North of the Border Recap

The middle match of the five game tournament took place in Toronto in front of a friendly crowd.  Despite the 4-1 loss to Brazil, there seemed to be confidence amongst the players and coaches.  Coach Jurgen Klinsmann asked for a nastier effort in the future, including in this first trip into Canada in 15 years.  The match at BMO Field could have been overlooked, but definitely has a lot of meaning.  For Canada it was a celebration of 100 years of soccer as they would wear the blue shirts they originally wore in the early 1900s.

Here is how the U.S. squad looked at the start.

Howard; Cherundolo, Goodson, Bocanegra (capt.), Johnson; Bradley, Jones, Donovan, Torres; Dempsey, Gomez

Fabian Johnson would sustain a mild right calf strain in the warm ups and be replaced by Edgar Castillo.  It would be a chance for him to show that he is a solid back up at left back.  Jozy Altidore would be given another match to rest.  Offensively the formation was a 4-4-2 with Clint Dempsey floating the most.

As the shadows crossed half the field the United States owned possession in the early going getting two corners.  Clarence Goodson had one fall at his back and tried to flip it in but it flopped over the bar.  Finally in the ninth minute Canada would get sustained possession resulting in their first corner when a shot by Dwayne DeRosario was deflected just wide.

Possession would sway back to the U.S. as a yellow by Julian DeGuzman led to a free kick. The kick bounced around to Castillo who would dip a shot to be deflected over the bar by Lars Hirschfeld.    Tim Howard had to make his first save in the 24th minute as a corner bounced around in the 18 until Tosaint Ricketts put one low near the U.S. keeper.   As the first half wore on it was clear that the five man midfield strategy of Canada was baffling the U.S. and perhaps it was good for Castillo to find out last minute he was starting.  He was clearly the best player on the squad.

Canada got a bad break as the linesman called a penalty in the 34th minute as Castillo was trying to escape a two man trap.  He turned the ball over to Nikolas Ledgerwood who finished neatly in the far corner, but the play had already been blown dead.  It is unclear why there was a penalty.

The first glimpse of a Landon Donovan/ Clint Dempsey combination in some time came late in the first half.  The two combined for a give and go that would result in the fifth corner for the United States.  Dempsey was beginning to roam more as a 4-4-1-1 formation became the strategy.  Regardless it was scoreless at halftime with Castillo being good overall.  Jose Torres was not.  It was not really a good half of football from either side.

As well as Castillo played in the first half may be as bad as he started the second half.  He was beat on a ball down the flank that led to a dangerous Canadian cross as the game opened up slightly more, but was still as sloppy.  Castillo looked to lose a step during half time.  Michael Bradley was still playing a deep defensive midfield while any threatening attack came down the sides.  The midfield was sluggish for both teams.

The first substitutions came in the 62nd minute as Carlos Bocanegra came off for Oguchi Onyewu.  Jose Torres came off in favor of Jozy Altidore giving Herculez Gomez more room to roam.  The captain’s armband was handed to Steve Cherundolo.  Simeon Jackson would be Canada’s first substitution three minutes later.

The excitement level of this match was at a low.  Jackson provided some spark for Canada.  The U.S. continued to struggle in the midfield.  Bradley was virtually another center back.  Everything was hopeful.  Donovan came out for Maurice Edu in the 73rd minute to move the formation to 4-3-3 freeing up Dempsey from his defensive duties.  Chris Wondolowski would come on for Gomez.  Michael Parkhurst would replace Cherundolo.

No one from the U.S. was threatening.  There was no real build up that would allow Dempsey to get loose.  With Altidore in the match the team could hold the ball in the final third but still not sustain an attack.  DeRosario and Jackson were the only ones trying to create.  The best two chances came in stoppage time as Jackson shanked a sitter wide and Goodson got his head to a free kick only to be stopped by a wonderful save by Hirschfeld.  In the end Goodson would have a solid match with Gomez and Jermaine Jones being noticeable.  This was a sleepy friendly.

Antigua and Barbuda awaits in the next match that counts for the World Cup.