Josh Ouellette
By Josh Ouellette
Finally.
Finally, the U.S. Men’s National Team came up with a gritty and gutsy performance since the 2014 World Cup.
Last Saturday’s 1-0 win over Paraguay was exactly what the USMNT needed to set the tone for what fans and pundits take away from their performance in the Copa America Centenario.
Despite playing basically the entire second half a man down after DeAndre Yedlin’s soft red with a pair of yellow cards about a minute apart, the team held firm in a huge elimination game. Something America has struggled with throughout its history.
With the win, America secured advancement to the Quarterfinals and won’t have to face the shock winner of Group B, Peru, the team that just beat a hot Brazil team fresh off a 7-1 win over Group D bottom feeder Haiti. Well, beat is a liberal use of the word. Maybe clubbed is more accurate seeing as Raul Ruidiaz scored Peru’s goal on a very blatant handball as he literally clubbed the ball into the net and shouldn’t have counted.
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Joe Torosian’s high school football novel is available through Amazon.com –click pic–
(Cover by Pat Cherry www.blackheartart.com)
Thanks to Costa Rica coming out of nowhere to beat Columbia 3-2 on Saturday, the USMNT won Group A thanks to its goal differential. Meaning America will square off against the runner-up from Group B, Ecuador, and Columbia, as the runner-up of Group A takes on B’s winner, Peru. Assuming the Brazil-Peru game ended in a 0-0 tie, Brazil would’ve finished second in Group B on goal differential, and the U.S. would be playing Brazil in the Quarterfinals. So that was a close call.
Should the USMNT lose to Ecuador on Thursday in Seattle, the eventual squad that finishes off group play for World Cup qualifying will still have earned a new fervor to beat Saint Vincent and then finish off Trinidad and Tobago to earn the top spot in CONCACAF’s Group 3. Assuming Jürgen Klinsmann’s side wins both of those games, it will have a more momentum heading into the Hexagonal that decides the 3.5 spots CONCACAF teams get going to the World Cup. But we’ll cross that bridge in a few months.
But I expect Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones and Co. will advance to the Semifinals where they’d most likely face a very scary Argentina squad led by arguably the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. Even if you don’t follow soccer… you know his name. And losing to Argentina in the Semifinals would be a very fair result for the USMNT, and one that would probably secure Klinsmann’s job through the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Without getting too far ahead of myself, Ecuador presents a tough challenge. Los Amarillos have Enner and Antonio Valencia in attack, and the duo with the same surname have proven to be a deadly combination when playing together. Ecuador held Brazil to a scoreless draw and then drew Peru 2-2 before handily beating Haiti 4-0.
Enner Valencia is a player I know well. He signed with West Ham United right after the 2014 World Cup. And during his tenure wearing the claret and blue he has had a flurry of up and down performances since joining my Premier League side. He continuously shows incredible pace and an ability to get into scoring positions, but he also continuously fails to score, at least for West Ham.
For Ecuador, well that’s a different story. Valencia has scored 10 goals in 10 matches in 2014, including three goals in the World Cup, and has scored five times in 11 matches in the two years to follow, including two goals in the last two Copa America Centenario games. Oh, and Valencia scored one of the best goals you might ever see against the USMNT and its current No. 1 keeper Brad Guzan in a 1-1 friendly draw after his incredible World Cup run in October of 2014.
It might bode well for the USMNT that it just beat Ecuador 1-0 in its penultimate friendly before the Copa America Centenario. Darlington Nagbe scored his first-ever goal in the red, white, and blue in the 90th minute to seal the win. Then again, that victory is fresh in the minds of every Ecuadorian and might serve as their “tackling fuel” as Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler) would say in “The Waterboy.”
Missing Yedlin vs. Ecuador will appear to be painful. But it might actually be a blessing in disguise. Michael Orozco is a proven fullback and will most likely remain in the back four when the U.S. goes on attack, as opposed to the rangy Yedlin who likes to join the attack.
The only downside to Orozco is he isn’t overly speedy, and Ecuador’s Jefferson Montero on the left wing of its attack is exactly that. Klinsmann could switch Fabian Johnson over to the right side and play Edgar Castillo in his natural left back position, but Johnson has become comfortable on the left over the past three games and I think it would be a mistake to move him.
There is some good news. Yedlin will be the only American suspended for the next match, despite a bevy of yellow cards brandished in their win over Paraguay.
Last week I said I would hold off my judgment on Klinsmann and his future until after the Quarterfinals (although I thought it would be as the runner-up and played against Brazil) and I will still do that. I will say this. I am impressed that he hasn’t tinkered and started the same XI in all three group stage games. I think it’s a risky move, especially considering the ages of Dempsey and Jones, two must-have players for this tournament. But Jones stuck it out for the full 90 minutes, and Dempsey tracked back well when the U.S. went down to 10 men. Having four days off should help the weary legs, but it will be interesting to see if there is any effect of playing so many minutes.
I’ve liked John Brooks for a while now–basically ever since he scored the winning goal off a brilliant header in the United State’s 2014 World Cup opening match against Ghana–and he’s proving to be a major positive in the USMNT side. His Man of the Match play vs. Paraguay only fanned the flame for me. He’s the answer American fans have been looking for, and I think Geoff Cameron pairing up with him is the best option for the USMNT.
Not that I don’t like Matt Besler or Tim Ream, I really like both of them in the back four. But in Klinsmann’s formation, the center halves needs to have the speed and skill to cover a flank when the fullbacks advance in attack as they often do, and Cameron and Brooks have the pace and technical ability to deter an attacking winger.
So basically I think Brooks is the most important piece in Klinsmann’s lineup. That’s how I see it at least, but then again, I’m just joshing around… Wait, one more thing.
Everyone should tune in on Thursday. I don’t care if you think soccer is “communist kickball” as my old coach Randy Backus would call it because if you give it a chance it will surprise you. The Quarterfinals match is at 6:30 p.m. PT on FS1. The pride of our country is at stake, and this time, I’m not just joshing around.
Josh Ouellette is a self-proclaimed lover of the Beautiful Game who feverously supports West Ham United (Premier League) and the LA Galaxy (MLS). His thoughts and opinions are his own and if you have any thoughts on his opinions he can be reached via Twitter (@JoshoYouKnow).
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