U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM
Bradley likely to ring the changes for Haiti matchup
WASHINGTON -- If U.S. coach Bob Bradley was hoping to use the Gold Cup to find a few spare parts to supplement the team he took to the Confederations Cup, he may want to keep the handful of players he brought home with him from South Africa off the field.
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Haiti's Fabrice Noel will try to make headway against the U.S. back line at Gillette Stadium.
"Both Charlie and Benny came on the field and brought good energy," said Bradley after the game. "Benny has done well in a number of situations as a sub where he comes on and starts connecting plays, gets our tempo going, gets us moving a little faster. And Charlie, with his physical qualities, has real good ability to step on the field at a time when things are slowing down and make a difference."
The play of Feilhaber and Davies added some luster to an otherwise incomplete performance from a pair of players suddenly on the fringes of the national team. Given a second straight start at forward, Freddy Adu was relatively quiet in 60 minutes, managing just one shot on goal. Former regular Brian Ching also looked less active than usual in his return to the national team, after missing this summer's action due to injury.
But even with the forwards slow to take advantage, the American midfield looked coherent for a second straight match. Winger Robbie Rogers, the man of the match on Saturday in a 4-0 victory over Grenada, had another outstanding game. Rogers gave the Hondurans all they could handle down the left side, delivering a constant torrent of dangerous balls into the area.
The central midfield pairing of Kyle Beckerman and Logan Pause also had their moments against the Catrachos, but were far from the dominant pair that helped manhandle Grenada on July 4. As expected, the higher level of competition provided by the Hondurans made things much more difficult for the American midfield, but also provided a good test.
| U.S. men's schedule |
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| U.S. vs. Haiti Saturday Gillette Stadium; Foxborough, Mass. 7 p.m. ET |
"This is the sort of match where you start to see some things," Bradley pointed out afterward. "The other night, you couldn't say much. When players are in these types of games, when they see what it's like to play from start to finish in an international match, that helps."
The other midfielder in the picture at RFK on Wednesday night was D.C. United's own Santino Quaranta, who showed some positive flashes even before running on to a picture-perfect Davies pass and scoring the game's first goal in the 75th minute. The former standout youth international was named man of the match for his first senior international goal, though super subs Davies and Feilhaber -- along with Ching -- created the goal with a brilliant series of passes, leaving Quaranta wide open on the right side of the Honduran box with little to do but fire past goalkeeper Donis Escober.
Quaranta's goal put the Americans' seal on a game over which they had taken control, though they had been unable to turn that dominance into a lead. The first half had been a more balanced affair, in which the Hondurans created a few good opportunities, largely through quick counterattacks which occasionally caught the American center back pairing of Chad Marshall and Michael Parkhurst off guard.
While the Catrachos found at least some hope down the middle of the field, another bright spot for the Americans in their two Gold Cup matches thus far has been the wing play of fullbacks Steve Cherundolo and Heath Pearce.
"It's nice learning from those guys what they want from me," Marshall said of his experienced fullbacks. "It makes it super easy when they're communicating with you back there, so it's great to have those guys on the outside."
While each is playing in the Gold Cup for a different reason -- Cherundolo is recovering from injury while Pearce is just trying to get on the field after a disastrous club season -- the tandem that was the starting pair on the wings for the U.S. as recently as a few months ago has once again looked the part so far in this tournament.
"I'm trying to help other players with the experiences that I have," said Pearce. "I'm still relatively inexperienced compared to Cherundolo, but he also helps me day in and day out positioning wise, where to be, and how to play the position. It's beneficial having him around."
Behind the back four, goalkeeper Troy Perkins got his second chance to make an impression and did a good job when called upon. Against Grenada, the outcome would have been nearly identical if the U.S. had placed a scarecrow in goal, but the Hondurans compelled Perkins to work, and he put in a solid performance, particularly when tested by forward Walter Martinez off a sharply taken set piece in second-half stoppage time.
Having now seen his core lineup for two games, Bradley hinted that looking ahead to the final group match the team may look somewhat different. In Boston on Saturday against Haiti, the Americans will be playing their third game in eight days, all in different cities. With Wednesday's win, the U.S. has already clinched a ticket to the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup, and likely the top place in the group, giving Bradley the luxury of experimenting a bit more with his unusually plentiful 30-man roster (the U.S. was given seven additional roster spots by CONCACAF due to the closeness in dates of the Confederations and Gold Cups).
"We made a few changes for tonight's game," Bradley said, "but I would expect that there will be more for Saturday. We'll see."
The coach revealed after the game that Adu has completed his participation in the Gold Cup and is headed back to his club team in Portugal, Benfica, to begin preseason. In selecting his team Saturday, Bradley may now choose from a number of options due for a longer run-out, including FC Dallas striker Kenny Cooper, who saw a 10-minute cameo against Honduras, and backup goalkeeper Luis Robles, who has been traveling with the team all summer but has yet to appear in a match.
The match against Haiti will provide a reasonable test for what may be considered a third- or fourth-string U.S. team. Haiti defeated Granada on Wednesday night and still hopes to qualify for the quarterfinals. But no matter the performance of the stand-ins, Bradley can rest easily knowing that even if he fails to identify serviceable spare parts for the first team, his regulars can always be called upon when needed.
Brent Latham covers U.S. soccer for ESPNsoccernet. Based in Dakar, Senegal, he also covers West Africa for Voice of America radio and can be reached at brentlatham@ymail.com.
