by Craig Hutcheson

The US National Team needed a good performance from their last game on home soil before flying out to South Africa for World Cup 2010.

It’s important from a confidence perspective to gain some belief in yourself as a player and just as importantly, your teammates. Today’s game against Turkey was never going to be easy, but a tough competitor is just what times like these demand to really prove where you are as a team.

click here for ticket info!

Things didn’t look good at the beginning. Turkey took control of the game and made the US look very sloppy in the opening minutes. This was somewhat understandable because this starting XI has not played together in months.

Questions can be raised about Bob Bradley’s continual inclusion of Benny Feilhaber in his best XI. Benny never seems tough enough to handle central midfield duties but today he started out on the left side of midfield. Would Stuart Holden have been a better choice?

The answers came soon enough as Feilhaber consistently gave the ball away without much pressure and never provided the width needed from the position. He was a big part of why it took the US 22 minutes just to find their footing in this game after repelling wave after wave of Turkish attacks.

Turkey seemingly could do no wrong, playing a short passing game through and around US players like they were standing still. Quite frankly, the US looked simply overmatched. This had the appearances of being a very long afternoon for the Stars and Stripes.

But around the 22nd minute the Americans began to gel and the team was getting more possession of the ball. Early on, the defenders were just whacking it downfield when playing through the midfield would have been a better option.

Turkey would just collect the ball and build another attack, time and time again. But as time wore on you could see the US starting to gain some belief a get a foothold in the game. Jonathan Spector won a ball in defense and instead of just booting it, he made nice run, dribbling about 40 yards upfield before the ball was tackled away by Turkey.

After Turkey won the ball, you could see if they could find Arda Turan wide open on the left, the US would be in trouble. After Spector made his run he showed little urgency in getting back to defend his position and with no one covering for him, Turan had nothing but green grass in front of him.

A good ball out of defense did find Turan, and away he went towards the US goal with Spector trudging up from behind trying to catch him. Jay DeMerit also tried to close down the run from his position in the middle of the field. Neither US player could get there in time and as US goalkeeper Tim Howard came out, Turan slotted it home calmly underneath him. 1-0 Turkey.

Both sides created chances before the end of the first half but it was obvious the Americans needed to make player changes in order to get a look at new players before the World Cup and to try to turn this game around.

Coach Bob Bradley responded, ringing in four substitutes after the halftime break. Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jose’ Torres and Robbie Findley replaced Clarence Goodson, Spector, Ricardo Clark and Feilhaber respectively.

We’ve been hard on Robbie Findley here in the Supporters Group, but this time he would be playing out wide on the left side of midfield as opposed to his customary position as forward. The US took control of the second half early and you could see the additions of Torres and Findley in particular were paying off.

Whereas the team had been mostly dominated in midfield in the first half, Torres’ skill and confidence were paying dividends by winning possession, getting into open spaces and playing a controlled passing game.

Pace is Findley’s game (with not much else, some might say) and he immediately started to trouble the Turks down the left flank, opening up things in the middle of the pitch. The width that seemed so foreign to the team in first half was now there in abundance.

In the 59th minute, Findley worked his way over to the middle of the field and played a good first touch as he saw Landon Donovan make a run just to his left. Robbie’s deft pass chipped the Turkish defender for Donovan to run onto, where Landon’s excellent first touch took him around the onrushing goalkeeper.

Landon then squared the ball across for a wide-open Jozy Altidore to finish. With nothing but net gaping in front of him, Jozy calmly side-footed the ball in for a 1-1 score. The US’s dominance in the first 15 minutes of the second half had paid off with a well earned goal.

The game continued to go the US’s way and they continually put pressure on Turkey, with Torres and Findley playing the roles of shining stars.

In the 75th minute, that pressure would pay off once again. After a US throw in, Donovan would once again turn provider. He found Clint Dempsey, who had been quiet for much of the game, to his left and clipped a ball over which Clint controlled with his right hip, bringing it down and through the first Turkish defender.

As the Turk’s ‘keeper came out to close down the angle, Dempsey deflected the shot off of him before following through and sending it underneath the ‘keeper and into the back of the night. It was a true fighter’s goal, with Dempsey battling his way through to make sure he would score, no matter what.

Clint set off the celebrations and the already raucous Philadelphia crowd of over 55,000 exploded. Dempsey even added a cool little dance move at the end, seemingly a tribute to injured teammate Charlie Davies.

Dempsey and Torres, the team’s Texas two-steppers, came close to adding a third goal, which would have put an exclamation point on this well earned American victory.

The USA got what they came in looking for out of this game: the appearances and evaluations of several players, the building of a cohesive unit as the team heads towards its June 12 opening game against England, and a victory.

A standing ovation should go to the crowd in Philadelphia. Time after time you could hear great songs and chants coming through the TV speakers, something not often experienced at American soccer games with such volume.

The team will fly out to South Africa tomorrow and play it’s last warm up game against Australia next Saturday morning in Roodepoort at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

About the Author: Craig Hutcheson is a lifelong player who lives and coaches out of Sparta, NJ. He also runs a growing community for USMNT supporters – click here to become a fan!