The US defense was up to the task to deal with England, and Bob Bradley's gameplan was up the task.
It was the Americans' ability to stand toe-to-toe with the English in that high-intensity cauldron that was key to the result. I cringed last week during the pre-game news conference when Carlos Bocanegra answered a British journalist's question about the U.S. national team's qualities like this:
"I think we traditionally have had a team that is physical, athletic -- our fitness level is quite high."
Nothing about skill or technique or creativity. It seemed to confirm every stereotype the English had about the U.S. -- a collection of rough-and-tumble athletes who mask their severe technical deficiencies with brute force. It ignored the obvious strides the U.S. has made in that department, many of which were evident last summer in the Confederations Cup and as recently as the friendly against Turkey in Philadelphia.
But Bocanegra was on to something. He was assuming that he and his teammates were soccer players, and he added in a key component (or a warning) -- that they had the physical ability and fortitude to stand against the English, who play soccer at a pace matched by few teams in the world.
The defensive effort put forth by the U.S. is worth reviewing as the team prepares for Friday's game against Slovenia, which Bradley said would be "more of a chess match." From attacking players like Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, who were willing to selflessly run the flanks tracking England's dangerous outside backs, to central midfielder Michael Bradley, who set aside his inclination to go forward to help defend on crosses, to the courageous back four, who grew stronger as the game wore on and dove in to make play after play, the U.S. was a study in physical and mental commitment in Rustenburg.
England is a very good team. Good enough to dictate the pace of the game. But the U.S. matched them, and the final score said as much.
"Defensively, in these kind of games, there's two sides," Bradley told FanHouse. "There's the side of organization and doing things with a good understanding, and that gets put to the test because the game moves at a fast speed. So you can look very good sometimes in terms of how coordinated you are as a team defensively, but when the game goes faster and when there's players on the other team that are capable of making more out of really a slight advantage, then that puts you to the test.
"On that side of things, we mentioned after the game, there were some moments when the coordination of the team defensively wasn't as good as we still think it can be. But that happens even for the best teams in the most difficult games, and then what comes next is just pure commitment to make a play. I think on that end [against England], all around the field, the efforts of the team were excellent.
"Guys were committed to do that little extra bit, to chase a little bit harder, go to the ground, come away with the tackle, and I think that's what we've been able to do at times in the biggest games, like Spain [last year], so this one was sort of similar."
That pressure and commitment forced England out of its rhythm and all but neutralized Wayne Rooney. In a stinging criticism, German legend Franz Beckenbauer told The Times that, "What I saw from the English had very little to do with football. It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the old times of kick and rush."
Credit the U.S. That was the plan.
After the England game, a few of the key players discussed the principles behind the memorable defensive effort.
"Put the best players in the world under pressure and they're not going to pass maybe as well as they normally do. That's the game plan coming in," Jay DeMerit said. "Whatever way I do it is probably a little bit unconventional ... if I'm not bleeding at the end of the game then I haven't done my job."
FIFA's TV closeups had a few shots of DeMerit with a handful of England jersey.
"Jay did well. Jay does what he always does," Oguchi Onyewu said. "He gives 110 percent and he's a pretty gritty player, and he makes it difficult for all the strikers. I think he did well to help us all out when we needed it."
Onyewu, who inexplicably appeared stronger as the game unfolded despite playing his first 90-minute match since his knee injury last fall, said that "even if we find ourselves out of position, just to work hard to get back into position and work hard to defend man to man" was key. His recovery and tackle of Frank Lampard as the midfielder was about to shoot in the 83rd minute was testament to that commitment.
Goalkeeper Tim Howard said the back four "played really well. They were tight. Their line was good. Their communication was good." And the key was the collective effort to stop Rooney, which when successful, forced lesser players to carry the burden. "We knew he's not going to let him mark you. He's going to drift. We were just trying to keep our lines tight enough so that if there was a defender that needed to get to him, a midfielder that needed to get to him, that we could."
Those are the marks of a good soccer team. The sport is great because of the conjurings of players like Messi, Xavi, Sneijder, Kaka and Pirlo. But only a few countries are blessed with that talent.
"I think we traditionally have had a team that is physical, athletic -- our fitness level is quite high."
Nothing about skill or technique or creativity. It seemed to confirm every stereotype the English had about the U.S. -- a collection of rough-and-tumble athletes who mask their severe technical deficiencies with brute force. It ignored the obvious strides the U.S. has made in that department, many of which were evident last summer in the Confederations Cup and as recently as the friendly against Turkey in Philadelphia.
But Bocanegra was on to something. He was assuming that he and his teammates were soccer players, and he added in a key component (or a warning) -- that they had the physical ability and fortitude to stand against the English, who play soccer at a pace matched by few teams in the world.
The defensive effort put forth by the U.S. is worth reviewing as the team prepares for Friday's game against Slovenia, which Bradley said would be "more of a chess match." From attacking players like Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, who were willing to selflessly run the flanks tracking England's dangerous outside backs, to central midfielder Michael Bradley, who set aside his inclination to go forward to help defend on crosses, to the courageous back four, who grew stronger as the game wore on and dove in to make play after play, the U.S. was a study in physical and mental commitment in Rustenburg.
England is a very good team. Good enough to dictate the pace of the game. But the U.S. matched them, and the final score said as much.
"Defensively, in these kind of games, there's two sides," Bradley told FanHouse. "There's the side of organization and doing things with a good understanding, and that gets put to the test because the game moves at a fast speed. So you can look very good sometimes in terms of how coordinated you are as a team defensively, but when the game goes faster and when there's players on the other team that are capable of making more out of really a slight advantage, then that puts you to the test.
"On that side of things, we mentioned after the game, there were some moments when the coordination of the team defensively wasn't as good as we still think it can be. But that happens even for the best teams in the most difficult games, and then what comes next is just pure commitment to make a play. I think on that end [against England], all around the field, the efforts of the team were excellent.
"Guys were committed to do that little extra bit, to chase a little bit harder, go to the ground, come away with the tackle, and I think that's what we've been able to do at times in the biggest games, like Spain [last year], so this one was sort of similar."
That pressure and commitment forced England out of its rhythm and all but neutralized Wayne Rooney. In a stinging criticism, German legend Franz Beckenbauer told The Times that, "What I saw from the English had very little to do with football. It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the old times of kick and rush."
Credit the U.S. That was the plan.
After the England game, a few of the key players discussed the principles behind the memorable defensive effort.
"Put the best players in the world under pressure and they're not going to pass maybe as well as they normally do. That's the game plan coming in," Jay DeMerit said. "Whatever way I do it is probably a little bit unconventional ... if I'm not bleeding at the end of the game then I haven't done my job."
FIFA's TV closeups had a few shots of DeMerit with a handful of England jersey.
"Jay did well. Jay does what he always does," Oguchi Onyewu said. "He gives 110 percent and he's a pretty gritty player, and he makes it difficult for all the strikers. I think he did well to help us all out when we needed it."
Onyewu, who inexplicably appeared stronger as the game unfolded despite playing his first 90-minute match since his knee injury last fall, said that "even if we find ourselves out of position, just to work hard to get back into position and work hard to defend man to man" was key. His recovery and tackle of Frank Lampard as the midfielder was about to shoot in the 83rd minute was testament to that commitment.
Goalkeeper Tim Howard said the back four "played really well. They were tight. Their line was good. Their communication was good." And the key was the collective effort to stop Rooney, which when successful, forced lesser players to carry the burden. "We knew he's not going to let him mark you. He's going to drift. We were just trying to keep our lines tight enough so that if there was a defender that needed to get to him, a midfielder that needed to get to him, that we could."
Those are the marks of a good soccer team. The sport is great because of the conjurings of players like Messi, Xavi, Sneijder, Kaka and Pirlo. But only a few countries are blessed with that talent.
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