Dempsey’s quality in front of goal is the main reason that Monday’s first-round finale against Panama in Kansas City is inconsequential for the U.S.in terms of the result.
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On a feed from substitute Gyasi Zardes, Dempsey scored in his fourth consecutive appearance. Zardes made an impact immediately, picking up a pass from Greg Garza and laying off for Clint Dempsey to score, less than two minutes after he entered the game.
The 25-year-old, who started in the Americans’ 2-1 win over Honduras in the opening game of the group stage Tuesday night in Frisco, Texas, is still not 100 percent fit after suffering a hamstring injury in May with Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.
As the clock ticked toward full time, the United States pressure intensified and the Americans were able to create a flurry of opportunities, but were unable to get the two-goal cushion to take the edge off at Gillette Stadium.
USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann opted for a different back line against Haiti as he made changes across his lineup.
Tim Ream 5.5/10 – A rather mixed outing for the Bolton Wanderers defender, who committed one bad giveaway in the first-half and was left for dead on the previously mentioned Nazon chance. In search of some much-needed consistency, this game certainly has the potential to make or break the tournament for the USA team. “The first 20, 25, 30 minutes weren’t the greatest for us and the last 15 we picked it up a little bit”. Not at No. 6. Twice, he committed fouls that gave Haiti free kicks just outside the penalty area. That was just one of several Diskerud turnovers caused by ponderous second and third touches. And in the U.S. midfield, Kyle Beckerman put in an uncharacteristic sloppy 90 minutes in the first match, making way for a Mix Diskerud or even Alfredo Morales to join Bradley in the midfield. We hope that this kind of material gels more and more and more with every game and every day we are on the training field.
Forward Kervens Belfort – who plays for the Cypriot club Ethnikos – has shown a penchant for scoring in global competition, netting a tournament-high three goals at the 2014 Caribbean Cup.
Klinsmann obviously saw something he liked from Zardes playing as a left mid. In tonight’s other match, Honduras tied Panama 1-1, leaving Panama 0-0-2 with two points, and Haiti and Honduras 0-1-1 with one point each.
Haiti had the bulk of the chances in the first half and continued to generate danger on the counter-strike in the second half. It was clear that the United States were a level above their opponents and Honduras could barely keep up with the pace.
After the half hour mark, the United States attack began to get things going.
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Zardes’ passing and combination play have improved sharply since he started off with the Galaxy. Dempsey relinquished the captain’s armband to Michael Bradley following his two-year domestic suspension, but still performed like the USMNT icon he’s become since last summer’s World Cup.
