I don't know if I'd necessarily say we looked very good last night. Our back line did OK, but there were times they seemed to let a quick strike get through. And our midfield, for the most part, was content to play defense, and did a lousy job of transitioning to the attack. Eddie Johnson did pretty good up top and used his size to hold off the smaller Mexican defenders, and had some really creative flicks to start the (rare) midfielder breakouts. But overall, our possession was pretty good, Tim Howard was VERY good, and we capitalized when it counted.
However, I think that win can be attributed to Mexico's lethargic and sloppy play. With a few exceptions (notably the first and last 15 minutes), Mexico looked tired, old, and timid. To be honest, they looked like America normally looks when they play Mexico. But even on the times the USA got caught with multiple guys forward, Mexico's counter-attack was slow and halting. Finally, Mexico's goalie (Corona) played terrible. Eddie's goal off the corner-kick was so badly mis-played by Corona, it looked almost as if he wanted Johnson to score.
I give the USA performance an overall rating of a B, and Mexico gets a solid F. USA had some excuses for having a lot of backups playing, and they did get the final result and qualified for Brazil, so that raises the grade. Mexico got nothing, looked terrible in getting it, and may very well miss the World Cup Finals entirely.
3 comments:
I think Clint booted his PK to preserve Dos a cero.
I don't know if I'd necessarily say we looked very good last night. Our back line did OK, but there were times they seemed to let a quick strike get through. And our midfield, for the most part, was content to play defense, and did a lousy job of transitioning to the attack. Eddie Johnson did pretty good up top and used his size to hold off the smaller Mexican defenders, and had some really creative flicks to start the (rare) midfielder breakouts. But overall, our possession was pretty good, Tim Howard was VERY good, and we capitalized when it counted.
However, I think that win can be attributed to Mexico's lethargic and sloppy play. With a few exceptions (notably the first and last 15 minutes), Mexico looked tired, old, and timid. To be honest, they looked like America normally looks when they play Mexico. But even on the times the USA got caught with multiple guys forward, Mexico's counter-attack was slow and halting. Finally, Mexico's goalie (Corona) played terrible. Eddie's goal off the corner-kick was so badly mis-played by Corona, it looked almost as if he wanted Johnson to score.
I give the USA performance an overall rating of a B, and Mexico gets a solid F. USA had some excuses for having a lot of backups playing, and they did get the final result and qualified for Brazil, so that raises the grade. Mexico got nothing, looked terrible in getting it, and may very well miss the World Cup Finals entirely.
I have a good friend from Brazil. He has offered to chaperone next year...
(quietly pondering how to make this happen)
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