USA vs Venezuela

We beat Venezuela Saturday night. Took all of 97 minutes to do so but we got the win. Here is the game winner:


The announcer was pretty annoying and Taylor Twellman was awkward, this being his first game commentating. Anyone is better than John Harkes though.

With all the senior players in the middle of their seasons in Europe, Jurgen was able to field an experimentally young roster. Here it is:

Training Camp

I thought Jermaine Jones played better than anyone on the pitch. He is currently serving an 8 game suspension for Schalke '04, so I think it was smart for Klinsmann to give him the captains armband. Looks like the leadership role helped smooth out his rough edges.

Jermaine

Graham

Game Winner
(look at Shea's face HA!)

Victory

Our defense looked great in my opinion. I was very impressed with Geoff Cameron and Michael Parkhurst. Zach Loyd didn't get to play much but when he did I think he looked very calm and smart. He should connect well with Shea in future games being that they both play for FCD. Heath Pearce didn't do much to catch my eye, which isn't good but it isn't bad either. I am excited to see that we may have found some hope in solving our back line issues. Cherundolo and Bocanegra are great, but risky in age for the next WC. I have never trusted Gooch since his knee injury. Timmy Chandler is quick and aggressive but sometimes makes errant passes and gets caught too far forward. Our boys had great possession and patience, which actually made the game really dull. There were times I found myself yelling, "GO UPFIELD!" or "TAKE HIM ON!" because we were so concerned about maintaining possession that we never took any risks. Maybe they were just apprehensive because for many it was their first game. My boy Brek Shea and Teal Bunbury seemed to be the only ones for a while with killer instinct. Feilhaber contributed well offensively until #8 for Venezuela got into his head by sexually assaulting him on every single set play. Things are looking up though, and as a USMNT fan I am always optimistic for my guys. Hopefully this game was a sign of good things to come.