Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey scored in the second half to give the USA a 2-1 win Saturday in its friendly against Turkey in Philadelphia. Below is what Paul Kennedy of Soccer America had liked and didn't like from the team's World Cup tune-up.
We liked ... -- Halftime subs Robbie Findley and Jose Francisco Torres, who played very well. Findley had his best game for the USA and helped set up the first goal. Torres was excellent in midfield.
-- The finishing of Dempsey, who took a half-chance and scored the winning goal. It's same kind of efficiency Dempsey showed last summer at the Confederations Cup.
-- How the game gave the USA a chance to deal with two situations -- it came from behind to take the lead and held it.
We didn't like ...
-- The lack of spark the USA showed in the first half when it failed to take the game to the Turks. Surprising, given the pro-U.S. crowd of more than 55,000 encouraging the Americans on.
-- Its continued propensity to give away easy goals and its failure to shut the Turks down after it took the lead. Poor defending contributed to all five goals in the send-off series.
-- How after both sat out Tuesday's game against the Czech Republic, Ricardo Clark and Benny Feilhaber lacked bite in midfield. They both came off at the half.
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