SB Nation - Danny Williams

USA 1-0 Jamaica: The Narrative, Brought To You By Whiskey And Unprofessionalism

Steve Stoehr — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:15:07 -0000

Trying something a little different here. Last night, the United States beat Jamaica 1-0 to go level with the Reggae Boyz and Guatemala on points at the top of their CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying group after finding themselves in a tough situation following Friday's loss in Kingston. I decided to sit down with Microsoft Word and a couple of drinks and do a minute-by-minute recap of the game, with more visceral reactions to the action.

Others have done this, and probably better. I just thought it would be fun.

Let's not mince words here: despite the 1-0 scoreline, the Yanks absolutely dominated Jamaica. This wasn't a contest. Jamaica got maybe two or three looks at goal all game, and I think Tim Howard made about two saves. At most. No American player looked poor, and a few players looked particularly good, among them Gomez, Cherundolo, Williams, and Johnson.

But enough clear-headed reflection. Let's see what I was thinking as it was all happening. Follow me after the jump and find out.

1' Kickoff. I'm out of sorts. Waited till the last minute to finish setting up the live thread and lineups and everything. Haven't even had a sip of the whiskey yet.

2' Dolo with a sweet move and then a poor cross. Don't matter. I'm confident in him. Still haven't had that sip of whiskey yet.

4' Good US sequence leads to nothing. Dempsey should have pulled the trigger, long touch from Torres, decent recovery defense from Jamaica. Aaaand....finally. The whiskey.

5' Aaaand just remembered the whiskey I'm drinking is Evan Williams. Wish I'd made a beer run. Wish I had better time management skills.

6' ZUSI OFF THE BAR. I can't begin to express how impressed I am with him, honestly

7' Ugly looking giveaway from Torres, missed the ball. I can't understand what everyone sees in this kid.

10' Fans have started the 9/11 tribute. Nice to see. Not much else going on in the game, though.

11' Dempsey looks sluggish. He's probably pretty tired.

12' GOMEZ. Damn. Great run, if only he could have chested it a little more forward or controlled his momentum. He's shaken up but there was no foul.

14' Two fouls by Jamaica in quick succession. This one sets up the US in a decent spot, definitely in Zusi's range if no one else's. Herc took it....and Jones gets a head on it, went wide. Dangerous though. Jones mucked that up, he needed to do a lot better.

17' Great move! Poor Cherundolo cross. And then HEY SCREW YOU LOVEL PALMER, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! Damn right it's a yellow card!

18' Herc just hit Dwayne Miller at face-level from a free kick that was basically a corner. Dangerous deliveries all over the place.

21' DWAYNE MILLER WOW. Great reaction save and then...wait come on...JOHNSON....deflected....ANOTHER HUGE SAVE FROM MILLER. Where the hell is my drink

22' Bocanegra does a half-ballet jump half-horse kick half-I don't know what and misses everything in the box. No goal.

24' Man this is a lot to juggle. Zusi chance, managing the live blog, drinking the whiskey...I'm bad at multi-tasking

25' This midfield moves the ball so much better than the one on Friday. Danny Williams looks much better as a holding mid, and Torres' passing has been good enough to at least pique my interest

27' Yanks are playing their share of terrible passes, but man Jamaica can't hold onto the ball at all

28' There's something in my drink. I can't tell if it's a bug or a bit of pepper from the Montreal steak seasoning I put on my turkey burger. Whatever, it's all flavor. Meanwhile, scary corner kick from Jamaica, and now a counter from the US....checks back

30' DANNY F#$%@#$#% WILLIAMS WHAT A FREAKING STRIKE. God, the US can't BUY a bucket right now! Man, the replays hurt even worse! How is it physically possible for the ball to bounce out like that?!

34' Gomez offside, great work from Johnson, still no goal. So much pressure, still nothing. Doesn't lack for excitement, though

36' Taylor Twellman reminds me of a hockey coach. "PUT THE PUCK ON NET, GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU PUT THE PUCK ON NET!!!!!"

37' Oh cute little dummy there by Zusi, oh man. He and Cherundolo are on FIRE. Torres almost scores, good strike kid.

40' Chirping. Clint Demspey just made a ridiculous face. That's a GIF waiting to happen. Dempsey starting s@#t with Ryan Johnson, love to see that. I'd be happy to see fisticuffs, why not.

44' So we know Guatemala won. USA really needs the win, then.

45+2' Johnson crosses to no one in particular. I can't wait for halftime when I can freshen up my drink.

HALFTIME

Dolo and Johnson have been good, the midfielders have been really good. Williams and Zusi in particular have been good.

Mmmmm....warm...whiskey...

Best Soccer Show really does a very good with their live coverage pregame, halftime, and postgame. Currently listening to Jason and Jared take calls at halftime. Agree or disagree with them, they present solid opinions that aren't far-fetched or baseless, and they get people involved. I like it. Chat function could be better, but now I'm just nit-picking.

SECOND HALF

48' Shelton with a one-man counterattack. Just diced up Cameron like it was nothing. That was frightening. Started with a Dempsey giveaway. Deuce really hasn't been himself so far. Not to say he's been bad, but...not himself.

52' 91% passing accuracy from the US tonight. Wow. Am I playing FIFA right now? Did I miss something?

54' FK chance for the US in a dangerous spot, Torres and Gomez look to be arguing over it. I'd love to see a goal here.

55' GOMEZ GOAL!!!! GOAL!!!! HERC GOMEZ OFF THE FREE KICK, MILLER GETS HIS HAND TO IT BUT CAN'T KEEP IT OUT THERE IT IS!!!!!

56' Looking at the replays, Dwayne Miller was a pretender in the first half. That should have been saved.

59' OH MY GOD JAMAICA SC - ok they didn't. Seriously, Cummings just had a ball saved into the side netting, scared the crap out of me.

61' Whooaaaaah. WhoOOAAAoohhh. WHOOAAAOOAAAOOOAAOOOHHH! NEW ENGLA - oh wait.

62' Yellow for Zusi. I didn't see it. I'm terrible at this.

67' Shea in for Torres. People still mixed on Torres. I'm no longer paying attention, discussing the merits of RWU Law's intramural soccer team with my roommate. Is that unprofessional? I forgot what that means.

70' Ryan Johnson almost scored. Oh man. That was frightening.

72' Bad giveaways. STOP IT. JUST...STOP IT.

73' BREK! STOP THINKING! JUST DO! GO@#$@%IT!

75' Debating with my roommate on who would win: Scotland or Jamaica. I think Jamaica has the win 4/10 times, with 3/10 draws, and 3/10 wins for Scotland. He disagrees. I just think Scotland's bad.

76' Wait, Edu came in for Zusi? Why Zusi off? I liked him in this game! Pull Jones!

80' Altidore on for Gomez. I just realized Dane Richards came on for Jamaica...at some point. And Austin from range! Good save Timmy. More booze time.

84' Wait, Edu is on...oh. I knew that.

90+1' How do you let the goalkeeper come out and take the ball off of you?! Jones, you had Williams wide right, man. That should have been the dagger goal.

90+2' SO MANY SHIRTLESS DUDES. Is this Newcastle?

90+3' DO IT. DO IT. DAGGER. SCORE THE LAST GOAL....Ok game over. AND A WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

POSTGAME

I started drinking now I don't want to stop. Does that mean I have a problem?

Good win for the US. I would have liked to see more goals though. Seriously, Jamaica looked anemic in attack...bang'em in, guys. I can't help but feel like that's the knock on Klinsmann's USA: they can't just overtly dominate teams on the scoreboard. Under Bradley, there were 8-goal games and such against inferior opponents. I don't think that will ever happen with Klinsmann. That said...good performance. Guys getting it done. I liked it.

USA Vs. Jamaica Man Of The Match: Herculez Gomez

Ryan Rosenblatt — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:00:26 -0000

The United States was faced with an unfamiliar position on Tuesday -- a must-win match. World Cup qualifying doesn't usually present them with such a tough test and certainly not this early in the process. But there the U.S. was, hosting Jamaica in front of a partisan crowd. Despite more than 70% of the possession and all of the chances, they were still held scoreless in the second half.

Panic was starting to set in when Clint Dempsey was fouled and Herculez Gomez stepped to a free kick 28 yards from goal. He hit it up over the Jamaican wall, dipped it down underneath the bar and curled it inside the post. Dwayne Miller got a hand to it and should have saved it, but he didn't and the goal counted just like any other.

In fact, Gomez's goal may have counted more than any other. It was the only goal in a match that his team needed to avoid catastrophe.

But Gomez's goal wasn't his only contribution on the evening. In fact, he could have had an assist for the gorgeous free kick he hit in the first half, but Jermaine Jones couldn't get on the end of his beautiful ball. Gomez also had a good penalty shout in the early minutes when he was dragged down in the box and gave the Jamaicans a preview of what was to come for the rest of the evening.

In between scoring a goal, nearly picking up an assist and making the referee think about pointing to the spot, Gomez worked tirelessly up front. It wasn't too long ago that most doubted that he could play as a lone striker, but there was was by himself up top again and thriving. His movement caused problems for the Reggae Boyz defense and his constant pushing of the back line drove them back to create space for the American midfielders in the attacking half.

All in all, it was a well-rounded performance from Gomez. He did everything that Klinsmann could have asked from him, including notching the goal that rescued the Americans' qualifying campaign. That right there is Man of the Match material.

Other Candidates

Danny Williams- After the nightmare in Kingston, the U.S. midfield needed to step it up and on Tuesday they did. It was largely due to the play of Williams, who didn't just win the ball from his holding role, but his small movements made him available to teammates in trouble and his quick passing did wonders to open up the Jamaican defense.

Steve Cherundolo- The 33-year-old has some serious Old Man Game. He was never the biggest, nor the strongest, nor the fastest, but he knows every trick in the book and uses them all. Tuesday was the ultimate example of that as the U.S. left him on an island repeatedly. Every single time, he was up to the task while also showing enough legs to get forward and create the width that the Americans so badly needed.

Poll

Who was your Man of the Match?

Herculez Gomez

24 votes

Danny Williams

20 votes

Steve Cherundolo

11 votes

Other

6 votes

61 votes | Poll has closed

The Once Maligned United States Player Pool Is Shining

Ryan Rosenblatt — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:52:53 -0000

Has Jurgen Klinsmann changed the United States' style of play? Is the U.S. a better team today than they were when he took over? Will the Americans be able to make a deep run at the 2014 World Cup?

Those questions remain unanswered.

The U.S. is just 18 matches into Klinsmann's reign and remain a work in progress. When he made his bold promises and outlined his sweeping changes 13 months ago, everybody knew that the results would not come overnight.

Klinsmann's overhaul was always going to be a difficult process, but it wasn't the big ideas and turnover that presented the German with his biggest hurdle -- it was his players.

The American player pool looked woefully thin. Bob Bradley was fired after his most tactically ambitious match in the Gold Cup final, when he got everything right, but it didn't matter. Mexico's most talented generation in decades exploited the holes all over the U.S. team and Klinsmann took over that same American team, holes and all.

But more than a year later, those holes have been filled and the U.S. team is loaded with better players than anyone could have possibly imagined Klinsmann would have at his disposal on the day he took over.

On Tuesday night, in front of a frenzied red, white and blue clad crowd, the U.S. trotted out a team that nobody could have predicted last August. Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley were missing through injury, but it wasn't the absences that stood out, it was those who played. The new additions to the team showed the growth of the same player pool whose lack of depth could have doomed Klinsmann 13 months ago.

Three starters had never played an international match on the day that Klinsmann took over. Another had just one measly cap to his name as recently as this January. The goalscorer in Tuesday night's game had only started two international matches in his career before May and he was substituted off at halftime in both.

Danny Williams, Graham Zusi, Fabian Johnson, Geoff Cameron and Herculez Gomez made up half of the American outfield players in Columbus, Ohio, where they helped rescue what was almost a disastrous qualifying campaign that could have seen the United States eliminated from the 2014 World Cup ... in 2012.

The U.S. found themselves on the verge of being knocked out because of a loss to Jamaica on Friday, where their midfield was overrun and they were devoid of width. But on Tuesday, Williams and Zusi -- one of whom didn't have a U.S. passport until last October and another who made his international debut in January -- came into the team and it was those two who helped fix those problems.

Williams drove the play through the middle, using smart movement and quick passes to open up the Jamaican defense. Meanwhile, Zusi's play on the right, especially when combining with Steve Cherundolo, gave the Americans the kind of width that has been so elusive under Klinsmann.

Like Williams, Johnson wasn't even eligible to play for the U.S. last August. He wasn't a fullback then either, instead playing in the midfield for Hoffenheim, but on Tuesday he was at left back for the Americans, putting in another marvelous performance. It was just the latest in a string of sparkling efforts by Johnson, who has solved the U.S. riddle at left back, a position that had been a revolving door of awful, inadequate and ghastly for more than a decade.

Right there on the back line with Johnson was the Americans' best center back, Cameron. The man who hasn't been able to find a consistent position his entire career -- and still can't now as he shuttles between defense for the national team and midfield for Stoke City -- was terrific once again.

After a Man of the Match-deserving showing in the Americans' first ever win in Mexico last month, Cameron backed it up with a great match in Kingston and then matched that performance again in Columbus. He's now firmly establishing himself as the future of the U.S. central defense and left observers to wonder why it took until January for him to get his second cap, two years after his first.

And then there is Gomez, Tuesday's effervescent goal scorer who struggled to get much of a look at the international level no matter how many goals he scored for his club. Often considered limited, Gomez was frozen out of the U.S. squad when Klinsmann took over and even referred to himself as a "former US men's national team striker" last fall. But that once-former player is now the Americans' go-to striker. He started his seventh consecutive match for the U.S. on Tuesday and fittingly delivered the goal that may have rescued Klinsmann's campaign.

Klinsmann's job is far from done and nobody is passing final judgement on his tenure yet, but that might not have been the case had the U.S. lost to Jamaica on Tuesday night. The U.S. men would have been on the verge of crashing out of the World Cup, and what was supposed to be a four-year revolution could have ended two years early with the program at a low it has not seen for more than 20 years.

With everything on the line, from the Americans' World Cup dreams to Klinsmann's great change, a whole new crop of players made up nearly half of the U.S. team. The injured players were forgotten for one night, the holes that were supposed to doom the Americans were gone, and Klinsmann's dream for the U.S. was saved by what was supposed to be his biggest obstacle -- his players.