What Went Well: Clint Dempsey scored two goals tying him with Brian McBride for third most goals in US national team history with 30. Carlos Bocanegra scored his 14th goal surpassing Marcelo Balboa for most goals by a defender. Joe Corona came on as a late substitute ensuring that he was cap tied to the US.
What Did Not Go Well: Not sure if it was miscommunication or an exposure of Bocanegra's lack of pace but the Carlos Ruiz goal showed defensive frailty.
What Else: No heart palpitations occurred after Clint Dempsey's goal in the 20th minute. Before then the US started brightly but allowed a long ball to Carlos Ruiz to expose a defensive weakness. Lack of pace at the back. Bocanegra is the captain and has been a great servant to the national team for the past 7 years or so but at 33 he may be past it as a front line player and will be past his prime at the 2014 World Cup. The problem is what is the alternative to him at center back? Players such as Tim Ream, Omar Gonzalez, and George John have been discussed as the future but none of them have been near a US squad in ages. My belief is that in a national team the best players must play and for Bocanegra to be out someone has to be better than him. Right now there is a no clear answer. The US only kept one clean sheet in the six qualifiers and they must get better defensively as a whole.
The main thing that I enjoyed about this game was the US did not waver after the early goal and Bocanegra's equalizer. They could have gone through with a draw but pushed for a win. To me that was important mentally as the US has slipped into moments of complacency during these qualifiers. They wanted to win and they put in a performance to show that the team was not content with what had gone on in previous games and wanted to do better in front of the home crowd. Getting the third goal was important because it created a barrier that Guatemala was not able to overcome.
I am known for my tendency to criticize Jurgen Klinnsman but I won't today. Though I was not happy with him not bringing in players for the ones who were injured, I felt he put out the right lineup considering the players who were available. The US has played well at home during this round of qualifying and I expect that to continue in the next round. Hopefully they can bring that mentality to some of the road games next year.
Now What: Qualifying processes in soccer are not transitive properties. Once you make it to the next level, everyone starts from scratch and there is little correlation to the past. The US won the group and when you show this to your children on Wikipedia in 20 years you will only remember the table and not the process. The US has moved on to the final round of World Cup qualifying and will join Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and Jamaica there. The schedule for the games should be within in the next two weeks with the first game coming in February. Though the US needs to make improvements by then and who knows what players will be available at that time, what form they will be in, or what process Klinnsman will have in selecting the squad, the important thing is that these games are there to be played. The alternative was unthinkable and thankfully we don't have to worry about that.
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