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The United State’s Men’s National Team defeated Slovenia 3-2 Tuesday night in misty Ljubljana, in a freewheeling game marked by lots of chances and the defensive organization normally reserved for a Sunday morning pub game. Players for both teams seemed to get in behind at will, and if the finishing was a touch sharper this could have been a 7-6 score line.
All in all, though, it was an encouraging win for the Yanks. When I first looked at the starting 11, all I could imagine was Klinsmann staying up the night before, in a dimly lit Slovenian hotel room, angrily scribbling down his lineup and muttering, “You want goals, America? I’ll GIVE you goals.”
With only two goals in their last six games, Klinsmann had had enough, putting out three attack-minded midfielders and two strikers. The Americans were going to make this an up and down affair, and Slovenia for their part seemed disinterested in slowing down the pace.
Left to deal with this maniacal up and down was the American back four, a hastily assembled collection of young and old, quick and slow. Featured in the center of this ramshackle group was an old Fulham favorite, Carlos Bocanegra, making his 100th appearance for the States. Bocanegra was fine on the day, dealing with counter attack after counter attack with a just-good-enough performance to seal a win.
And frankly it was fun to see him play again. Bocanegra isn’t remembered as fondly as Brian McBride as a member of Fulham’s American player legacy, but I still think he ably served us a center half and left back for a full (can it be that many?) five years. While he never had the pace necessary to be a truly dominant defender, nor the physical presence of a Hangeland, Bocanegra was a capable defender who was an exceptional finisher on set pieces. (His five goals in the ’06/’07 season were invaluable in staving off relegation.)
Bocanegra received a special crystal from USA soccer for his 100th cap, though I think he would have appreciated a little more defensive support instead of a piece of glass for his trophy cabinet.
Having a hand in both of the Americans’ first two goals was another Fulham American, Clint Dempsey, who stole the ball off a poor clearance for an assist on the first, and buried a headed ball off a corner for the second, a sight we’re all too used to seeing. While you could see him visibly tiring by the second half, Dempsey was still my vote for man of the match.
Klinsmann did well in cutting Dempsey free, giving Clint the 10 jersey and asking him to fill the roaming role behind the strikers, a position more and more of us are recognizing as where he belongs on the pitch.
Dempsey, for his part, did what Dempsey does. While he doesn’t possess elite pace, Dempsey has developed a herky-jerky style of play that revolves around change of direction, clever footwork, and linked passing, a style that has made him extremely effective in every level I’ve seen him at. My favorite part of Dempsey’s game is his ability to keep the ball at his feet (and his body between the man and the ball) even while executing his flurries of step-overs and the like.
Anyone who’s played the game has seen this phenomenon in some players, a skill my friends and I used to call “sticky feet.” It’s as if, for whatever reason, the ball stays on a player’s feet when it has no business doing so. It’s hard to explain, and all but impossible to coach—some players just have it. Dempsey has it. The ball doesn’t seem to want to leave his feet, even when others are coming in for a tackle. (Dembele, while quicker than Dempsey, doesn’t always seem to have this—too often Dembele’s failed moves result in him instantly losing the ball, while Dempsey seems to keep the ball stuck to his feet, even if he doesn’t execute perfectly.)
As an American fan of Fulham, it’s been a pleasure seeing Dempsey come into his own with the club. Each year we’ve seen his confidence grow, and for my mark his wonder goal over the head of Juve’s stunned keeper on that beautiful European night goes down as my favorite Fulham goal ever. (No other goal has caused me to run a full lap around the house with my hands above my head.)
And Dempsey is just another member in a fine line of Americans who have contributed to Fulham. McBride is the most obvious, the fearless striker who all but carried the goal-scoring load for a few years there, and seemed to walk off every pitch with his nose or chin bloodied. It was always funny to me that for several years it was an American who carried on the tradition of the fearless aerial striker that the English so pride themselves on.
While there have been some hiccoughs along the way in regards to American players (I tend to remember Eddie Johnson’s disastrous time at the Cottage much like a trauma-victim might—“It didn’t happen, ok? IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!”), the partnership between the US and Fulham has been a great one.
Also adding to this red, white and blue flurry was the news breaking pre match that Fulham would be bringing along another American youngster for a trial, 19-year-old striker Omar Salgado. (While I’m happy for another American at Motspur Park, I’d advise everyone not to get too excited. I watched Salgado play recently for the Vancouver Whitecaps and remarked to a friend that he seemed like “a poor man’s Andy Carroll”, which my friend corrected to “a homeless man’s Andy Carroll.” C’est la vie.)
In the end, a second win for the US under Klinsmann, and another international goal for Dempsey. If we can get Bobby scoring a few for England, we can get a nice little trend on our hands. A fine international break, but like most of us, I’m glad it’s over. Let’s steal three from Sunderland this weekend and make it a complete week.
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