The U.S. Men's national team kicks off a series of five matches in three weeks with a friendly against Scotland in Jacksonville, Florida tonight (8pm, NBC Sports Network).
The match is the start of a busy run that will culminate with the Americans opening qualifying for the 2012 World Cup with matches against Antigua & Barbuda and Guatemala.
The USA will be without Clint Dempsey for tonight's match, but Landon Donovan is back in the fold for the USA, and is in the starting lineup.
SBI will be providing live commentary through out the evening so please feel free to follow along with us. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):
Ah, Jones. If there is any game that he SHOULD be playing (I’m not a fan), it’s against the Braveheart gang. He’ll fit right in.
And yes, I really don’t like him or rate him.
First impression? This is a TERRIBLE lineup. Torres is NOT a pure attacking midfielder.
Of course, Juergen is the coach, not me. I trust his judgment.
Herc must be saying “Really? Boyd? Does he actually play professionally?”
yeah, if Torres isn’t great tonight I won’t think much of it. I hope we see him in the center later on.
I’m not a fan of Jones either…saw him up close and personal at the Gold Cup Final last year and was less than impressed.
Does anyone know where I can watch the game online?
firstrowsports eu
There is simply no justification for starting Boyd. Playing him? Definitely. Starting as the prime striker? In-ex-plicable.
And yes, there are 4 defensive mids on the field against Scotland. It doesn’t matter that Torres is listed as part of the ‘forwards’, he’s a d-mid, distribution guy at heart.
Just weird.
I’m really glad we’re seeing Geoff Cameron next to Boca.
I think saying it’s terrible is extremely hyperbolic.
My only complaint?
Three defensive minded midfielders.
Hopefully Jones and/or Bradley attack, attack, attack.
Does the steel that we have in the midfield present an attacking threat? Interesting lineup…
Should be interesting. Good to see him vs. Scotland as opposed to Brazil.
makes no sense. Klinsmann is a “square peg, round hole” type of coach, I guess.
Oooooh the christmas tree formation. Come on we have 9 defensive minded players on the field
Wow, chick singing the anthem is terrible. Bring back the bagpipes.
These anthems are terribly preformed…
Is it me, or is the singing really bad for the US anthem?
Right? Is JK going to be a forever-tinkerer? Maybe it works…we’ll see.
That is officially the worst rendition of our national anthem I have ever heard.
I think we all agreed on the anthem.
wow that anthem was god awful
Ouch, embarrassing anthem
Wow that national anthem sucked. She was horrible.
Ominous sign. That was the worst national anthem I have ever heard
I wish I knew why JK is so set on playing with 3 DM. Doesn’t give us a whole lot going forward, but maybe he’s looking for Bradley to get into the attack
And by “officially,” I mean I’m going to go write it down, so if anyone ever asks me, “Jamie, what is the worst version of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ you have ever heard?” I can say, “26 May, 2012. USA v Scotland.”
I thought the pipers were bad. I half expected to see a piper down. But then she completely impressed me with her ability to make me laugh.
Carl lewis > roseanne > that chick
You can’t make out the numbers on the backs of the USA shirts.
Theirs wasn’t much better, to be fair.
early possession in the back suspect.
Woo!
Nice!
…and we are up 1:0.
Bradley is so good.
reliable stream anyone?
at least she sang with passion and emotion. Unfortunately she forgot to sing with pitch and quality.
firstrowsports(dot)eu
wow
Wow, Mikey!
Wowowowow!!!
Now, that goal from Bradley is a beauty.
Crap, I hate to admit it but Jones made a sweet layoff there from the brilliant ball from LD.
An absolute firecracker!
Donovan sucks! He’s washed up. Bradley sucks! He only plays because his dad is the coach.
All the Bradley haters are crying tears of blood right now.
I appreciate your ‘So I Married An Axe Murderer’ reference.
There are a couple players on the pitch for the US that are playing for their places in the side. Michael Bradley is not one of those people.
Why The F*** is Cameron staring? SMH Jurgen you almost had a perfect lineup if only Gooch was playing
I felt like Tim was a little passive on that goal.
At 20:33, Cameron and Boca made a beauty of a step-up and got an offsides on an over the top.
Torres with the smart play, so unlucky
yes i have a scottish feed with no picture would Live to see the game not just listen
I don’t think that was Cameron’s fault. Him and boca both stepped and got that offsides, just unlucky it came down like that
I’m sure Rosanne Barr’s effort is on YouTube. Go ahead, listen–I dare you.
I’m seeing glimpses of quality from Boyd. I definitely want to see more from him.
God we look good. Klisman is starting to have an effect and our players are getting better.
Then you have not heard many.
As of yet, I’m not a JK believer. I just think we have better players now and, of course, we’re playing Scotland. They don’t WANT the ball preferring to play counter.
That said, we DO look good on attack.
If you search for her name on Youtube (Victoria Zarlenga), she sang the national anthem at a basketball game a few months ago. Sounded like a completely different person. Crazy.
Great performance by USMNT in the first half. Really dangerous when counter attacking in the open field – this is where the goals came – great!
And they are controlling possession with short passes, moving, calm in traffic – great!
Small issue – even with all that possession, they look a bit clueless what to do with the ball near the goal. They seem to want to pass it into the net.
Come on not much he could do against that ball, Cameron is solid he is the modern defender. Please dont get me wrong ive always liked Gooch but he as is everyone else is getting older.
Yes…a guy with 3 caps for Germany must suck
Jones with a pretty blatant dive there. Whether or not there was contact, he’s was looking for it.
The commentator clearly can’t tell the difference between Terrence Boyd and Jermaine Jones.
In these uniforms with Boyd’s tendency to rove around, I’m even having trouble at times.
midfield domination
attacking possession
the more skilled team and players in RW and B
Coach Klinsmann!
Oh God Beckerman is coming in
donovan is washed up. Just doesn’t look inspired anymore.
They’re slow
They’re white
They’ll let Donovan score all night
They’re Scotland
I think Dempsey is the best American player, but Donovan is the best American player when he’s wearing the American shirt. Great stuff tonight
Who cares? They’re both great. Why the need to constantly debate it?
LOL. Sometime we need to get a poll up on this site so we can vote on the SBI Commenters’ Most Hated Players. I would expect the top 5 most hated to be:
1) Michael Bradley
2) Landon Donovan
3) Teal Bunbury
Top three, I meant.
luv the midfield chemistry between bradley, jones and donovan.
Touché.
Starting to feel bad for Scotland now. They’re outclassed, and the heat can’t be doing them any favors. The climate difference must be a huge shock for them
He’s really worthless when his heart isn’t in it.
Glad you inspired him tonight.
Yeah, except half the US team plays in the Alps. And Gomez and Torres are probably getting colds.
The Scottish keeper just shrugged his shoulders as his defense got shredded. He made the wtf face.
This is the best performance I’ve seen by the US in a while. Good work, Klinnsman.
Unless I’m watching a different game, he’s scored 3.
Best I’ve ever seen Jones play.
LOL
The Alps? Who plays in the Alps, other than the mountain goats and spanish cyclists?
need a little check on your sarcasm meter, Roy.
Understatement King of the Night:
Franco Panizo: 87th minute, USA still on top. Scotland not showing much offensively.
Scotland’s last friendly was a 1-1 tie against Slovenia in Slovenia and last year lost 3-1 to Spain in Spain. The U.S. has improved. I hope to see a good game against Brazil and can’t wait for that Antigua and Barbuda game.
Where are the haters?
yup. I’m eating some crow.
I think that was the point.
Still here and still can’t stand the dirty SOB. That said, he was a stud tonight.
Quality of play and skill
jones >>>>>> Bradley, and that will never ever change, Bradley is the most inconsistant midfielder on the squad, hes had maybe 3 good matches the past year, and when one of those matches happens everyon goes rampant and does similiar to the above
” where are all the Bradley haters”
its irritating, if he cant crack the starting lineup for his club he will not be an automatic starter which is something Klinsmen has stated, so damn right he is fighting for a spot
(SBI-Matt, we get it, you don’t like Bradley. You’ve been criticizing him for a LONG time now on this site. Your latest rants about him only serve to show how deluded your views on him seem to be. Funny that you offered no comments during the Italy match. Cat must’ve gotten your tongue that day.)
Great performance by USMNT! Played the right way and was exactly as needed. Best I’ve seen them play.
But my questions going into Brasil are:
1) how much did those 2 early goals contribute to the powerful USA attack and confident pressuring defense? What if we didn’t get them?
2) LD was involved in everything attacking. He was the creative force. Who steps in when he runs out of ideas?
I think the biggest difference between Germany 2006 and what hopefully will happen in Brazil 2014 is that we have much more quality at each position. Before, teams could game plan us fairly easily based on the personnel we had. Now, teams need to at least respect the capabilities of our 1-11. The extra attention eventually opens things up for the rest of the squad. Also, I think Fabian Johnson is the real deal – enough so to make me forget about Chandler.
I respectfully but utterly disagree with your assessment.
Cheers!
How could you forget about Bornstein? You can also add Rossi, Subotic and most recently Chandler.
Agree on these points. Depth and quality much greater, Fabian Johnson is really good, and our goals and creativity come from a wider range of play.
But I was one of the few that thought Germany 2006 was more about a vicious draw than any particular failing of the team.
Good times!
Predicto,
What if Donovan had decided to play for Canada? Who would have scored those two early goals?
Also, Donovan has lost his fire and his heart. If you have been reading SBI lately it is clear this team is Clint’s now. All attacking ideas need to be referred to him.
Anybody have Guatemala/Antigua and Barbuda rosters? Marco Pappa didn’t play in their friendly the other day, is he playing for them?
Dude, Bradley started nearly every game for Chievo Verona this year. You are copying and pasting old Bradley rants from last year.
Matt – You are simply NOT informed of facts. Bradley has STARTED EVERY game he has been eligible for – for Chiveo (31 games+), played the 2nd most minutes out all players on his team, and has drawn RAVE reviews from fellow teammates and the coaching staff. The fans are calling him “The General”. They LOVE him. Try googling a recent NY Times article….if you can bear eating crow. I doubt it though….
And of course, ‘Lazy Out-the-door’ or whatever it is they call him.
lololololololol
So TRUE!
Owned by both Bradley and Ives… ouch.
Actually no i wont be eating crow ever about Bradley, The simple fact of the matter is he has had 1 good game for every five from the very second he put on the US nats Jersey. The same for Dempsey, i will not agree with any of the hype either one of these players show until they show consistency, Dempsey for YEARS has been playing better for his club than the nats. Bradley had a good game yes, but it was against a very weak midfield, we’ll see if he really deserves the praise against Brazil
also @ ives, notice how i didnt comment on anything during the Italy? Hold your breathe for this one because i might be shocker, maybe not all of us think your website warrents reading every single game and every single day? Especially when i come on here and see articles about how trash like Marquez is “finally having fun on the pitch”.
Well big woopdy doo, some readers do have lives outside of soccer and cant always read a random blog, your website isnt #1 on my priority list
That’s JK’s plan so you can’t tell we have 9 defenders on the field.