USA Lose to Netherlands 2-1, Look Miserable in Loss

Wisconsin native Jay DeMerit made a strong case for himself making the US World Cup roster

The US managed to finally score against Holland on a cold Wednesday evening in Amsterdam. That’s something the boys in red, white and blue had never been able to do before in this, the fourth meeting between the two teams. Carlos Bocanegra was the man who headed the ball home in the 88th minute from a free kick taken by DaMarcus Beasley. The goal was the 12th of Bocanegra’s US career and moved him into a tie for 12th place on the all-time scoring list for the U.S. with Clint Mathis, Frank Klopas and Eddie Johnson. He is one behind Marcelo Balboa (13) for the most all-time by a defender.

That would be the highlight of the night for the US. Sadly, the rest of the game saw a midfield that was completely outplayed and an attack that didn’t seem to have a clue where a goal would come from.  Wesley Sneijder for Holland seemed to be everywhere and ruled the midfield. The only US midfielder who seemed able to compete was Michael Bradley and his performance was still far shy of Sneijder’s.

The US attack made up of Jozy Altidore and Robby Findley were disappointing at best but were not getting much for service either. Findley was eventually replaced by Alejandro Bedoya who was an improvement. Altidore looked a bit sharper towards the end of the game as he burst away from two defenders and took a quick shot that the Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg had to dive for and parry away with both hands.

Overall the US defense seemed to bend but not break except for a couple of occasions. The two goals for Holland did not come on outright clean scoring opportunities. The first goal was a penalty awarded to the Netherlands for a Jonathan Bornstein pull on Sneijder in the box five minutes before the half. Dirk Kuyt stepped up and drilled the ball low left catching US keeper Tim Howard diving right.

The second goal for Holland came on a Klass jan Huntelaar shot in the 73rd minute. Huntelaar teed up his shot which Bornstein initially stood tall to block and then turned away as the ball came at him. The ball deflected off Bornstein’s chest and into the left side of the US goal leaving Howard helpless to stop the shot.

The shots on goal were 10(6) for the Netherlands 11(3) for the US with 2 saves for the Dutch side and 4 for the US. But the story of the game was possession with a 65% to 35% favor to the Orange.

Jay DeMerit played a strong game at centerback and most likely solidified Bob Bradley’s decision to carry the Green Bay, Wisc. native on his final US Roster for South Africa.

DaMarcus Beasley replaced Stewart Holden in the 30th minute after Holden had to be removed from the game because of a reckless tackle by Nigel de Jong which should have gotten him carded out of the game. Holden was taken to the hospital for precautionary X-rays which showed negative. He is diagnosed with a shin contusion.

“Certainly it was a good test for us, and I think overall the team played well,” coach Bob Bradley said. “The collective effort was pretty solid. There were moments where it needed to be sharper, quicker and better and we still need to raise the bar. Late in the game it was nice to see a good push. We had the ability to move the ball forward get people running off it and we created some good opportunities. We take a lot from the game.”

It had been a while since the European-based US players have played together and this isn’t the first time the US has played a poor first game after not having much time together.

In 2008, the US showed very poorly against England with a 2-0 loss in Wembley Stadium on May 28. But just a few days later they lost again 1-0, but performed much better against Spain on June 4th. Then the team came home and drew Argentina 0-0 on June 8th which was a very competitive match.

This was again true at the Confederations Cup this past summer as the team played poorly in their first two games against Italy and Brazil. But then the US gained momentum and had famous victories over Egypt and Spain. They also played a great first half against Brazil in the final before giving up 3 goals and losing to the 5-time World Cup champion.

One of the few US highlights of the game.