Results tagged “landondonovan”

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.

The National Team

Finally, more than six months since the last World Cup, team USA is going to return to the pitch Saturday against Denmark. While squads all over the world have been active in international play numerous times in recent months, we have remained dormant, oblivious to the mistakes of the past. European football came back to life not too long after the World Cup finale with the start of European Qualifying in August. Adding to that play, Wales even took on mighty Brazil in a friendly. In comparison to team USA's lethargy, Brazil has played 5 international friendlies since August 16th, 2006. Their next match comes Feb. 6th against powerhouse Portugal.

Though MLS hopes to create a revolution in American sports with the signing of David Beckham to the L.A. Galaxy, it's more likely the move will have much more modest results. Über-celebrity that he is, one has to keep in mind that Beckham’s best playing days are behind him. As of today, it seems doubtful he’ll see any playing time with Real Madrid’s first team during the remaining 6 months of his contract with the Spanish side. Though it was growing ever more unlikely that he could ever play for England again, this move finalizes his international career with absolute certainty. A veritable elephant graveyard for former world superstars, the US is where great soccer players come to die. Though this was done before, one has to remember that it was with far greater footballers than Becks. All time greats Pelè and Franz Beckenbauer played on the all-star studded New York Cosmos in the 70s and despite their ability, stardom, and combined World Cup wins, soccer never quite took off here.

With barely a thud, the United States' World Cup campaign came to a depressing end today with a 2-1 loss to Ghana. Our national team's final tally in Germany reads as follows: three games played, no wins, one tie, two losses, two goals scored (of which one was an own goal), six goals against, two red cards, and four total shots on goal.