From Russia, With Hope

The United States played its last international fixture of 2012, against the 9th ranked team in the world, Russia. Kuban Stadium, in Krasnodar, Russia, was the stage on which these two Cold War era rivals played out a thrilling affair which, rewarded the viewers with 4 goals. However, the game seemed slightly one sided as the Russians, recorded 4 more shots on target and totaled 5 more attempts on goal than the United States. Although the true story of the game can be seen in the final scoreline, where the U.S. performed courageously against a supposed stronger opponent and was able to keep up with them for the 90 minutes. Jurgen Klinsmann tactically applied a rather young roster for this game, using a combination of future talents and established US players. 

In a post-game interview with Jurgan Klinsmann, the US Head Coach, he stated, "This is a young team, and a team that is growing." This statement was central to the game yesterday, as the roster for the United  States weighted heavily on the side of inexperience and youth. Joshua Gatt sat in the center of the rookie buzz as he earned his first National Team appearance. The Michigan man has justly gained recent exposure through his exploits in the Norwegian League, with Molde FK. Having recorded 19 appearances, 6 goals and his second Norwegian League title, his  stats speak for themselves as to why this 22-year-old is entering the minds of bigger clubs and the US National team head coach, Klinsmann. The young American looked promising in attack for the US, despite the ball heavily favoring the Russians. Do not be surprised to see this young man being to get more time in the National team picture. While were on the topic of the young guns for the US National team, Mikkel Diskerud put in an incredible performance on wednesday. The, also 22-year-old, American has been having a great career in the Norwegian League playing for both Stabeak JF and Rosenborg, where he tallied 15 goals.  

Diskerud's addition to the game cannot be over stated through recording the second goal, which, tied the game up in the closing stages. However, the top marks on the night get divided up between the unsurprising performance of Tim Howard and the remarkable efforts of Michael Bradley. "I caught it perfect and was happy to see it go into the goal.” -Michael Bradley. In fact, the whole world became brighter with the addition of that incredible goal. Consistant with his career, Tim Howard dazzled both American and Russian viewers with his 6, game changing saves; Everton sure are lucky to have this man in the back. Although, especially with the constant defensive lapses over the years, his goalkeeping abilities are central in keeping the United States in the game. Despite how fortunate the United States has been with creating superb keepers over the years, from Kasey Keller to the more recent revelations of, Brad Guzan or Brad Freidel, we still look incredibly weak in the back. I believe one of the central issues here is the aging old guard of the US defense. The 21st century defense of the US has had to rely on players like Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Bocanegra, and Oguchi Onyewu, each of whom are in their 30s, the players that our defense has relied upon are old and slowly fading from the game. The biggest problem now is that the overwhelming majority of the defenders on the US National team are all young, and experience, probably one of the most central necessity for a defender to have, is simply unavailable to our team. This means that US Soccer fans need to be patient, new players are arising to the challenge as we speak. Players like Timothy Chandler (22), Danny Williams (23), Tim Ream (25), and Geoff Cameron(27), are all currently gaining the vital experience needed, in Europe, to contend with the best of attackers. 

I would finally like to address all of those out there that were disappointed with the results on wednesday. First, I would like to say that the United States finished 2012 with a record of 9-2-3, a wining percentage of .750. This, in itself is an incredible accomplishment for the team, which has not had a year like this since 2005. Secondly, it is incredibly important to look at the team that was brought to Russia. As mentioned above, this was clearly a team of young players, players that only now are getting the playing time that the pervious generation of players have been maintaining in the 21st century. Only recently has the US seen the resurgence of players like Jozy Altidore, who has been a scoring revelation for AZ Alkmaar or Sacha Kljestan, the Anderlecht midfielder has been central in the Belgians team presence in Europe; both of these players have only recently found their way back onto the team. I won't belabor the point I made above about the emergence of the young players for the National Team, but, I repeat myself only to remind everyone who watched these games that we are in fact a young team, with a new coach, dont expect immediate results and remember that next year is what truly counts. Personally, I was encouraged by the performance of the US on wednesday, despite the obvious issues, there were still glimpses of what this team has the potential to become.