The win gives the United States an early lead in Group A after Panama and Haiti played to a 1-1 draw earlier on Tuesday.
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The visitors’ pressing was causing US problems with both Lozano and Alfredo Mejia failing to hit the target after winning possession from consecutive goal kicks, while in first-half stoppage time, Escober came out of his box to intercept a pass to Dempsey before Honduras surged only for Najar to shoot over the bar. Though Bradley downplayed his captaincy role, still he is the best player of the team. Another thing is when it’s necessary to play without the ball [pressing, tackling] which is necessary to participate in a good league as a starter. Dempsey has now scored at least one goal in four editions of the tournament. However, Dempsey was active and risky around the 18-yard box for most of the game.
Clint Dempsey 7.5/10 – Opened the scoring in the 25-minute with a simple finish, before adding his second just after the hour with a powerful header. On the surface Zardes did very little on the offensive end. What was impressive about his game was his work rate and defensive effort.
His effectiveness returned following left foot surgery last October, and he was outstanding in friendlies at the Netherlands and Germany last month, helping the U.S.to victories in both.
Dempsey’s goals in the 25th and 64th minutes were created from crosses from Michael Bradley, wearing the captain’s arm band in his 100th worldwide appearance.
There was one last chance for Honduras coming in stoppage time after Bryan Acosta headed the ball for Maynor Figueroa who sent his effort over the bar. With so many other options waiting in line, Yedlin’s poor performance could have consequences.
Injuries have pushed Sabo back in the pecking order, but now that he’s healthy, he should be able to reclaim his spot on the team and maybe help Costa Rica upset the USA and Mexico. The women did their part, the men now have to do theirs and you have to do yours…pick up that flag, get to the bar/watch party/friends house and support the Red, White and Blue. You can play him as an attacking midfielder, central midfielder, wingers (left or right) and striker. After the goal his confidence dipped and let up a couple more chances.
Meanwhile, there is plenty of European footballing experience in defence, with Junior Diaz playing for Mainz in the Bundesliga, Giancarlo Gonzalez at Palermo and Christian Gamboa challenging for starts at West Brom. We’ve seen Brooks perform at a high level in the past, it’s just a matter of getting him back to that place.
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Timothy Chandler: The up-and-down USMNT career of Chandler has once again taken a turn for the worse. “Right now Larin is in agood state and can be confident in his possibilities but we have Marcus [Haber], Tesho [Akindele] and Tosaint [Ricketts] giving us enough players to use in this position as well”. Then we got the second goal. Every time they were forced to handle a loose ball, the defenders would immediately clear it instead of settling it down and finding an open teammate.
