The Official Site of Landon Donovan

Sat, Jun 12th 2010, 17:24

US battle England to 1-1 draw

The United States men’s national team walked out onto the lit pitch in Rustenberg South Africa with a lot more than three points on the line. As the national anthem sounded, the ironically stoic expressions illustrated the culmination of six months worth of anticipation, and opened the curtains on a game that even casual ESPN viewers saw advertised many times. Coming into the game, the USA had excitingly positive aspirations with confident hopes of a beneficial result. Faced with the daunting task of playing an England squad full of English Premier League stars, Landon Donovan said in an ESPN interview, “We feel, more than any team in this tournament, that we are a better team with better chemistry and better camaraderie. If we bring that (to the England match), we have a real good chance to win.” However, this mentality looked excessively optimistic when Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard received a through ball from Emile Heskey and slid it past American goalkeeper Tim Howard in the 4th minute. Starting from a throw-in in the United States defensive third, Gerrard’s diagonal run eluded Ricardo Clark who was covering the central defensive spot after Onyewu had made a tame effort at closing down Wayne Rooney. It was Gerrard’s 17th goal in 82 appearances for the three lions. Coach Bob Bradley stressed prior to the match about a positive start. “You want to make sure that you set the right tone in the game and that there is a good level of aggression at the beginning that sets the tone.” This tentative and disappointing start to the game, however, was not a sign of things to come for the US.As the game started to settle down, the US looked very comfortable both physically and tactically. From a tactical standpoint the United States players were all on the same page. Perhaps the most evident tactic was the use of high pressure in their offensive third. When US lost the ball, their transition defense was very quick. The forwards Altidore and Findley pushed onto the England defensive backs to make it difficult for them to swing the point of attack. The midfielders stepped up on Gerrard and Lampard to take away the outlet in the midfield. Finally, the central defenders Onyewu and Demerit did a terrific job anticipating the inevitable long ball that England defenders always had to resort to. This high pressure defensive strategy resulted in a lot of England turnovers in the first half, and the USA established a passing rhythm which resulted in half-chance opportunities off crosses in the 10th and 18th minutes. From a physical standpoint, the US also did extremely well. The central defenders did a brilliant job winning the first and second balls, and not allowing Rooney much room to work his magic. Also, the hold up play by Altidore displayed great strength, and his subsequent composure on the ball allowed the US to get possession high up the field. For wingers Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, their speed and ability to cut into the midfield posed a constant threat. One noticeable tactic that these two employed was the way they kept the field very compact, even in possession. This was not always the best way to open up midfield space, but it did give the central midfielders more support defensively. Donovan also switched sides with Dempsey multiple times in the match, often attacking down the left side with the intention of cutting to the middle and having dangerous shots with his right. Finally, in the 40th minute, USA got the breakthrough they had been working for. Dempsey, after creating a bit of space from Gerrard, hit a low drive with his left foot from a little over 25 yards, which looked to be an ambitious prayer. To the horror of all the English fans, who have been seen their fare share of goalie blunders, Dempsey’s prayer was answered. In what the Boston Herald deemed was, “arguably the worst ever mistake by an England goalkeeper,” the ball skipped past Robert Green and the game was tied.

When the second half began, the US didn’t hesitate to give its fans a quick heart attack when, just like the first half, England received a terrific scoring opportunity in the 52nd minute. Coming up empty on an aerial challenge at midfield, Emile Hesky was allowed to slip in behind and fire a shot which Tim Howard smothered without any rebound. It was just one of Tim Howard’s many shining moments, as his leadership, ability to read the game, and athleticism all revealed why he is one of the top goalies in the Premier League. In the second half, tactically, the US was a little more cautious going forward, content to play defense with numbers behind the ball, and choosing the occasional opportunity to counter attack. One of the most successful of these attacks came in the 64th minute when Landon Donovan passed the ball to Altidore who made a stunning solo effort to beat out central defender Michael Carragher for both speed and strength. Unfortunately for the US, Altidore’s near post shot was saved by Robert Green, who needed the help of the post to keep the ball out of the net. The rest of the second half was characterized by some half-chances for England, but all of which Tim Howard and some great individual efforts on defense helped stop. With some fresh legs on the field with Edson Buddle and eventually Holden, the US kept the central midfield very compact, and ended the game in a temporary 4-5-1 formation with the wings tucking back to help defensively and Buddle pressuring the defensive backs. In the end, all the pre-game confidence in getting a positive result was warranted. The 1-1 tie puts the United States in a terrific position to gain momentum and continue its good form into its next to group games against Slovenia on June 18th and Algeria on June 23rd.

So what can US fans take from this game? We can take a lot of pride in what our team did out there today. We can be proud of the style in which they played: a high pressure system in the first half with an attacking possession based mindset, and a tactically intelligent defensive formation in the second. We can be proud of individuals: the way Onyewu played his first 90 minutes in seven months, and shut down Rooney in the process; the way Tim Howard inspired as a leader and with his fantastic saves; the way Landon Donovan and the midfielders worked tirelessly on both ends of the field. Lastly, we can be proud of the United States as a team: a team that embraced all the hype, expectations, and pressure, while representing our country on the world stage.

USSoccer.com match report….

Post-Game Quotes….