Yesterday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, the USMNT registered their first win under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann, defeating Honduras by one goal to nil. Clint Dempsey scored in the 36' with a sweet foot change in the box, whacking the ball in to the top of the net.
Though only winning by one, the US looked looked dominating at times, and had a goal disallowed for a nothing-push by Dempsey robbing him of his second as he rose above his defender in the box.
Be it a friendly, It was a good day for American Soccer fans as we take our first win under the reign of the German, shoeing promise in things to come. When the USMNT lines-up against Ecuador on Tuesday at Red Bull Arena, Jurgen will look for a repeat performance from his boys and If they manage to keep the confidence shown against Honduras, it should be all but a formality.
Some key points that I feel are pertinent to mention:
How good Jozy Altidore looks when he gets regular playing time for his club side. Having moved to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar this summer, Altidore has had regular playing time that has kept his touch and tempo for the game up. When he was not getting playing time at previous clubs, the ask of being the lead goal scoring threat for the USMNT was too much. Now that he has the confidence of three goals in the Eredivise, Altidore's touch has looked more assured, has been working harder, and looks overall a threat when in possession.
The left side of Brek Shea and Timmy Chandler looked lethal yesterday, combining well as the marauding left back Chandler is complimented well by the defense cautions winger Shea. Shea made the statement yesterday that he has arrived on the International platform, becoming a consistent attacking threat on the left and delivering teasing crosses that sliced open the Honduran defense like a preserved frog in science class-suppling the cross to Dempsey for the winner, from (not to mention) the opposite side of his starting position. The only real low point in Shea's game was when he fluffed a sitter, set up by a cross-goal pass from Altidore.
Out of favor Oguchi Onyewu or " Gooch,"seemed to have taken his final bow as a USMNT player under Bob Bradley, looking god-awful amongst other things, until last night. Having being recalled from the doldrums, the cast-out center back made a triumphant return to relevance as he started alongside Capt. Bocanegra in the heart of our defense, helping to secure a clean sheet. I will have to see a few more performances akin to this one to be throughly convinced, but one thing I can say for sure is that he made Michael Orozaco-Fiscal look like a proper donkey.
After this result I would hope the US boys push on and take Ecuador to the chopping block on Tuesday and taking Clint Dempsey's form into account, you might as well call the undertaker.
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