Internationals

Slovakia 1-0 USA: Americans Shocked By The Europeans

The U.S. National Team took a 1-0 loss to Slovakia on Saturday.

Nov 14, 2009 5:08:08 PM

WCQ: Filip Holosko, Northern Ireland - Slovakia (PA)

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WCQ: Filip Holosko, Northern Ireland - Slovakia (PA)

Teams

A somewhat makeshift USA roster had a uneven go of things versus Slovakia, but a somewhat questionable penalty kick call decided things in favor of the locals in the friendly contest between the two sides.

Without key players Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, both finalists this past year for the US Player of the Year award, it was going to be a different than usual American squad versus the Slovakians, especially with the injuries to Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu taken into account.

First Half

The change to Brad Guzan in goal was probably less disruptive than the absence of Donovan in the midfield. Without the veteran, the U.S. attack seemed somewhat aimless in the early going.

Much of the play ran through Benny Feilhaber, but though the midfielder is known for creative action, most of his touches were cautious ones, and he relied on frequent packpasses, though he could have been saddled with careful instructions to minimize risks.

The primary attacking strategy for the U.S. looked to be lumping balls forward for hulking Conor Casey and Jozy Altidore. A few lofted passes almost reached them , but didn't seem to pose any threat to the organized Slovaks.

That left it to Clint Dempsey to create most of the danger on the attack.

Dempsey in the 21st minute got the ball further upfield than Feilhaber had managed all half, but his final pass to Altidore was off target. A minute later, Dempsey cracked a shot from distance that went wide.

Yet even as the Americans began to settle into the match, the Slovakians took the early advantage.

Jonathan Bornstein half-hugged, half-leaned on Vladimir Weiss as the lively player cut into the box. It was a bad move by Bornstein, as the referee pointed to the spot immediately. The contact was somewhat incidental, and it was arguable that Weiss tugged on Bornstein as much as vice versa, but there was enough there to make an argument for the spot kick, and the referee took that option.

Guzan did his best, but the penalty was smartly put away by Marek Hamsik.

Perhaps the recent habit of the Americans to wake up only after falling behind applied in this case, but the USA improved after going down by the goal.

Altidore fired straight to well-placed Jan Mucha in goal in the 28th minute.

Dempsey shot wide in the 31st minute, then pegged a free kick from distance in the 37th hard off the palms of Mucha. The ensuing corner was cleared.

A header on goal by Feilhaber in the 41st looked promising as the US attack began to gel by moving the ball well, rather than relying on particular magic from any one player.However, they could not find a way through the stout Slovak defense, who maintained their advantage into the break.

Second half

Conor Casey exited as Eddie Johnson returned to give Bradley a look at a number of players. The Fulham striker has not featured for the USA of late at all.

In the 67th minute, a foul on Johnson set up a free kick for the Americans.

The freekick by Rogers was touched to Dempsey, who couldn't get a clear shot on goal.

Johnson, after a few slight touches to work his way into the game, made a bit of an impact with a run an attack in the 52nd, but he only managed to strike the ball into the side netting.

Though the USA were enjoying the majority of possession, this failed to materialize into a solid attack on goal.

Slovakia were also threatening on the counter, as Erik Jendriksen slipped past the American defenders in the 55th minute to take aim at the goal. An excellent save by Guzan quelled that opportunity.

Ten minutes later, Robbie Rogers did enough to draw a draw a foul in a spot that could give Slovakia problems.

Dempsey's free kick wasn't the conventional sort, but it nearly tucked into the net anyway. However, Slovakia escaped unscathed.

Bradley inserted more new players into the mix to see if any could produce some goalscoring magic. Dax McCarty came on for his first-ever international cap.

Guzan again proved up to a tough challenge when Stanislav Sestak tested him from close range in the 75th minute.

However, the second half belonged to the USA in terms of chances and run of play - in short, everything but the goal.

Sacha Kljestan, Jeff Cunningham and Clarance Goodsoon all got a runout, but when the final whistle blew, the one goal lead of Slovakia still held up. The question of who could provide true attacking play in the absence of Donovan was still unanswered.

Andrea Canales, Goal.com

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