The US badly needed Dempsey’s heroics on a night when Honduras pushed the Americans for 90 minutes and, it can be argued, played the better match.
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Coming in to the game, U.S. had won their opening game in every edition of the Gold Cup, and all five of their games in Texas in that time, but Honduras, under Jorge Luis Pinto, the architect of Costa Rica’s World Cup run, were always likely to be awkward opponents, and so it proved.
Mexico begins play Thursday in Chicago against Cuba. “Once we scored the goal they couldn’t press like they wanted to because they couldn’t afford to give up another”.
The United States will play Haiti on Friday at 8:30 pm in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Dempsey had been relieved of the United States captaincy before the tournament by Klinsmann after he was suspended for tearing up a referee’s notebook during a United States club match.
Meanwhile on the field, two days after the women’s team celebrated a third Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cup win, Clint Dempsey scored a header in each half and the USA held off a late rally to keep the American party going.
A healthy version of that 2018 side might well have a use for Dempsey’s unique talents on a bit-part basis, though it may also need to move beyond him, which begs the question of when to initiate successions without creating a Landon Donovan-style distraction. Jurgen Klinsmann has said repeatedly how 2015 is a year of “transition” for the roster-reloading, getting younger, starting up the position battles that will play out from now right up until Russian Federation 2018.
Zardes and Yedlin must find the next level Honduras and US battle in the second half.
In practice, the balance looked a little wobbly. On Honduras’ lone goal Alvarado was beaten on the edge of the box and as a defender you simply can’t allow that to happen. The goalkeeper’s statement is true, but in this case, the good team will not be able to win if they continue playing the way they did on Tuesday. Klinsmann is prepared to risk Zardes and Yedlin learning on the job to make it so, without an additional body in midfield around them as insurance.
Honduras could not clear Bradley’s corner and Escober stopped Jozy Altidore’s follow-up shot with his boot only for Dempsey to convert.
[ FOLLOW: All of PST’s Gold Cup coverage ]. The Real Salt Lake star found difficulty taking the ball away from attacking Honduran players and finding it after it squirted out of the 18-yard box. If they lose then their second round lives will be out of their grasp.
The biggest problem for the men’s team was created by the play of Honduras’s Andy Najar, the ex- D.C. United winger now plying his trade for Anderlecht in Blegium.
BRAD EVANS-Subbed on in the 63rd minute, he made a couple of nice tackles to break up some scoring chances but arguably could have slid over in support faster on Honduras’ goal-though at that point the defensive shape was already shot. All three substitutes offered an improved attacking threat, and were equally involved in Honduras’ best chances. Not that Anthony Lozano is an unknown overseas.
Stats Don’t Lie: The stats about the success of the USMNT in the Gold Cup are startling. WELL YOU’RE WRONG. Tonight the Gold Cup kicks off, and if you’re a fan of Tottenham Hotspur you’ll want to tune in. Why?
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The Americans and Hondurans are joined in Group A by Haiti and Panama, who played to a 1-1 draw in the first game of the 12-team, 19-day tournament’s opening day doubleheader.
