After getting crushed by a very formidable Belgian side, USMNT is playing Deutschland.

Up 4-1 until the 78th minute.

Score is now 4-3 with two quick scores by the Germans. Some really lousy defending by Team USA in the last 10 minutes.

7 minutes to go.

This is a very sparse German side as well.

Khedira, Neuer, Ozil, Muller, Podolski, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Kroos etc. are not playing.

4-3 Final.

USA Wins!

Podolski played, as did Klose, Schurrle, and Mertesacker. Wasn't the A team, but certainly not slouches. A good, if nervy, win. Best game for Altidore in a USA jersey in a long time.

(06-02-2013 04:09 PM)jwn Wrote:  Podolski played, as did Klose, Schurrle, and Mertesacker. Wasn't the A team, but certainly not slouches. A good, if nervy, win. Best game for Altidore in a USA jersey in a long time.

Must have missed Podolski. Mertesacker and Klose are definitely down the pecking order now; Mario Gomez is their starting striker now.

Good win nonetheless. Happy to see Altidore in form. Wish the defense had held their own at the end though.

(06-02-2013 05:19 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(06-02-2013 04:09 PM)jwn Wrote:  Podolski played, as did Klose, Schurrle, and Mertesacker. Wasn't the A team, but certainly not slouches. A good, if nervy, win. Best game for Altidore in a USA jersey in a long time.

Must have missed Podolski. Mertesacker and Klose are definitely down the pecking order now; Mario Gomez is their starting striker now.

Good win nonetheless. Happy to see Altidore in form. Wish the defense had held their own at the end though.

Podolski was the guy flying the opposite direction across Dempsey's face before he calmly nailed that lefty shot

(06-03-2013 09:26 AM)07owl Wrote:  

(06-02-2013 05:19 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(06-02-2013 04:09 PM)jwn Wrote:  Podolski played, as did Klose, Schurrle, and Mertesacker. Wasn't the A team, but certainly not slouches. A good, if nervy, win. Best game for Altidore in a USA jersey in a long time.

Must have missed Podolski. Mertesacker and Klose are definitely down the pecking order now; Mario Gomez is their starting striker now.

Good win nonetheless. Happy to see Altidore in form. Wish the defense had held their own at the end though.

Podolski was the guy flying the opposite direction across Dempsey's face before he calmly nailed that lefty shot

I think he played out of position in the midfield. I'm not sure where he would normally play for the screaming eagles. Nevertheless, three solid goals by the USMNT, and good pressure to unsettle the German GK. He'll probably need another few years of experience before getting another chance at a cap - he didn't look horrible overall, but not good enough to distinguish himself (the own goal was as bad as you'll see, but I don't think one mistake on its own would banish him from another chance).

I think Beasley has done admirably, but absent some tangible results on the offensive end, I'm not convinced he's strong enough to solidify the left back position. I'd like to see more from Evans at right back - it seemed to me like most of Germany's good chances built up from that corner of the field (at least until Castillo came on), but he did look fairly good.

(06-03-2013 11:19 AM)I45owl Wrote:  

(06-03-2013 09:26 AM)07owl Wrote:  

(06-02-2013 05:19 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(06-02-2013 04:09 PM)jwn Wrote:  Podolski played, as did Klose, Schurrle, and Mertesacker. Wasn't the A team, but certainly not slouches. A good, if nervy, win. Best game for Altidore in a USA jersey in a long time.

Must have missed Podolski. Mertesacker and Klose are definitely down the pecking order now; Mario Gomez is their starting striker now.

Good win nonetheless. Happy to see Altidore in form. Wish the defense had held their own at the end though.

Podolski was the guy flying the opposite direction across Dempsey's face before he calmly nailed that lefty shot

I think he played out of position in the midfield. I'm not sure where he would normally play for the screaming eagles. Nevertheless, three solid goals by the USMNT, and good pressure to unsettle the German GK. He'll probably need another few years of experience before getting another chance at a cap - he didn't look horrible overall, but not good enough to distinguish himself (the own goal was as bad as you'll see, but I don't think one mistake on its own would banish him from another chance).

I think Beasley has done admirably, but absent some tangible results on the offensive end, I'm not convinced he's strong enough to solidify the left back position. I'd like to see more from Evans at right back - it seemed to me like most of Germany's good chances built up from that corner of the field (at least until Castillo came on), but he did look fairly good.

It depends - Green definitely hurt his chances vs. Hart after this fiasco (another gift to team USA)

Good point, but (1) that was not a friendly, and (2) I think it was also a problem of body of work. I really think yesterday's mistake due to lack of experience ... his initial error was not recognizing that the US was trapping him and making the initial ball a clearance. He panicked a bit and misplayed the ball trying to cut it back. He did look pretty young, and I think that time will work in his favor to redeem himself. That said, I can't imagine that Germany is lacking in depth of GK talent.

(06-03-2013 12:05 PM)I45owl Wrote:  Good point, but (1) that was not a friendly, and (2) I think it was also a problem of body of work. I really think yesterday's mistake due to lack of experience ... his initial error was not recognizing that the US was trapping him and making the initial ball a clearance. He panicked a bit and misplayed the ball trying to cut it back. He did look pretty young, and I think that time will work in his favor to redeem himself. That said, I can't imagine that Germany is lacking in depth of GK talent.

Agree completely. The goal kick should have definitely been kicked long and not played into a 3v3 group in front of the goal. IMO, Green made a bad mistake also and is a much better GK than that one play he is remembered for (although it is fun to remember it )

I've tried to get our boys to play the ball out on goalkicks without having it kicked back on us immediately. Refereeing rec soccer, that's a consistent theme is inattention to how to play the ball out on goalkicks. After practicing it the first few weeks of practice, I refereed a game just before we played and told the kids that the game I had just refereed ended up in a tie after the team that had the lead kicked the ball straight out of goal just to see the striker bring it down and score 2-3 touches later.

However, the cognitive abilities of 8 year old boys are just not what I'd hope they'd be and some of them just didn't seem to get it. Ultimately, we conceded more corner kicks directly off of the goal kick than any team probably in the history of soccer.

Bumping this thread to report that USA is tied 1-1 at the Half with Germany. Mix Diskerud scored in the 41st minute.

Also, the USWNT is playing in the world cup. They opened on Monday with a comfortable 3-1 win over the aussies.

USMNT knocks off #1 Germany. Wow

Still a friendly, however this just shows that we hired the right guy

(06-10-2015 03:43 PM)Antarius Wrote:  USMNT knocks off #1 Germany. Wow

Still a friendly, however this just shows that we hired the right guy

Two big wins for the USMNT. Winning the Gold Cup is vastly more important though - win it and we're in the 2017 Confederations Cup. (I think even if we don't win, we get a playoff with the winners since we won the 2013 GC...)

Love to see the young players stepping up...

(06-11-2015 12:26 PM)JustAnotherAustinOwl Wrote:  

(06-10-2015 03:43 PM)Antarius Wrote:  USMNT knocks off #1 Germany. Wow

Still a friendly, however this just shows that we hired the right guy

Two big wins for the USMNT. Winning the Gold Cup is vastly more important though - win it and we're in the 2017 Confederations Cup. (I think even if we don't win, we get a playoff with the winners since we won the 2013 GC...)

Love to see the young players stepping up...

Agreed. Also, winning the Gold Cup means denying Mexico, which is an added bonus (not unlike knocking UH out of the CWS)