The United States men’s national team ended its run of five-straight Gold Cup finals and put its Confederations Cup bid in jeopardy with a first half worth of missed chances and poor decisions in a 2-1 semifinal loss to Jamaica on Wednesday night.
[ MATCH RECAP: USMNT 1-2 Jamaica ]
Jurgen Klinsmann’s substitutions were odd and ineffective, as only Michael Bradley could find the net despite an off-kilter Jamaican goalkeeper in backup Ryan Thompson, who plays in the U.S. third tier.
So how did the lads do individually? There will be some debate with our critique of the goalkeeper position, but we doubt there’ll be much defense of anyone after a Georgia Dome flameout.
Starting XI
Brad Guzan 3/10 - Tim Howard announced earlier that he’d back in September, and the U.S. could’ve used the Everton man on Wednesday. First, Guzan was out of position when Mattocks beat Brooks to flick over him. Then, whether it’s rarely called or not, his throw outside the 18 gave Giles Barnes as free kick.
Brad Evans 5/10 - A welcome respite from Timmy Chandler’s wanton dribbling, Evans made some decent tackles and didn’t cost the team much. Some big throws helped his cause.
John Brooks 4/10 - Wasn’t horrible, but had Mattocks in front of him on Jamaica’s first goal. Then again...
Ventura Alvarado 3/10 - ...Alvarado was literally marking no one on the Mattocks goal.Goal JAM - No.11 @DarrenMattocks - USA 0-1 JAM #GoldCup2015 #CopaOro2015 @ussoccer @ItsTheJFF http://t.co/TW4Zm4iKNw
— Gold Cup 2015 (@GoldCup) July 22, 2015
He was simply not good enough, or at least not ready. Was Omar Gonzalez hurt? He’s played a shaky center back, made poor decisions and -- perhaps most troubling -- looked like his instincts were off.
Fabian Johnson 7/10 - The States’ best player, perhaps in the tournament. Bombs forward, gets back, tackles. Klinsmann would take 11 of him.
Kyle Beckerman 3/10 (off 66') - Quite poor after an early and needless yellow card took him off his game. Passes were off and his decisions, too.
Michael Bradley 7/10 - Faded down the stretch, but was the States’ No. 1 threat on the night. Classic captain hustle to not quit on the play that became their goal.
Ale Bedoya (off 77') 5/10 -- Not a great night for the Nantes man, though he delivered a few good late crosses.
Clint Dempsey 5/10 - Brilliant for the tournament, but off on the night. Was missing the zip we expect from “Deuce”.
Gyasi Zardes 3/10 - Out of position, sure, but his touch betrayed him quite badly. Case in point was the seven-foot pass he missed to Johnson inside the 18.
Aron Johannsson (off 73') 5/10 - Missed an easy header that should’ve tied the game late, and that really colors a productive first half that just missed its finishing touch.
Subs
Mix Diskerud (on 66') 5/10 -- Unsure I can envision more than one time he was on the ball in 24 minutes.
Alan Gordon (on 73') 5/10 -- Put himself in the required positions, although his lack of speed was exposed.
DeAndre Yedlin (on 77') 5/10 -- A menace for the first 8 minutes, he then took a useless foul that allowed Jamaica to waste three precious minutes.