US Men thrill, seize Gold Cup over Mexico

If you were lucky enough to see it, you witnessed one of the greatest US MNT matches in history.

The 2-1 victory over across the border rival Mexico gave millions of US Soccer fans hope that the nightmare of last year's World Cup can finally be replaced by the American triumph that occurred on a sunny and warm Chicago afternoon.

During the past 365 days, the US MNT has endured a humiliating early exit from the World Cup, the termination of Bruce Arena as manager, a five month period of managerial limbo followed by another five month period of the same. And yet, all of the distractions, follies and bad fortune were put on the backburner after a beautiful two-hour Sunday afternoon affair between two biting rivals.

After Mexico took a 1-0 lead in the waning minutes of the first half, the Americans found themselves in unfamiliar territory during Gold Cup action: trailing an opponent. More importantly, the Mexicans looked recharged at the beginning of the second half; ready to purchase goal number two as they maintained possession for lengthy spells.

It wasn't until Brian Ching was brought down in the box that led to the American answer. Landon Donovan converted the ensuing penalty kick - his 35th career MNT goal, tying him with Eric Wynalda as king of the mountain - and the Americans finally came alive. On paper, it was simply two sides pitted against each other for a shiny golden trophy. On the battlefront, it was a fierce battle for bragging rights of North and Central American football superemacy.

Although the Mexican crowd clearly dominated the Soldier Field seats, with the Americans effectively playing in front of a hostile crowd, the sudden hush that overcame the pro-Mexican crowd after Benny Feilhaber's 73rd minute cruise missile the was absolutely priceless. It was a seminal moment in US Soccer history.

If this game didn't make you a believer in US Soccer, at least temporarily, then you missed a wonderful display of what this team - and by extension, American soccer - can accomplish.

U.S. battle Panama for 2-1 victory; Advance to Gold Cup final four

Almost one year ago to the date, Gillette Stadium welcomed U.S. supporters to view the U.S.-Italy World Cup match live on the large screens within the stadium. On Saturday afternoon, the stadium played host once again to US supporters, this time with their team in significantly closer proximity, as the Americans battled Panama to a 2-1 victory in the Gold Cup Quarterfinal round.

Almost immediately the Americans set the offensive tone when, in the 2nd minute, the U.S. penetrated the Panamanian box as Landon Donovan split a vulnerable Panama defender before he mailed a dangerous shot on Panama keeper Jaime Penedo.

An early scare occurred in the form of Man on Fire DaMarcus Beasley injured himself in the 6th minute. Although grounded for a few anxious minutes, the gritty midfielder returned to his feet soon after, surely allowing Sam’s Army to breathe a sigh of relief.

Soon after said scare, Taylor Twellman raced into the box in the 9th minute and launched a left-footed shot that just missed the goal by inches.

After a Panamanian corner kick in the 18th minute, the Bradley’s boys quickly counterattacked when Donovan raced down the heart of the pitch leaving one defender in his wake and took an acute-angled shot on goal that was batted away by Penedo.

Things got ugly in the wake of the ensuing corner kick, when Peneda appeared to have a launched a back-of-the-neck pulldown of a defenseless Twellman. What should have warranted at very least, a yellow, went uncarded, and the match was gradually turned into a rather fisticuff-filled match halfway through the first half.

Minutes later, in the 26th, Donovan airmailed a corner that Twellman headed toward goal for what would have been the first goal of the match had the crossbar not gotten in the way, of course. Four minutes later, Dempsey decided to try and get in on the offensive display when he slid into a shot that skipped into the clutches of a diving Peneda in the 30th minute.

Undeterred, Panama found its first scoring opportunity a minute later when Blas Perez snuck into the box before three U.S. defenders and directed a tantalizing shot that went mere feet wide of the U.S. goal in the 31st minute.

In a bout of incredibly comical luck, Twellman escaped his mark, turned, and launched a brilliant shot that was inadvertently blocked by his former Rev teammate Dempsey in the 38th minute.

As the second half commenced, the U.S. kicked off hoping to spark an offensive series that would produce a goal. The halftime stat sheet showed that while the Panamanians had the advantage on total possession (52%), the Americans acquired more quality chances (three shots on goal to one for Panama).

In the 48th, Perez raced down the pitch on a jailhouse break that gave Howard his first true test of the match when marched right up to his doorstep like a menacing girl scout before firing a hard shot on Howard. The Everton keeper passed the test with flying colors, and denied Perez the back of the net.

A critical moment occurred in the 57th minute; Donovan was haphazardly tackled after he crashed the box, leading to a penalty kick. Donovan accordingly stepped up and skipped in career Gold Cup goal number ten (most in US Men’s National Team history), which cued the flying streamers from the Sam’s Army contingent behind the Panama net.

Less than five minutes later in the 62nd, Carlos Bocanegra headed a spectacular right flank free kick engineered by DaMarcus Beasley for pay dirt, giving the Americans the 2-0 lead midway through the second half. An ominous sign hanging from the Fort (yes, it’s still the Fort even during non-Revolution events) implored “Release the Hounds,” and said hounds had been effectively uncaged during this sweet five-minute sequence.

More trouble ensued in the 76th minute when Manuel Torres hard tackled Clint Dempsey in what was a sure-fire card eliciting offense. Torres attempted to plead his case, with teammates offering expert witness testimony. But it was all in vain as referee Neil Brizan issued Torres his second yellow card of the match, and the subsequent red card ejection, which left his teammates in the unfortunate predicament of having to make up a two-goal difference a man down with fifteen minutes left in the match.

Despite the one-man disadvantage, Panama attacked like bats out of hell in the 84th minute, when Perez escaped three hapless American defenders and rolled into the middle of the box before firing a hard shot into bottom corner of the U.S. goal, cutting the U.S. margin in half, 2-1.

With four minutes of stoppage time added, Panama had its work cut out if it were to acquire the equalizer one man down. They hurried to reassemble the attack, but failed to find the back of the net, giving the U.S. the all-important quarter final victory in front of the Foxboro faithful.

US Dominate El Salvador, 4-0

As the video camera peered in on Clint Dempsey during the playing of the American National Anthem prior to Wednesday night’s US-El Salvador Gold Cup match, the former MLS star-turned Fulham FC savior stoically peered at the very crowd that cheered him when he first made his Revolution debut just over three years ago. And it was Dempsey, upon his return to the Gillette Stadium pitch, who became an offensive catalyst by constantly finding himself in the attacking mix during the Americans' 4-0 victory over El Salvador.


The U.S. kicked off for the first half in an unconventional in a 3-4-3 formation, and Dempsey was placed in his familiar attacking midfield role. Right off the bat, the US displayed the one-touch passing that helped them go undefeated early on in the first two games of the tournament.


The Salvadorans tempered the U.S. attack with a developing offensive sequence in the 6th minute, causing Tim Howard to smother the ball out of harms way. But by and large, the US controlled the tempo of the match for large chunks of the first half, whereby thsquad surely owned the on the El Salvadoran side of the field.


At the 20 minute mark, Dempsey broke through the El Salvadoran back line and put a wicked side-heeled shot on goal that was stuffed by keeper Miguel Montes. Deuce struck again in the 24th minute when he pulled the trigger on a shot deep within the box that struck the side post. It was clearly evident that the Nacogdoches Kid was determined to take the leading role on this, his former center-stage.


By the 28th minute, the Americans had engineered a string of well-placed passes, patiently weaving through the El Salvadoran half of the pitch, as the El Salvadorans struggled to keep up with the well-organized and exquisitely-executed attack.


Then, in the 33rd minute, for the all the entire display of technical soundness, the U.S. finally beared down on clinching the opening salvo, when it awarded a spot kick on the left flank when DaMarcus Beasley was manhandled on the attack. Although the spot kick failed to materialize into the back of the net, a corner kick was awarded when the ball bounced off an El Salvadoran defender and rolled past the goal line.


Seconds later, Donovan launched an outswinging corner kick into the box that deflected its way to the top of the box and fortuitously fell to the feet of Beasley. Beasley hit the deflection in stride and skipped the ball past the keeper for the opening goal of the match in the 34th minute, giving the Americans the 1-0 lead.


“It was important to get that first goal,” said Beasley, during his post-match press conference. "We knew El Salvador was going to be very compact and difficult to break down."

Throughout the second half, the El Salvadoran side was able to come up for short gasps of air, but the U.S. relentlessly pushed their victim’s head under water time after time in relentless pursuit of conquering their opponent's territory.

In the waning minutes of the first act, the Americans opened up on two simultaneous scoring chances; the first as Donovan raced into the box, stopped halfway, and turned to pass to Beasley at the top of the box in the 43rd minute. Perhaps still pumped over his goals mere minutes before, an excited Beasley launched kick that sailed well over the cross bar into the seats. Seconds later, the Americans re-organized the attack and sent in an odd-man infiltration that featured the speedy Beasley on the left. Beasley took the final pass and floated another shot that sailed over the goal.


Controversy erupted in stoppage time, when Michael Bradley kicked a shot that caught the arm of a El Salvadoran defender planted in the box, to which referee Benito Archundia awarded a penalty kick to the U.S. Donovan took the kick and initially launched the dead ball right into the wall erected by keeper Montes. However, the referee awarded Donovan another try after Archundia determined that the El Salvadoran keeper left the goal line prematurely. On the do-over, Donovan’s second attempt rang true, and the ball coasted into the corner of the net for the 2-0 lead just before halftime.


El Salvador manager Carlos De Los Cobos vehemently protested the call, and was subsequently ejected at the end of the first half for the protest.


“I didn’t think it was a good call,” said the El Salvadoran manager through a translator after the match. “(Archundia) did not like the way I talked to him, but I did not disrespect him.”


The El Salvadorans took the second half kick off determined to, at very least, avoid embarrassment in the second frame, and at very best, tried to block out the morale-deflating call at the end of the first half. Midfielder Julio Martinez enthusiastically clapped and implored his team to pick themselves up in the frame.


A welcome sight at the start of the second half was the emergence of Taylor Twellman who went in as a substitute for Donovan, giving the U.S. side a total of three players on the pitch who sported (past and present) the home Revolution red, white, and blue.


The El Salvadorans wasted little time in trying to stake their flag in the U.S. end, on a couple of less than threatening advancements in the first ten minutes of the half. The U.S. reclaimed their majority ownership of the ball soon there after as they dispossessed their opponent of the ball time after time.


In the 57th minute, U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu stonewalled a hard charging Juan Campos, which resulted in a scary collision just before the box. For said stonewalling, a yellow card was issued to the 6-4 defender, and the El Salvadorans were awarded a free kick – their first set piece of the match. Alfredo Pacheco took the spot kick, and laced a left-footed shot just wide of goal, giving his side its first true scoring chance.


As the bright lights of the Gillette Stadium light towers shone upon the field, the U.S. hunkered down on a zone-like defense. Although De Los Cobos’ boys seemed to discover better chances in the U.S. end due to a “bend but not break” defensive mindset, the El Salvadoran attack ultimately wilted every time.


The ES tried its best to muster the kind of scoring chances the US did almost at will. In the 72nd, ES Jose Martinez raced through his defender, turned, and launched a rocket just over the cross the bar, giving the El Salvadorans a rare chance to, at very least, smash the hopes of a shut out for the Americans.


In the 73rd, the US counterattacked yet again when Brian Ching ran up the heart of the El Salvadoran half. Just as the defenders converged upon him, he sent a perfect pass to Taylor Twellman who took a touch, and calmly glided toward goal before sending the ball past the keeper for the third American goal of the match, in front of his home Revolution crowd.


The remainder of the match became, for all intents and purposes, a game of high-stakes “keep away” on the part of the U.S. players, as the Americans performed well in this popular elementary school exercise for the remainder. Seemingly uncontent to sit on their three-goal advantage, an interesting sequence materialized in the 81st minute when Dempsey tried to join his former teammate Twellman appearance on the goal sheet by rendering a majestic shot across the box that was deflected away by the paw of keeper Montes.


With two minutes of stoppage time added to the second half, the Americans gave one more go at goal. In 90th minute, Ching again crashed the left flank and served the ball to Clint Dempsey, who then immediately passed to his immediate right in directly the path of a gate-crashing Beasley. Beasley took the pass in stride and sent in a ground laser into the goal for his second goal of the match just before extra time commenced. Seconds later, the toot of the final whistle shrieked, as the Americans won in convincing fashion, 4-0, thus earning them CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B Title.


“(It was) a good win for us. It’s especially nice that when the game opened up in the second half, to see some of the soccer that we put together," said manager Bob Bradley after the match.