Results tagged “coastchick”

Landon Donovan continued to put ’06 in the past with a stellar performance against Mexico last night. He capped off USA’s victory with a blistering charge through midfield, in which he shed two defenders before deftly turning to the left to avoid keeper Oswaldo Sanchez and slamming the ball home to make it 2-0 at the 90 minute mark. In his last two games he has 3 goals after going 18 international appearances without a score. Playing before a hostile crowd in Arizona - that’s right, US fans were outnumbered at The University of Phoenix Stadium - the game seemed to present a tough challenge, though we haven’t lost to Mexico on home soil since 1999. Mexico had bolstered its squad by recalling all available top internationals, including Omar Bravo, Francisco Fonseca and danger man Jared Borgetti. Top US defender, Oguchi Onyewu, was unfortunately unavailable for the match, due to obligations to club team, Newcastle. Borgetti has given the US trouble in the past and nearly equalized the score with a header that barely went wide of the right post. After Jimmy Conrad’s goal (his first in 19 appearances) in the 52nd minute - headed home with conviction after a beautiful corner kick by Landon Donovan - Mexico turned up the heat. Seven of Mexico’s nine shots came in the second half. The US defense held firm, however, with Jimmy Conrad playing a stellar all around game. Though US goalie Tim Howard had to come up big on two excellent chances, all other scoring opportunities were heavily hindered by the US defense. Our main problem was a lack of consistent flow through midfield. At times the service just wasn’t there for the forwards. When he got the ball, Bobby Convey stood out. His charges up the wing repeatedly confounded Mexico’s defense and he nearly put the US up by two goals in the 72nd minute. Close in to the keeper, he shot the ball right into Sanchez’s waiting arms. If Convey adds a defter touch to his game he could be one of the US’s deadliest players.