I called it via Twitter way before the game started. The Paraguayan team that lost ugly against Mexico a few days before the game against the U.S., was an impostor one. Paraguay is a solid team defensively, and offensively, and the fact that they were completely out of sorts against Mexico didn't mean the U.S. National Team was going to have a walk-in-the park. Especially with Bob Bradley's track record against South American teams.
The U.S. lost 1-0, with a goal by Oscar Cardozo off a corner kick and the U.S. defense inability to clear the ball during the ensuing play. In relation to last Saturday's match against Argentina, coach Bob Bradley made a few substitutions to the starting line-up. Hahnemann, for starters, replaced Tim Howard in the goal. Bornstein, Chandler and Ream were 3 starters on defense today who did not play, or start against Argentina. In the midfield Edu got the start, and up front 18 year-old Juan Agudelo made his first start with the U.S. National Team jersey. That's six different players from the match against Argentina, but -although it seemed as if Bradley read my last column- this time the offense fielded 2 players from the kick-off. In other words, Bradley sent a 4-4-2 formation to the pitch.
As I had said it would, the 4-4-2 formation worked much better than the experimental 4-5-1 Bradley seems obsessed with, as the U.S. created more scoring chances, controlled the ball more and kept good possession. A debutante Ream provided good distribution and soccer coming from the back, and Jay DeMerit, arguably the best U.S. defender currently was also playing well. Unfortunately, around the 30th minute DeMerit suffered a sprained right groin and would later be substituted by Carlos Bocanegra. Bradley went back to his questioned 4-5-1 in the second half when he brought Altidore off the field to be replaced by Lichaj, a midfielder. There were some line-up shifts and subs, but absolutely nothing worked. Once again, Bob Bradley falls very short against South American competition.
All these, plus today's lack of contribution from perennial National Team saviors Donovan and Dempsey made for a tough day on the pitch for the Americans.
Now to the positive points. Juan Agudelo, the 18 year-old forward who plays club for the New York Red Bulls, and who is turning lots of heads nowadays, made his first-ever start for the U.S. National Team. Given his age, his lack of experience, and the fact that he was playing against a solid and world cup-experienced, Paraguayan defense, Agudelo showed poise, confidence, and managed a couple of nifty plays, including a brilliant heel touch inside the 18 before he was illegally brought down, which the ref did not call. Agudelo then, is a very positive situation for the National Team.
Central Defender Tim Ream, who also plays for the New York Red Bulls, was a very nice surprise. Great vision coming from behind and distributing the ball very well. A well-rounded, good defender who could possibly provide a viable substitute for aging and slowing Carlos Bocanegra down the upcoming long stretch for US Soccer.
German-born Tim Chandler, who plays in the Bundesliga, is also showing good projection up the right side, coming from behind. He has a wicked cross which could be well capitalized by good headers.
In all, there were some individual highlights, as mentioned above, which made the sight of US Soccer's future a bit more encouraging than what we saw tonight -and quite frankly, against Argentina last Saturday, also- on the pitch, and the not-so-obvious tactical strategy -or lack of- Bradley is fond of. Especially, when the competition is against South American countries, the U.S. National Team has not won a single game in the last 5 against teams from the region, holding a 0-2-3 record against Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Paraguay. Time to get back to the drawing board Mr. Bradley, if you've ever seen one!
