By Daniel Kelley
(ONELOVE U.S. Correspondent)
Bob Bradley decided to make a bold move and field a team for tonight’s friendly composed of fringe players on the outside looking in. While the starters were resting in a luxury box, ESPN hilariously kept showing Carlos Bocanegra annihilating buffalo wings, many of those players vying for a spot on the 23 man team played their way onto to the team, and some played their way off.
In the first half we saw Oguchi Onyewu play his first game of competitive action since October and it was far from impressive. He was clearly at fault on the first Czech goal, and looked sort of afraid to push himself and win those all-important aerial battles. After Gooch’s performance I’m not so sure he is fit enough to even make the squad. Fortunately for him he probably will make the team, at the expense of Chad Marshall of course.
Gooch’s defensive partner Clarence Goodson had a fantastic game and was involved in both of the USA goals. His passing needs some work, but he had a real good presence in the air and played with a lot of confidence.
Speaking of confidence, or lack there of I should say, the play of both Jonathan Bornstein and Heath Pearce left me not feeling good about our left back situation. Bornstein had the pace to keep up with the Czech’s but his passing was embarrassing. Failed cross after failed cross in the 45 minutes that he played. The only good thing going for Bornstein is that Pearce managed to play even worse than he did. Pearce got burned pretty badly on a few occasions and pretty much played his way off the team tonight.
In the midfield battle Jose Francisco Torres, Stuart Holden, Maurice Edu, and even DaMarcus Beasley had a good first half. Torres played with finesse and passed the ball around pretty well. He needs to add some physical play to his game to compliment his great touch and passing skills. The Rangers duo of Edu and Beasley had good games on the night. Edu scored one of the sloppier goals I’ve had the pleasure of seeing and Beasley looked lively in his 45 minutes, almost reminded me of 2002 world cup Beasley. The midfield in the first half essentially booked their tickets to South Africa tonight.
Tonight we finally got to see how the forward situation would play out. In the first half Edson Buddle and Eddie Johnson got the start. Buddle huffed and puffed for 45 minutes and did all he could. He played hard, held the ball up well and even got himself involved in the first goal. Eddie Johnson did he what EJ does best, he held the ball up too long and never looked like he was going to score the whole game. Johnson played his way off the team tonight with his dismal performance. For Buddle his performance was just not enough because both second half strikers just played better.
Brian Ching came in and made a huge difference. He passed well and held up the ball, he looked dangerous. Herculez! Herculez! Where do I begin with this guy? No one ever would have guessed he would even be in the running for World Cup and yet here he is. He came off the bench and did what surely no one thought he would do. He scored a goal! I can no longer hide my bias for this guy, his story is truly inspirational and barring some sort of freak error in judgment from Bradley he will make the 23 man roster. Herculez Gomez, USA super sub!
The second half midfield left little to be desired. Sacha Kljestan was pretty much anonymous, and Alejandro Bedoya did more defending and backtracking then he really needed to being do. Robbie Rogers had a pretty decent game and made the most of his chance tonight. He held the ball a little too long at times when he probably should have passed, but he had some nice crosses and one nice shot from way out on Peter Cech.
This game was experiment to give the fringe players their chance at showing their worth. I would say it was good exercise and should give Bradley an idea of who should really make this team. Next up we get to see the starters in full action against Turkey. Hopefully the starters didn’t eat as many buffalo wings as Bocanegra did.
Player Ratings:
Based on a scale of 1-10
(G) Brad Guzan-5- Not really at fault for any of the goals, but having 4 goals scored against you is never good. Would have liked to have seen Hahnemann play instead
(D) Steve Cherundolo-7- One of the few bright spots for the back four tonight. Passed well, attacked well, and defended pretty well too
(D) Oguchi Onyewu-3.5- Gooch did not look like Gooch tonight. He looked like he was afraid to jump and made some silly fouls. Someone needs to remind him that he needs to actually jump to win an aerial battle. Was 100% to blame on the first Czech goal.
(D) Jonathan Bornstein-3- Looked shaky and unsure of himself. Luckily for him Heath Pearce managed to play even worse than he did.
(D) Clarence Goodson-6.5- A pleasantly surprising performance from Goodson. Was good in the air and had a hand in both goals, his header to keep the ball in play for Gomez’s goal was sublime.
(M) DaMarcus Beasley-7- Beasley is making his horrid performances in the last summers Confederations Cup easier to forget with his recent play for the national team. He looked good tonight.
(M) Jose Francisco Torres-7.5- Looked really good tonight, distributed the ball well and had some killer touches. Needs to be better physically.
(M) Stuart Holden-8- Whatever rust he had from his injury is gone. Looked really good on the wing tonight.
(M) Maurice Edu-6- Had a typical Edu sloppy goal, much like the ones he scores for Rangers in Scotland. His passing left little to be desired, and he looked awful as a centerback in the second half.
(F) Edson Buddle-5- worked hard and did his best, but probably not enough to get to South Africa
(F) Eddie Johnson-3- EJ was ineffective and had his back to the goal for the whole time he played. Never looked dangerous and never looked like he want to score.
Substitutes
(F) Herculez Gomez-6.5- Wow. Did Gomez really just do what I think he did? Yup. Came off the bench and scored a goal, see you in South Africa buddy.
(F) Brian Ching-6- Nice performance from the flying Hawaiian, looked really confident tonight. Played smart and held up the ball really well, sealed his spot on the roster tonight.
(M) Sacha Kljestan-4.5- Disappeared in the midfield tonight. Was supposed to be an attacking/creative catalyst in the midfield but decided to run around aimlessly instead. Probably on a plane back to Chivas USA tomorrow.
(M) Robbie Rogers-5.5- Had a pretty good performance tonight, probably going to make the team at the expense of Bedoya.
(M) Alejandro Bedoya-5- Didn’t get much of a look tonight which was very unfortunate for him. Bedoya is a player with a lot of potential, but wasn’t able to do much with the limited time he had on the pitch. Not going to make the final 23.
(D) Heath Pearce-2.5- Has had a revival in form playing for FC Dallas, unfortunately for him his strong play in MLS did not carry over onto the international level. Looked out of place tonight and played terribly, played his way off the team.
