Outstanding goalkeeping by Tim Howard, coupled with Clint Dempsey's goal just before halftime, led the Americans to a 1-1 draw with heavily favored England in Group C play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
After England took the early lead, the Americans scored their equalizer towards the end of the first half. Tight defending, led by Howard's play, preserved the scoreline for the US in the second half, earning a point in Group C action.
Christopher Anderson of Yanks Abroad gave a detailed account of the action.
The US found themselves in a hole within four minutes after Steven Gerrard capitalized on a gap in the American defense. At the top of the box Emile Heskey forwarded ahead to Gerrard slicing into the box ahead of a wayward Ricardo Clark and with ample space ahead of him, the Liverpool man coolly slotted home to the right of Howard for the early lead.
Disaster nearly struck in the 29th minute cross from Lennon in from the right that Howard got a hand on, but took a Heskey foot to his left arm. Although visibly shaken, the Everton keeper remained in the game.
"It's a scary thing. They're both going for the ball," Bocanegra later admitted. "Heskey lays out and Timmy lays out. Thank God he was able to continue."
After the restart Altidore tried to spark the offense, testing Green with a dribbling strike from 25 yards out before Phillips followed up with his first attempt in the 38th minute, an individual strike that flew wide right.
A minute later Donovan continued to apply pressure with an effort that did not miss the left post by much.
The tide turned for the Americans in the 40th minute when the unimaginable happened. On an improbable attempt, Clint Dempsey did well to elude Gerrard twice in the midfield and deliver a left-footed strike from 25 yards out. On what should have been a routine scoop, Green did not get a full hand on the ball and saw it dribble past him into his net for the equalizer.
"It's never nice to see that," Howard admitted about his crossfield counterpart. "Coming into the tournament I knew there was going to be some crazy goals with that ball."
England missed a golden opportunity to retake the lead in the 52nd minute when Heskey found himself with a one-on-one situation with Howard, but aimed straight at the Everton netminder.
"He comes up with big plays in the game," Bocanegra pointed out of his keeper. "He's a huge part of this."
Back down the field, Altidore skinned Carragher alive and attempted to near-post Green, but the keeper was just able to deflect the shot off of the post.
Following a Rooney strike that missed inches right of the net, Howard was tested again a minute later with a Wright-Phillips strike in the box on the left side, but the 31-year old swatted away to safety.
"Howard came up with some big saves for us," Dempsey told YA after the match. "We're lucky to have a keeper of his quality on our side."
Bocanegra gave credit to the team's performance and discredited the result to purely Green's gaffe. "It was obviously a mistake from the keeper, but we fought our way back into this game. That's what this team's all about. We fight for every inch of playing field out there."
The US was also bolstered by the play of the back line and its successful containment of Rooney.
"It was a good team effort defensively," said Bradley of his squad's ability to limit the Manchester United striker. "Rooney is such a mobile player, the way he moves around takes a good level of concentration. I thought in the first half there were still some times when our back line was a little bit out of synch, but I thought that got better in the second half."
"To go one goal down to England and fight ourselves back into the game," Dempsey added, "And end with a draw and a point, we'll be happy with that."
After England took the early lead, the Americans scored their equalizer towards the end of the first half. Tight defending, led by Howard's play, preserved the scoreline for the US in the second half, earning a point in Group C action.
Christopher Anderson of Yanks Abroad gave a detailed account of the action.
The US found themselves in a hole within four minutes after Steven Gerrard capitalized on a gap in the American defense. At the top of the box Emile Heskey forwarded ahead to Gerrard slicing into the box ahead of a wayward Ricardo Clark and with ample space ahead of him, the Liverpool man coolly slotted home to the right of Howard for the early lead.
Disaster nearly struck in the 29th minute cross from Lennon in from the right that Howard got a hand on, but took a Heskey foot to his left arm. Although visibly shaken, the Everton keeper remained in the game.
"It's a scary thing. They're both going for the ball," Bocanegra later admitted. "Heskey lays out and Timmy lays out. Thank God he was able to continue."
After the restart Altidore tried to spark the offense, testing Green with a dribbling strike from 25 yards out before Phillips followed up with his first attempt in the 38th minute, an individual strike that flew wide right.
A minute later Donovan continued to apply pressure with an effort that did not miss the left post by much.
The tide turned for the Americans in the 40th minute when the unimaginable happened. On an improbable attempt, Clint Dempsey did well to elude Gerrard twice in the midfield and deliver a left-footed strike from 25 yards out. On what should have been a routine scoop, Green did not get a full hand on the ball and saw it dribble past him into his net for the equalizer.
"It's never nice to see that," Howard admitted about his crossfield counterpart. "Coming into the tournament I knew there was going to be some crazy goals with that ball."
England missed a golden opportunity to retake the lead in the 52nd minute when Heskey found himself with a one-on-one situation with Howard, but aimed straight at the Everton netminder.
"He comes up with big plays in the game," Bocanegra pointed out of his keeper. "He's a huge part of this."
Back down the field, Altidore skinned Carragher alive and attempted to near-post Green, but the keeper was just able to deflect the shot off of the post.
Following a Rooney strike that missed inches right of the net, Howard was tested again a minute later with a Wright-Phillips strike in the box on the left side, but the 31-year old swatted away to safety.
"Howard came up with some big saves for us," Dempsey told YA after the match. "We're lucky to have a keeper of his quality on our side."
Bocanegra gave credit to the team's performance and discredited the result to purely Green's gaffe. "It was obviously a mistake from the keeper, but we fought our way back into this game. That's what this team's all about. We fight for every inch of playing field out there."
The US was also bolstered by the play of the back line and its successful containment of Rooney.
"It was a good team effort defensively," said Bradley of his squad's ability to limit the Manchester United striker. "Rooney is such a mobile player, the way he moves around takes a good level of concentration. I thought in the first half there were still some times when our back line was a little bit out of synch, but I thought that got better in the second half."
"To go one goal down to England and fight ourselves back into the game," Dempsey added, "And end with a draw and a point, we'll be happy with that."
No comments:
Post a Comment