USA vs Guadeloupe

The USA responded under the pressure Tuesday night, knocking off Guadeloupe 1-0.  Jozy Altidore put in an absolute rocket in the ninth minute to put us up early.  We looked rather shaky prior to Altidore's magic though.  In the fourth minute Guadeloupe's Stephane Zubar failed to convert on Donavan's poor attempt to clear a corner, sending a screamer off the top bar.

From then on we pummeled Grandel, outshooting Guadeloupe 19-4.  While Guadeloupe had their chances, they failed to put any on frame.  We, on the other hand, spent the entire match knocking at the door.  Guadeloupe opened it wide open for us on several occasions but we never seemed to find the way through the frame.  In the 76th minute of play, Julien Ictoi thwarted Dempsey's lackadaisical attempt on goal, topping off our deplorable efforts on goal for the match. 

Finishing has remained one of America's Achilles’ heels, along with creative play and patience with the ball.  Instead of calmly finishing chances; we play it directly at the keeper or sky it over the box.  Jozy's goal is something I have never seen from an American player. Too often we pass up an attempt from 25+ out for a closer look in traffic and end up turning it over.  I believe it starts at the youth levels.  Players are scolded for attempting ambitious shots instead of finding a player.  While I believe we lack patience and the consistent control of possession, we have to start taking open looks from distance. 

Try and think of a significant goal in US history that wasn’t a header or some sort of put back.  You can’t.  Jozy’s goal was a brilliant strike not only because it was the game winner but the goal can hopefully instill confidence in our other players to attempt shots from distance (aka Dempsey later in the match).  Hopefully we can build upon this game and move farther along in the tournament.