged to have fouled the Guatemalan keeper.
Now he scampers clear down the right and sends in a dangerous cross after a decent Beckerman through ball. It's headed clear for a corner...
Nice Guatemala move ends in a kindly bounce presenting Lopez with a great chance at the edge of the six yard box, but just as he's about to pull the trigger Parkhurst makes an inelegant but effective intervention to clear the ball.
The US go up the other end and Beasley tries to overlap again and pulls the ball back to noone in particular.
FRIENDLY WATCH: Beasley falls over in aftermath and is helped nicely to his feet by his marker.
Beasley and Castillo combine nicely down the left and just when the ball is overrun they force a touch off the last man to give the US a corner that Jerez spills. It's hoofed clear, but that's a little more promising for the US.
Lopez and Contreras almost combine on a break, but the ball won't quite fall for them and the US push back up field, as they've been inexorably doing over the last few minutes. Guatemala still pressing when they can though and you suspect space might be available if the US can get the ball moving forward.
Donovan tries to play a give and go with Corona but the pass is overhit as Donovan tries to race free round the outside. Donovan wants a free kick for his run being checked. But nothing doing. First meaningful glimpse of him.
USA probing a little around the edge of the box and a rather crude Trujillo tackle on Torres gives them a dangerous free kick on the left corner of the box...
The US slowly feeling their way into this game, though they're understandably going to be a little slow on anticipating each others' movement considering the unfamiliar line up. Still USA 0-0 Guatemala after ten minutes.
US get a little bit of an attack going but Gomez can't get near a throw near the byline as Castrillo covers neatly.
Now Guatemala work a neat attack and spring the US backline on the edge of the box to allow Lopez to shoot wide from a narrow angle under pressure from Beckerman.
USA try to move the ball around a little in the middle but Guatemala smother Gomez when they try to move the ball forward. They try to break with the ball but Beckerman knocks Lopez over. So much for peace and love...
Guatemala pressing the ball well so far. US playing in their own half for the most part.
Contreras tries to flick on a nice pass inside from Santeliz, but it runs safely through to Rimando. Guatemala settling well early, though neither side has yet truly stretched the other.
Now Contreras is just offside racing onto a ball over the top.
Corona tries to chase down a loose ball to force a corner but the ball had gone out before he clattered it off a defender. Long ball out from the back sees Guatemala try a foray down the right, but Lopez's shot flies harmlessly over.
Rousing rendition of US anthem and we'll be off in a minute. Guatemala coach Victor Hugo Monzon looking grim-faced on the sidelines - every inch the method-acting defender. Klinsmann looking relaxed as he makes his way to dugout.
I prefer to believe the two teams will wreathe each other in garlands of flowers and take time out to discover each other's cultures in the spirit of what is after all, a friendly game.
As I type that, the teams walk onto the field holding the hands of starry-eyed mascots. That's the spirit.
And then the Guatemalan anthem is announced to the sound of boos. Oh well. Fair play to the stadium sound technician though — sounds like he/she just turned up the volume in response...
As one of our regular Guardian MLS writers, Richard Farley, noted over at NBC Sports this week, the man that Klinsmann selected as his captain for the Gold Cup has had a storied career by current US international standards and probably deserved better than having the news of his captaincy reported less as an honor for him and more of a slight to Landon Donovan. Donovan of course, is famously in this squad on something like a probationary basis after his extended break at the end of last season and has just been interviewed by NBC live from the field as the main point of interest of the game.
Beasley has done well in forcing his way back into the starting line up in recent games and has been relentlessly competitive in the Hexagonal qualifiers, and it was a nice moment seeing him get his 100th cap. He did give the impression of operating pretty near capacity in those games though and there may be a question mark of how much more he has left to give at the highest level, with Brazil in mind, but for all his quality there’s a question mark over Landon Donovan too. He hasn’t quite set MLS on fire since returning — what looked to be a breakout game against Philadelphia in May turned out to be something of a false dawn and these next few games are no formality for the former captain.
This is the USA’s first game in San Diego since 2006. That is all.
Actually it will be interesting to reflect on how the San Diego experience works for the US Soccer tonight. Always one of those cities that seems to be bubble up whenever possible MLS expansion is discussed (or when the trials and tribulations of Chivas USA are doing the weekly rounds...)
So we’ll be seeing a lot of hustling from Gomez up front, with the trio of Corona, Donovan and Castillo charged with creating the kind of movement that might open Guatemala up. Beckerman’s in the base of the midfield as expected, alongside Torres. And that’s a pretty experienced looking USA backline, with Rimando joining Beckerman as the Real Salt Lake reps on the field. They’re not the dominant club side in the US line up though - that honor belongs to Tijuana. The Xolos have Corona, castillo and Gomez starting.
Guatemala digging in with a 4-5-1 and hoping perhaps that Contreras can chip in with a goal from midfield, as he’s done on occasion in their recent run.
Hope that Guatemala line up is accurate by the way. There are about a gazillion retweets of the US lineup, but I've just taken the Guatemala line up from a rather shaky phone picture of a printed line up. It looked vaguely 21st century though, and should be current.
If it's delayed gratification you want, you're in the right place. The winner of this edition of the bi-annual tournament will play the winner of the 2015 tournament for the right to compete in the 2017 Confederations Cup (by which stage I expect to have grown out of soccer and be writing long complicated treatises on entropy).
If that’s not enough of a lure for the more impatient among you, there’s the always simmering Mexico-USA rivalry which often seems to come nicely to a boil in this competition. Mexico have six Gold Cups to the USA’s four, but the ascendancy has shifted back and forth between the two in recent years, and the Gold Cup is often a bellwether moment in the rivalry.
In 2011 the US raced into a 2-0 lead early in the final against Mexico only for El Tri to come storming back to win 4-2. Here are the highlights, replete with cheerful Spanish commentary (rather like the trophy presentation that year)
Guatemala came into Sporting Park last fall on a three game winning streak and promptly took an early lead when Carlos Ruiz raced clear to round Tim Howard and stun the US. That was as good as it got for the Guatemalans though, as the US quickly rallied to score three and dump Guatemala out of the semi-final round of World Cup qualifying. Since then all-time goalscoring leader Ruiz has left the international scene (I saw him last week strolling around exurban Maryland as part of the DC United Open Cup squad) and the Guatemalan side cannot buy a win — going 0-6-5 in 11 games that included an uninspiring Copa Centroamericana tilt and a 4-0 home battering in their last game, which to be fair, did come against Argentina. They’ve also only scored five goals in that run. And speaking of runs, Los Chapines haven’t beaten the USA since 1988.
Still be fun though.
And as a side who are on the back foot, Guatemala will perhaps be a pretty good preview for the US of what they can expect in the group stages of the Gold Cup. Anyway, here’s their squad for tonight:
GOALKEEPERS: Ricardo Jerez (Alianza Petrolera), Manuel Ayala (Malacateco)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Gallardo (Marquense), Carlos Castrillo (Comunicaciones), Elías Vásquez (Comunicaciones), Victor Hernández (Heredia), Jhony Girón (Xelajú), Milton Leal (Xelajú), Luis Cardon (Malacateco)
MIDFIELDERS: José Manuel Contreras (Comunicaciones), Jonathan López (Marquense), Jean Márquez (Comunicaciones), Sergio Trujillo (Municipal), Nelson Miranda (Heredia), Ángelo Padilla (Puntarenas), Wilber Pérez (Suchitepéquez), Marlon Sequen (Municipal)
FORWARDS: Minor López (Deportivo Marquense), Kevin Arriola (Xelajú), Edward Santeliz
We certainly are in the traditional final warm up game slot that usually leads to doom-and-gloom editorials about the team's chances etc. And this is not a side who've played together for any stretch of time. But I remain optimistic about the prospects for a decent game, if not fully awake myself.
So here’s the USA squad for tonight and the Gold Cup:
GOALKEEPERS: Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
DEFENDERS: Edgar Castillo (Tijuana), Corey Ashe (Houston Dynamo), Michael Orozco Fiscal (Puebla), Oguchi Onyewu (Málaga), DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes)
MIDFIELDERS: Joe Corona (Tijuana), Mikkel Diskerud (Rosenborg), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), José Francisco Torres (UANL), Alejandro Bedoya (Helsingborg)
FORWARDS: Herculez Gomez (Tijuana), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Will Bruin (Houston Dynamo), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Aside from those individual storylines — to which we might want to add the intrigue of whether Jack McInerney has timed his run into senior contention perfectly — looking at that overall squad what’s striking is the absence of defensive midfielders, other than Beckerman. Time was, early in Klinsmann’s reign, when he’d adorn the US half with defensive midfielders like so many evil eye charms. That’s gradually settled down as the balance of the first choice team has become established, but looking at this squad of “possibles” rather than “probables” it suggests the US team for the tournament may be pretty aggressively set up.
Welcome to the one and only warm up game for the USA’s not-at-all-second-choice squad before they start their Gold Cup campaign next week. Guatemala are the opposition at Qualcomm Field tonight and as such have been subjected to the traditional Concacaf-style road welcome by being bombarded with batteries and earsplitting music outside their hotel asked if they’d like an alarm call and having a copy if USA Today shoved under their door. And definitely not by mentioning their rotten form since being knocked out of the World Cup running by the USA last October.
Looking through the USA squad there are a fair few players who should reasonably fancy their chances of making a likely Brazil squad next year, as depth options, and a handful who will see themselves as likely starters in that squad should everything go to plan between now and then. Of those, the most obvious is Landon Donovan, but the continued revival of Stuart Holden should hopefully be one of the big lnarratives of the next few weeks — and spare a thought for Donovan’s captain DaMarcus Beasley, who recently reached his 100th cap in a stint at left back for crucial qualifiers, and is one of the few crossover players from that squad to this one.
All that intrigue will begin to develop in the next couple of hours and simmer nicely through to Tuesday’s opener against Belize. What that means in terms of entertainment tonight we can only guess at. A wild 7-6 game with Donovan and Beasley yelling “THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!” Highlander-stye (with swords) at each other at a climactic set piece? Or a scoreless morass of substitutes and disjointed play intercut with occasional shots of Tony Beltran on the bench tweeting, described by a hapless East Coast hack up way past his bed time?
I know where my money’s at. Buckle your seatbelts and get your tweeting thumbs going to @KidWeil about your expectations for tonight and the coming tournament, or email graham.parker.freelance@guardiannews.com with the long form version of the same, and I’ll be back shortly with some more team news and build up. In the meantime you can read my take on the squad announcement and watch what happened the last time these two met:
