Copa America

America didn't start the Copa America on a strong foot. On Thursday, as I sat in an Outback restaurant, I saw the score 4-1 scroll across the screen and I figured that the worst had come to pass--that Argentina had rolled up 4 quick goals then put in some scrubs to give them experience and only then did the US manage to eke out a goal in garbage time.

Having watched the game post-facto, I have to say I'm relieved. Or at least I'm as relieved as one can be when one's team has lost 4-1.

First of all, we scored first. Second of all, we managed some periods of possession and even some one-touch passing combinations amongst a group that mostly hadn't played together, and we even did so at times in Argentina's half. Thirdly, I thought DeMerit and Conrad looked pretty solid as center backs. Finally, we limited Argentina's chances on goal and most of the goals can be directly linked to one (or two) of our players deciding not to do his job.

Having said all that, Argentina definitely controlled the game. They didn't dominate the game, but they could've. They took a tentative approach for some reason, perhaps because they don't know the US that well or perhaps because they are trying to conserve their energy for a long tourney. The US had no serious threats on the Argentine goal, and had the South Americans not fouled Johnson, the US probably would have had no goals. (Johnson already looked to be indecisive as he approached goal.)

It seems that Johnson and Twellman are not international-caliber forwards. I can only hope that Johnson grows into that role eventually, but I have my doubts. (I've long since given up on Twellman.) Unfortunately, there's no one on this roster that offers immediate hope either, so we will struggle to score in the tournament unless our midfield steps up dramatically. I'd like to see Charlie Davies get some time. I've heard he's full of promise at least.

In the midfield Feilhaber continues to impress, and Olsen is the Pablo Mastroeni of the wingers. Clark played well overall, and Mapp shows promise but needs plenty of seasoning. The sub, Gaven, didn't do much. While the successive onslaught wasn't his fault, there was a decided defensive edge that was lost when Olsen departed the field. Beckerman also showed some spunk on the attack. Strong shots from distance are one of his hallmarks, and he had his opportunities from afar, but the shots were much too anemic to pose any threat. On the left side, I think Bornstein might do well moved up to left mid. I also hope Lee Nguyen gets some time on the field. It would be good for him and I think it would even be an improvement for the team.

In the back, I think DeMerit and Conrad looked solid for the most part. DeMerit has already faced Tevez in the Premiership at least. The two outside backs, Wynne and Bornstein looked okay when we were in possession, but were defensive liabilities at times...and easing up just a moment can be fatal at this level, and is an inexcusable sin for defensive backs. Keller got a lot of grief for some of the goals, but it's hard to blame him.

Goal 1: The line thought the free kick would be a shot directly on goal and didn't adjust to the runs made on the chipped kick. Chaos in front of the goal is usually bad.

Goal 2: Messi works the ball through the gut of the US and slots a through pass to Crespo, who Bornstein charitably lets run free for the goal.

Goal 3: Wynne jogs at a leisurely pace to ensure Heinze has plenty of time on the flank. Heinze uses the time to make a perfect cross. Clark, meanwhile, lets Aimar make an unchallenged run up the middle to head in the goal. Both DeMerit and Conrad almost got to the cross in the air, so perhaps Clark thought they'd get the ball before Aimar, but that's a risky gamble.

Goal 4: Bornstein again lets his man (some guy named Tevez...can't be too dangerous, can he?) run free onto a perfectly timed pass from the centerline. Tevez has so much time that he stops for a cappuccino on his way to scoring the final goal.

Much has been made of this being a US B-Team, but I don't know how much of a factor that is. Up front we really haven't found our dependable forward (I'd say Ching is the best true forward we have at this point, but most disagree with me), so what we put out there was as good as any. In the midfield we were missing some definite strength, with Donovan, Dempsey, and Beasley gone, and that definitely affected our attacking ability, but we still had some solid (in terms of USMNT standards) fare with our two center mids: Clark and Feilhaber (and even Beckerman, though it's hard to tell based on when he came in). As for the back line, I don't think that our centerbacks were much of a drop (if they even were a drop) in quality from our Gold Cup tandem of Onyewu and Bocanegra, but our wing backs were definitely problematic at times...but are Hejduk and Spector that much of improvement? Simek maybe defensively.

So, yes, a definite loss of quality with our wide mids and attacking mid, but the questions we already had at the other positions means we can't smugly say "Well, this was our reserve team you beat." In short, we have some definite newbies, but the drop in quality overall was less than what most US fans would believe. Had we sent our so-called A-Team (namely, just added the consensus favorites: Donovan, Beasley, and Dempsey), the scoreline might be different, but I think the result would be the same. That might be a fatalistic view, but I think our World Cup experience supports the theory for now. At least with this loss we've exposed some new players to the best of the best, so to speak. Maybe Bradley has even found out that some who he thought might be staples (Twellman, perhaps) should remain in the US as club heroes.

But, yeah, it would've been nice to see what difference (if any) our supposed USMNT starters would have made. It's always best to put your country's starters against another country's.

(Oh, and another excuse I hate is that "we were pooped from playing the Gold Cup just a few days before." Mexico's win over Brazil eliminates that excuse.)

Final notes:
On the Telefutura broadcast, who thinks the US fans cheering around the reporter were really US fans? I think they were studio plants to create atmosphere. That's my impression at least. The Argentine fans at least were sporting team jerseys and had passion in their eyes.

Didn't sober Maradona look happy when his team finally cranked up the level of play? What a sad off-field story he has become though.