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Thread: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

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    Smooth WMR's Avatar
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    United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa



    Sacha Kljestan Hat Trick Provides U.S. Men With 3-2 Victory Against Sweden to Open 2009

    - Kljestan Scores 11th Hat Trick in U.S. Men's National Team History and Becomes Second Player Ever to Open MNT Scoring Account With Three Goals

    - U.S. Men Continue Undefeated Streak at The Home Depot Center With 7-0-1 Record


    - The MNT Return to Camp on Jan. 28 in Preparation for Their Opening Final Round FIFA World Cup Qualifying Match Against Mexico on Feb. 11 at Columbus Crew Stadium


    CARSON, Calif. (January 24, 2008) — Sacha Kljestan scored the 11th hat trick ever for the U.S. Men’s National Team Saturday evening to earn a 3-2 victory against Sweden to open their 2009 campaign at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

    In a fairly tepid first 45 minutes, Kljestan provided the U.S. with a 2-0 lead going into the locker room. His first goal was a stunning 35-yard free kick that he placed perfectly into the upper left corner, before following up that effort by burying a penalty kick with five minutes remaining in the half.

    With Sweden pulling a goal back in the 73rd minute, it was Kljestan once again who answered for the U.S., taking a feed from Brian Ching to bury a left-footed shot just one minute later. In the 89th minute, Sweden struck again to make things interesting, but the U.S. was able to kill off any last minute attacks for an equalizer.

    The three goals by Kljestan were the first of his career with the full team, and put him in unique company as only the second player ever to open his national team scoring account with a hat trick. The only other player to pull off the feat was Aldo “Buff” Donelli, who tallied four goals in a 4-2 victory against Mexico on May 24, 1934, in the lone qualifying match for the 1934 FIFA World Cup in Italy.

    “Getting a hat trick is pretty exciting for me,” said Kljestan. “I’ve never scored more than one goal in a game as a professional, so it’s definitely exciting. I’m just as happy about the win and I’m glad we held on in the end. It was great to do it [score a hat trick] here at the Home Depot Center. I have a lot of friends and family that come and support me every game, so that was pretty cool to have them here.”

    The victory kept the U.S. undefeated in eight matches at The HDC (7-0-1) and was the eleventh straight time the U.S. has either tied or won their opening game of the year, with the U.S. also defeating Sweden 1-0 to start the streak in 1998. Overall against Sweden, the U.S. now holds a winning record with four victories and three losses in seven games.

    Despite a fairly inexperienced roster, the U.S. was able to control the majority of the match and provide an effective attack, especially in the second half. Of the 18 players on the roster, 13 had less than 10 career caps, and six of the starters chosen by U.S. head coach Bob Bradley had less than 5 caps, including two – goalkeeper Troy Perkins and midfielder Robbie Rogers – who earned their first caps on the night.

    The slow and controlled beginning of the match was jarred awake by Kljestan with his stunning free kick in the 17th minute that gave the U.S. the early lead. Ching, the leading U.S. capwinner on the roster (33), was brought down by Marcus Lindberg about 30 yards out and on the free kick Rogers ran over the ball allowing Kljestan to unleash his drive into the upper-left corner of the goal.

    The U.S. continued to control most of the possession and doubled their lead near the end of the half with some nice possession play that led to a penalty kick. The ball was knocked out wide right where Ching was able to collect the ball and touch it to John Thorrington along the sideline. With Marvell Wynne involved in the attack, Thorrington slipped the ball through for him and he took one touch to get into the penalty area before getting tripped up by Adam Johansson. Kljestan stepped up to bury the penalty shot to the right of the goal as Dahlin went the opposite direction.

    During the first half, the U.S. was able to thwart Sweden’s attack as captain Danny Califf and fellow central defender Michael Parkhurst controlled the backline, while midfielder Ricardo Clark also broke up numerous attacks. Wynne and Jonathan Bornstein were also staunch in their defending on the wings, while also choosing wisely when to dart up the sideline and join in the attack. Overall in the first half, Sweden only had two shots, and just one on goal, which came from Mikael Dahlberg in the 24th minute, a 18-yard effort towards the lower left post that Perkins was able to cover with ease.

    Kenny Cooper came on to replace Charlie Davies to start the second half, and the 6-foot-3 forward almost tallied two minutes in when he got his head to a Rogers corner kick. The header got past Dahlin, who had challenged for the service, but Lindberg was able to clear it off the line and over the bar.

    Despite controlling much of the play, Sweden pulled one back when Alexander Farnerud supplied a service into the penalty area for Daniel Nannskog, who lost Bornstein at the right post and finished past Perkins with a diving header.

    The U.S. was quick to respond a minute later. Once again it was Kljestan getting the accolades with the finish, but the set-up by Ching was what provided the U.S. breathing room once again. Following a long ball from the back from Califf, Ching brought the ball down with an impressive first touch at the top of the penalty area between two defenders which allowed him to turn and then slip the ball to the left for the streaking Kljestan, who slammed his one-timer into the right side netting.

    The action continued with Sweden getting another great opportunity a few minutes later, but Dahlberg’s header from six yards out bounced in front of the goal and bounced over the bar.

    Sweden did tally their second goal of the night when Farnerud served in another dangerous cross and this time Dahlberg didn’t miss the opportunity, heading it off the right post and into the net.

    Cooper had one final chance to give the U.S. another two-goal lead, when he slipped behind the Sweden defense for a breakaway against Dahlin, but his touch around the ‘keeper was too much and Dahlin was able to recover and make the save on his shot from a tight angle.

    “It’s important to start the year off with a win,” said Bradley, who opened the calendar year with a victory for the third straight time since taking over in late 2006. “When you’re in a long camp, with three weeks and a lot of work, it’s nice at the end to have the reward of winning. From a coaching standpoint there’s always going to be things, at this time of year, that you feel good about, and there’s always going to be things that need improvement.”

    Chris Wingert was the third player to earn his first cap with the MNT on the evening, coming on as a 79th-minute substitute for Bornstein.

    The U.S. now looks ahead to their opening match of the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying against archrival Mexico on Feb. 11 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The match, the first of 10 games in the final round – commonly referred to as the ‘hexagonal’ – will kickoff at 7 p.m. ET and fans can watch the match live on ESPN2 HD and Univision, or listen on the Futbol de Primera radio network.

    Last edited by WMR; 01-29-2009 at 12:12 PM.


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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    So I was trying to predict the lineup for Mexico. I've got to think that's going to be the one they're basing everything off of for the qualifying run.

    GK: Howard
    FB: Cherundolo?, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Bornstein?
    Midfield: Beasley?, Klejstan, Bradley(defensive MF), Landycakes, Dempsey

    Forward: Ching

    Subs: Altidore, Adu, Davies, Clark,


    Overall, It seems as though there are maybe 3-4 positions that will be open. In this setup, I imagine, Klejstan and Donovan would be the attacking midfielders and Bradley would be the central or defending midfielder.
    Last edited by Hoosier Red; 01-29-2009 at 02:07 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27 View Post
    Honest I can't say it any better than Hoosier Red did in his post, he sums it up basically perfectly.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    ----------------Ching-----------------
    ---------------Donovan----------------
    Beasley---Bradley---Kljestan---Dempsey
    Pearce---Bocanegra--Onyewu--Cherundolo
    ---------------Howard-----------------

    That's how I think it'll shake out after camp.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    If Cherundolo isn't in form by the 11th then I'd expect Hejduk to start.

    I hope Adu makes the bench, despite his recent form.

    I also really want to see Altidore make an appearance in this game.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    Quote Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS View Post
    If Cherundolo isn't in form by the 11th then I'd expect Hejduk to start.

    I hope Adu makes the bench, despite his recent form.

    I also really want to see Altidore make an appearance in this game.
    Adu and Altidore must make this squad. When they play, good things happen.

    Wynne impressed me with his speed in the Sweden game. For our slow-footed squad, I wouldn't mind seeing him on the bench, either.
    "The players make the manager, it's never the other way." - Sparky Anderson

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    That's the general formation I was thinking of WillyMo.
    Donovan as a reserved forward/offensive midfielder.

    Wynnne was the defender I saw getting some moments on the bench.
    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27 View Post
    Honest I can't say it any better than Hoosier Red did in his post, he sums it up basically perfectly.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    How can they march to South Africa? Isn't there a lot of water in the way?

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    Quote Originally Posted by Highlifeman21 View Post
    How can they march to South Africa? Isn't there a lot of water in the way?
    There's a song about marching to Pretoria...
    All models are wrong. Some of them are useful.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    Well, I'm going to the game tomorrow in Columbus versus Mexico.

    We got simply amazing seats. Section 126, which is directly at midfield, Row ONE.

    This will be the fifth time we've been to see the USMNT.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    Have fun WilyMO,
    I've only seen the national team once, but it was an absolute blast. We sat behind the goal to watch a 1-1 tie against Costa Rica in the '01 qualifying run.
    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27 View Post
    Honest I can't say it any better than Hoosier Red did in his post, he sums it up basically perfectly.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    Quote Originally Posted by Hoosier Red View Post
    Have fun WilyMO,
    I've only seen the national team once, but it was an absolute blast. We sat behind the goal to watch a 1-1 tie against Costa Rica in the '01 qualifying run.
    Thanks dude. I'm going to try to get some good pictures. I'll post them here if they turn out any good.

    I'm bringing a digital as well as my nice old-school camera...

    Weather is supposed to be wet, which is good. The nastier the weather, the more the Mexicans hate it.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    I figure there will be at least one more game in Columbus, it seems to be the perfect storm of "more home grown audience" good stadium, and cold weather in February, March, October, November, and December.
    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27 View Post
    Honest I can't say it any better than Hoosier Red did in his post, he sums it up basically perfectly.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    Quote Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS View Post
    Well, I'm going to the game tomorrow in Columbus versus Mexico.

    We got simply amazing seats. Section 126, which is directly at midfield, Row ONE.

    This will be the fifth time we've been to see the USMNT.
    Enjoy the game. I was offered tickets through the Columbus Crew ticket office, but I just couldn't spare the money right now with starting a practice on my own.
    Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    I was too late to get tickets. Have fun on my behalf. I have plans anyway.

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    Re: United States Men's National Team: The March to South Africa

    Quote Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS View Post
    We got simply amazing seats. Section 126, which is directly at midfield, Row ONE.
    Enjoy it. I'm at the top of 131. Sucks that it had to be the same night as the Xavier-Dayton game, but I'll live.


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