US Japan thoughts

Ack... I've had a hellaciously busy last few days and unable to post about the fine US victory over Japan until now.

What surprised me about the game was how very similar it was to the Norway game in terms of the both the dynamic of the match and the performance of the US players. After taking five minutes to settle, the Americans once again dominated the match. For sixty minutes, an experienced Japan side simply could not play themselves out of their own half. And just as in the Norway game, it was Twellman, Dempsey, Noonan, Donovan and Zavagnin who were bossing the field. The Dempsey goal was simply sublime--magnificently worked by he, Twellman and Wolff. Zico looked shellshocked at the end of the first half.

The outside backs once again got a lot of time and space to do what they want. Given that, you'd have laid money on Chris Klein having a field day, but his touch was erratic: a few good crosses, but several misplayed ones. Dunivant had more success on the left, and did his chances of making this squad even more good.

Pope and Conrad both had good outings. In two matches, Pope has made himself the odds on favorite to start alongside Oneywu.

The substitutions--and particularly Dempsey's--clearly disrupted the US rhythm. I was actually out of the room for the first Japanese goal, but at least judging by the replay, it's hard not to agree with Marcelo Balboa that Klein was too easily out-muscled by his marker. The second goal was a great strike, but Chris Rolfe should have probably cleared it; he got beat on the inside post Mike Burns-style.

And while we're complaining, can we practice the corner kicks this week Landon? I lost count of how many of them didn't beat the first man, a criminal waste considering we had a good three inch height advantage over the Japanese.

Overall though, a very fine outing by the US against a team that really came to play. It'll be interesting to see who from this squad will be selected for the squad for the Poland match on March 1st