USA Vs. Canada, Gold Cup 2011, Group C: USMNT Defeats Canada Through Altidore, Dempsey Goals

The U.S. came flying out of the gates and almost scored just two minutes in. Altidore drew a dangerous free kick, which went off the wall and out for a corner kick, but the U.S. got three shots off of the corner kicks, all of which were blocked. U.S. corner kicks were common in the early going with four of them in the first 10 minutes. None led to goals though, just many blocked shots so despite their early dominance, the U.S. didn’t see that edge on the scoreboard.

From there, the match turned boring for the rest of the half. Sideways passes was all there was and neither team looked intent on attacking so the teams went to halftime with the Americans up by a goal.

What will be a concern is why Jones had to come off. He made a long run all the way down the field, but afterward came up lame. He spent four minutes calling for a substitution before Edu finally came on for him and Jones got to come off. It did not look to be overly serious, but will be worth keeping an eye on before the next U.S. match on Saturday.

Gerba got a ball played to him on the right and despite being 25 yards from goal, he did not hesitate to take a shot. With the shot he got off, there was no reason for Gerba to hesitate. The striker ripped one towards the far post. It was a bullet that looked bound for the upper corner, but Howard was able to get a full stretch to deny Gerba and keep the United States ahead in the 69th minute.

With Wondolowski coming on, the U.S. has a hot striker who has been taking advantage of every chance he has gotten for the San Jose Earthquakes of late. That is good for a team that has struggled to finish their chance of late and again in this match. He doesn’t have an international goal so this could be the perfect opportunity to get that goal and put the U.S. 3-0 up.

The pro-U.S. crowd at Ford Field in Detroit, MI was only too happy to see the Americans go 2-0 up. Dempsey let out a roar and pointed at the name on the back of his shirt, but no matter who the goal scorer is, the U.S. will just be happy to have an insurance goal.

With the ball chest high and behind him, Dempsey jumped and lifted his left. He tried a chest high, backheeled volley and guess what? He pulled it over. He really did and it was absolutely incredible. The shot was goal bound too, but like so many chances for the U.S. in this match, it was blocked. This block was really unfortunate though because it would have been the best goal ever scored. No joke. It was that awesome.

The first chance of the second half came for the U.S. when a long cross to Altidore just barely went over his head. Had it been three inches lower, Altidore would have had a glorious chance to head home his second goal of the game to put the U.S. ahead, 2-0.

Canada wasn’t going to let the U.S. have all the fun though. They came flying down the other way and Simeon Jackson danced his way around the edge of the U.S. box. One defender missed, another missed, another missed and it looked like Jackson might get a good opportunity at goal, but he waited too long and had the ball taken away.

You would think that Bradley would be a little smarter considering his last Gold Cup experience. Bradley picked up a red card in the 2007 Gold Cup semifinals and was suspended for the final, which the U.S. won. He may not have picked up a red card here, but he put himself another caution away from ejection or a caution in the next two matches away from a suspension.

The good news for the U.S. is that an invisible Dempsey is not completely new. He has a tendency to loaf around for stretches before popping up out of nowhere with a tremendous play. The Americans will need a little bit of that tremendous in the second half to really get their attack going because Dempsey is just too valuable to them.

After the U.S. goal, things evened out some. Canada had some possession, but the Americans continued to be the better side. It didn’t matter much though because neither team did much in the way of attacking. It was primarily sideways passing as the match turned into a bore for all those watching.

The U.S. will take their lead, even if it may have become a bore. They will not be happy with just a one-goal lead though and will come out in the second 45 minutes looking to build upon it.

Agudelo had the ball at the edge of the box on the right side with a defender in front of him. He was moving towards goal slowly and searching for support, but it was nowhere to be found. Instead of dribbling aimlessly, he put a shot on frame with the outside of his right foot. It wasn’t hard and it took a bit of a deflection, but it was still an easy save. Hirschfeld made it look hard though and knocked it down before grabbing it. There was never much of a threat of a goal, but the Canucks cannot feel comfortable with the way Hirschfeld has looked in goal.

In this match against Canada he is doing everything that has been asked of him. U.S. fans, cue the smile. Altidore is playing like he cares.

Despite De Rosario’s shot going wide, it was encouraging for Canada to get the chance after a spell of possession. Trailing 1-0 and being thoroughly outplayed, Canada needs to have a couple moments like the one that led to De Rosario’s chance. With a few of those they can continue to build and start making headway towards leveling this match.

Bradley is often criticized for his tactics, but on this one he has been spot on. Getting Donovan away from Johnson has opened up play for the U.S. and proven to be very effective already. Point Bradley.

So early in a match it is tough to say that a goal is so very much deserved, but it was a very much deserved goal for the U.S. They have completely dominated Canada in the early going, already peppering several shots towards the goal and getting four corner kicks while the Canucks haven’t even been able to get any possession whatsoever. The U.S. has one, but the way this one is going they will get a few more before long.

In your “When will Kyle Martino first refer to the United States men’s national team as ‘we’” pool, then YOU’RE A WINNER!

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Panama was up 3-0 and up a man with just over a half hour to play. Guadeloupe was dead and buried. The match was over, at least that was the common thinking. The Gold Cup has no room for common thinking though. Guadeloupe battled back to score two goals, but it wasn’t enough. Panama barely hung on to grab a 3-2 win over Guadeloupe in the Gold Cup Group C opener at Ford Field in Detroit, MI, but it was hardly a win that will inspire confidence in the Panamanians.

The scoring started with Blas Perez in the 29th minute. Luis Tejada chested a ball down to Perez, who was in behind the Guadeloupe defense. Guadeloupe thought Perez was offiside, but the flag never went up and Perez finished easily.