US-Guatemala postgame

Match report here.

Earlier, I predicted that this match could be something of a letdown for the US team, but fortunately it didn't turn out that way. It did start off as a fairly even contest, with the Chapines defending well and being quick in the tackle in midfield, something the US hasn't really faced in their previous couple of matches. But Ben Olsen's golazo seemed to stun Guatemala, and from then on the result was never really in doubt.

It's hard to know what Olsen's chances of making this squad really are. I'm not sure that he's an international-class center midfielder, but he is energetic, smart, and perhaps most importantly, versatile. He's well behind Reyna, O'Brien, Mastroeni, Zavagnin, Dempsey and Armas on the depth chart, but since a good two-thirds of those players tend to spend more time in the treatment room than on the field, Olsen could well find himself in contention. I suspect that he'll be in the travelling squad to Poland because of our lack of fit center midfielders, so we'll see how he performs over in Kaiserslautern.

Of the strikers, Eddie Johnson looked the most dangerous, although maybe not man of the match dangerous. Brian Ching had a nicely taken goal, but he also seemed to disappear occasionally. I wasn't half as enamored of Chris Rolfe as Soccer America apparently was , but I think that in a year or two more he'll be great. Josh Wolff was typically enigmatic. On one hand he doesn't seem to score much, but on the other it always seems like he might be about to, which sometimes is just what you need.

Other people with good days: Pope, Conrad, Zavagnin and Klein. Much more so than the other three, Klein needed one desperately. His performance had a few errors, but he was influential throughout, and had a very well taken goal.

Overall a very nice performance, about the best we could have helped for considering the circumstances. I can't help but notice that we are 2-0-0 with a goal difference of +9 in games where Dave O'Brien is the commentator. I can't decide whether or not this is an adequate compensation for his unbearable use of the term "Team USA."