USA vs. England: Running Commentary

Good afternoon folks. The moment has arrived. USA vs. England. Can England exact revenge for the 1950 World Cup and the Revolutionary War?  Can the Americans finally get payback for England subjecting us to Simon Cowell?

I'm kidding.

Today's friendly will be a good test for both sides (despite what more cynical American fans and egotistical English fans might think). Landon Donovan will not play today, but there is still plenty to look forward to. How will the Americans do in a packed Wembley Stadium? We are about to find out.

I will do a running commentary throughout the match so feel free to follow along here. Please share your thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.

Let's get it started:

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FINAL- That's all for today. Thanks for following the match here and be sure to check back in tomorrow for some post-match analysis.

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FINAL- England 2, USA 0. The AMericans were outclassed today and even if Landon Donovan had played I don't think it would have mattered that much. He might have helped the U.S. team create some more good chances, but the overall quality of England's starting XI was clear throughout the first half.

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93rd minute- When you consider that the first goal came off a set piece and the second courtesy of a blown assignment in midfield.

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90th minute- England has dominated play as most expected, but I have to say the U.S. defense didn't do terribly today.

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89th minute- Anytime Peter Crouch sets up for a bicycle kick you have to just watch in amazement. It's like a National Geographic episode.

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86th minute- Random question, do you think John Terry would go completely psycho if an American player brought up the missed PK?

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81st minute- Some very nice work from Eddie Lewis, who is making it clear that he can still contribute at his age. He deserves his chances when World Cup qualifying roles around.

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73rd minute- It's impressive to watch England's players break out on the counter. You really see the speed disparity between the teams.

England's just knocking it around now.

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71st minute- Pearce with the yellow card for the foul on Bently. I thought Pearce had a pretty good first half actually.

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69th minute- Freddy Adu comes into the match. It will be interesting to see what he can do.

Also in the match now is Peter Crouch, which may make that the biggest disparity in size between two subs coming into the same match at the same time. (Someone call Guinness).

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63rd minute- As most expected, the American attack has been toothless without Landon Donovan and with Eddie Johnson and Josh Wolff. It's time to start looking into getting some uncapped Brazilian forwards married to some American women or something because the U.S. forward pool needs some help (and that's even with Jozy Altidore on the way).

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59th minute- Who to blame on that goal? Ricardo Clark gets lost in the midfield, leaving Gareth Barry completely unmarked and Barry has all day to deliver a perfect pass to Gerrard. Is that a preview of Liverpool next season?

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58th minute- GOAL ENGLAND. Steven Gerrard splits the American defense to make it 2-0 England.

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HALFTIME- England 1, USA 0. The Americans are lucky not to be down by two or three goals. Some tactical fouling and poor finishing by England has kept the Americans in the game. What needs to change? Josh Wolff has to come out of this match. Freddy Adu needs to come in. Ricardo Clark should come out as well but I'm not sure Bob Bradley will make two halftime subs.

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44th minute- Cherundolo takes down Defoe and draws a yellow. Here comes another dangerous free kick.

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41st minute- USA dodges a bullet when England wastes a very dangerous free kick.

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39th minute- GOAL ENGLAND. John Terry heads home Beckham's free kick. Terry outjumps Bocanegra for the goal.

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37th minute- Clark halts a long stretch of England possession with a bad foul. Here comes Beckham for a free kick.

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34th minutes- England comes VERY close but DeFoe sends a close-range shot wide. Bad finish after a great pass from Gerrard.

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34th minute- Josh Wolff has looked pretty useless today.

Also looking a bit off is John Terry. I think it's safe to say he's still thinking about the Champions League final.

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32nd minute- Johnson runs at Terry and gets a foul call. Nice.

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31st minute- Defoe whistled for a foul on Onyewu. Yes, you read that right.

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29th minute- Eddie Johnson gets a nice pass in space, but drops it off to Dempsey, who loses it. I'll give Johnson credit for being active, if ineffective.

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27th minute- Nice long pass from Bradley to Johnson but Johnson's touch is bad. He's bailed out by a foul call.

Wes Brown fouls Dempsey, setting up another decent free kick from distance for Beasley.

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26th minute- Eddie Johnson works a give-and-go but his shot is a weak one right to James.

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26th minute- A U.S. free kick falls to Johnson, who chips it back across, but the pass is cleared out of danger.

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24th minute- A dangerous free kick from England results in a clear shot from Gerrard, but Dempsey heads it away.

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23rd minute- Rooney just undressed Bocanegra but his pass into the box is a bit off, keeping Gerrard from getting a good shot on goal.

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21st minute- Beasley and Wes Brown clash, foul on Beasley. Good to see Beasley run at somebody. He needs to get more of the ball.

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19th minute- Beckham with a rushed shot and sends it high.

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18th minute- Americans doing a good job of staying compact, which isn't leaving England much room in the final third.

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17th minute- The Americans with a spell of possesion. Nice to see Michael Bradley win a 50/50 ball from Steven Gerrard.

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16th minute- For all the question marks in the U.S. lineup, it is definitely a comforting fact that the Americans have Tim Howard in net.

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15th minute- Not much of a rhythm to this match yet.

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12th minute- Beckham's first free kick results in a Gerrard goal but the ref hadn't blown the whistle to restart play. Beckham's second kick misses a bit wide.

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11th minute- Those wondering about Josh Wolff can keep wondering. He hasn't done anything yet.

Gerrard fouled by Clark. Good free kick position for England.

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10th minute- You're going to see a lot of tactical fouling by the Americans to contend with the English team's quick counter.

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9th minute- Bradley with a rough challenge on Beckham to break up a counter.

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8th minute- Pearce does well to break up an England counterattack. That one was close. Defoe has some wheels.

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7th minute- Beckham with a foul on Pearce, who made a nice move.

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5th minute- Rooney almost catches the U.S. offside trap but gets called for it. I can't see him not scoring one today.

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4th minute- Cherundolo is up. England is knocking the ball around right now. Beckham's first pass goes straight to Heath Pearce.

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3rd minute- Beasley is looking very active early on.

Cherundolo is hurt after knocking knees with Gerrard.

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1st minute- Look for Dempsey to have some freedom to roam throughout the midfield today. He's going to be the key to sparking any U.S. attack.

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1st minute- And we're off

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PRE-GAME- Landon Donovan missing the match is pretty disappointing. I like starting a match with a big understatement. Thank you.

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PRE-GAME- Looks like a late-arriving crowd for this one.

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PRE-GAME- Looks like a good crowd for this one (duh). You can definitely hear them.

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PRE-GAME- For those of you who missed it, here is the U.S. lineup:

------------Wolff-------Johnson----------

Beasley----------------------------- Dempsey

-----------Bradley---------Clark------------

Pearce--Bocanegra---Onyewu--Cherundolo

--------------------Howard-----------------

Here's England's lineup:

-----------Rooney--------DeFoe----------

Hargreaves------------------------Beckham

------------Gerrard---Lampard-------------

Cole----Ferdinand-----Terry--------Brown

-------------------James--------------------

Comments

[Pat the Red Bulls Fan]

Here we boys. Let's do it.

[randomher0723]

Got nervous that you would not be doing commentary for this. Thank you.

[kpugs]

Gerrard gets the ten shirt, interesting.

[Dro Scott]

any1 wanna post the lineups? ...please

[Dominghosa]

Revolutionary War. HA!

[Braden]

Seriously, shake and move along... shake and move along.

[Dominghosa]

Well, US is extremely weak up front with no Donovan and with Johnson and Wolff. Yeesh. Yuck. And Yikes.

[Dan K]

USA USA USA!!! GO RED WHITE AND BLUE!!!

[SkiFast!]

No Landon, that stinks. Wolff and Johnson up top won't score goals unless they are awarded a penalty.

[Dominghosa]

WHat's a cap if he can't wear it?

[Braden]

Hey, you never know about Johnson. Maybe he'll be really up for it.

[Chase]

Classless Brits booing the national anthem??

[FTK]

Can someone please confirm gooch is starting? bbc says califf.

[Matt]

Does anyone know where I can stream the video of this game online? ESPN360.com says it isn't available for my internet provider at work.

[Brant]

Anyone got a good feed? http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/wed28.5/England_USA.html isn't working for me

[Chase]

Gooch is starting, he came out with the team, it has to be a screw-up because the Guardian, BBC, and soccernet all had it...

[JH]

Looks like a decent number of Americans in the stands. Not bad.

As for Johnson, oh, we know. He's not up for it.

[josh]

someone explain how england's midfield is supposed to work

[FTK]

Thanks Chase. Pray for a miracle.

[eric]

That was one cap they gave to Beckham... have the Brits always given that to their 100th cap guys, or is that a modern design abomination?

[PanchoMiguelMoralesdeConejo]

Here's your England starting lineup.. in a 4-4-2: James, Brown, Terry (c), Ferdinand, Cole, Beckham, Lampard, Hargreaves, Gerrard, Defoe, Rooney...

US is
Howard
Cherundolo – Onyewu – Bocanegra – Pearce
Dempsey – Clark – Bradley – Beasley
Johnson - Wolff

[Braden]

The Audacity of Hope....

[Dominghosa]

try myp2p.eu

[PanchoMiguelMoralesdeConejo]

Four players on the roster won’t be dressing tonight: Landon Donovan, Jay DeMerit, Jonathon Spector and Dominic Cervi.

[eric]

Does Beas really get to run at Beckham? Am I reading that right?

[Chase]

YES WE CAN!

[Fireball]

http://www.justin.tv/barcelinho

in Spanish

[randomher0723]

Is this gonna be replayed sometime tonight?

[Dominghosa]

Too bad for DeMerit. That's got to hurt. He lived in Wembley when he first went to England in 2004. It would have been great for the guy to come full circle. and play in the stadium four years from rags to today's riches.

[Moneyball]

Is Onyewu starting? For some reason Guardian's commentary has Califf starting instead...

[Dominghosa]

oh no, dolo is down...

[Dominghosa]

Gooch is starting. Califf isn't on the pitch at all.

[Chase]

Why didn't all of our players dress if the English have all 29 of their players available?

[Dominghosa]

You would think with David James playing in an international, it's good for at least one gift goal.

[eric]

Nice play by Bocca, but you could see how that could go horribly wrong, with Rooney running on goal...

[Trex]

I admit I peek at Jen Chang's play-by-play to try and get info from both and so far all he's got is:

3 mins: So far the ball is just pinging about the field, both teams have yet to settle down.

Pathetic!! Thank you Ives so much for being competent and knowing something about the game. Otherwise I'd be stuck with the only details from the game is that the ball is "pinging around" lolol give me a break.

[Dominghosa]

As expected, England with much of the possession.

[paul Lorinczi]

BBC have a done a terrible job reporting on this US team. They have gotten so much wrong. The pre-game had Hedjuk and Jay DeMerit starting. They obviously did absolutely no research on the team.

[Pat the Red Bulls Fan]

Yikes!

[Dominghosa]

England looks to have scored but ref blew whistle before Becks takes the free kick. Free kick retaken and it goes out for a goal kick.

[eric]

I heard that whistle, that was a legit restart waving off a Beckham to Gerrard goal.

[Chase]

Our touch collectively as a team is hideously heavy...

[eric]

Rooney looking dangerous again, but Howard clears out a backpass in close quarters

[locolos]

is the game on t.v. anywhere?

[Dominghosa]

Boca does well to break up a dangerous through pass from Rooney to Defoe.

[eric]

Bradley upends Gerrard with a great challenge! That was fun

[eric]

game is on ESPNClassic

[Steve T.]

When will our nation become more than gritty defenders and tactical foulers? Didnt we do that when Harkes, Lalas, and Caligiuri where running the show?

How many more years do we think before we are a good footballing nation?

[Dominghosa]

Give it 10 maybe 20 years.

[Fireball]

Hard to see where a US goal is going to come from. England pressure on our first touch is immediate. Even Rooney pressures. I think our D looks good though. Has Defoe even touched the ball yet?

[Igor]

Mike loves to foul people.

[Chase]

Ricardo Clark looks overmatched, but I love Bradley's fearlessness, he has taken out Gerrard and Beckham when needed...

[Dominghosa]

Bradley with another harsh challenge. He's definitley getting a yellow today. but that's no surprise. Here's hoping he gets just one.

[Fireball]

Beckham sending crosses and freekicks in hard and low. Maybe to neutralize Gooch.

[Steve T.]

Give it 10 maybe 20 years.

Posted by: Dominghosa | May 28, 2008 at 03:26 PM

Yeah, I am afraid so.

[eric]

Beasley is running with the ball at least, hasn't done anything great yet, but I'm glad he isn't hesitant.

God I want to see 30 mins of Freddy Adu today - that'll help him for the Olympics, right???

[dominguez hills]

What exactly happened to Donovan?

[Dominghosa]

Dolo or was it Boca? with a bad deflection, straight to Rooney who makes a mockery of the defender and takes it down and crosses low to space inside the box. US does very well to get back.

[Chase]

Cole is a diving c-word...

[eric]

Whew, Beckham fools everyone on a free kick and rolls it up top to Gerrard, who has his shot blocked

[Dave]

I am done w/ Eddie Johnson.

[Dominghosa]

Becks free kick low to Gerrard who shoots but Onyewu heads it out.

[Fireball]

Wow. Scary set play. Beckham sends a FK in on the ground and Gerrard onetimes it. Doesn't threaten goal but how many more of those plays did Capello draw up?

[Dave]

WORTHLESS!!!!

[eric]

I can buy it that Bocca and Gooch are stronger in the air that anyone England has. Doesn't mean we might mess up our marking, but Terry is their only real threat off headers.

[Steve T.]

Eddie Johnson pouncing on that give and go like a ferocious kitten.

[Dominghosa]

EJ does well to chip into the box but it gets headed over Bradley far post. US had a chance or two there down by England's box for a scoring opportunity.

[smokeminside]

Need an answer for Rooney. Bueller? Bueller?

[Chase]

I'm pretty sure my 13 year old cousin could have put in a harder cross than EJ did on that 2nd opportunity...

[eric]

Wes Brown commits a dumb foul on Deuce, giving the US a decent swipe...

[Dominghosa]

Dangerous FK given to US, Brown on Demspey, about 35 yards away.

[Fireball]

EJ's running all over the place. but that's because his first touch is so bad.

[Dave]

US D looks solid, gooch especially.

Offense just making it too easy to close us down.

Let's GOO

[JH]

Eddie Johnson shot....26th minute...WEAK doesn't even begin to describe that shot

[Dominghosa]

Beas' FK doesn't even get over the two-man wall. Headed all the way out to other side of field.

[eric]

D@mn, Beas just isn't getting it done on the fk's today

[Dominghosa]

US midfield doing well to break up through passes up the middle.

[Dave]

Bring Adu on for EJ at the half

[eric]

Who SHOULD take the kicks with this line-up? Choices aren't good. Either Clark or Bradley?

Never thought I'd miss Donovan for his corners, but they've been much better recently than what we've seen.

[Dominghosa]

English fans want a call again Gooch for being big in the box. But it was Defoe who was doing the shoving. Call on Defoe.

[Dave]

we miss lando big time in this game, we need a player to run at this back line w/ pace, england are closing us down way too easily.

ALRIGHT BEASE COME ON!!!!

[Dominghosa]

Another dangerous FK chance for US, right side of box.

[Dave]

sigh..

[Dominghosa]

Doesn't get over first defender in the box....

[Chase]

Am I the only one who thinks John Terry looks pretty out of it? He has made several silly fouls and losses of possession? England are definently there for the taking if we get anything going in the final 3rd...

[eric]

After a (gasp) sweet EJ touch, Terry takes it from Wolff in the box, who then commits the foul on Terry.

[Dominghosa]

Englad with a chance! Gerrard gets the ball, puts it into space and crosses low to box, Defoe with a beautiful chance but his deflection shot is just wide.

[Fireball]

Gooch just shut down Rooney on the run down the right side. Sweet.

[paul Lorinczi]

So, is Beasely the only option on free kicks. He has not gotten the all over the 1st defender yet.

[eric]

Right now, I'd rather see Adu for Wolff than for EJ, actually.

[dave]

i agree completely game is 50-50, gonna take some individual play to break it open.

Well-defended by Pearce-showing his class.

Well-played Gooch on Rooney!

The USA is in this game we just need more quality in the final third.

This is a full-strength England squad, maybe minus Owen up top. I'd love to see Jozy and Lando up top in this game w/ Freddy behind them...

[Dominghosa]

Onyweu has been doing well negating England's long-ball tactics.

[Dave]

Beck's aerial play is really impressing me in this game.

[Dominghosa]

England, 1-0.

[eric]

Beckham to Terry, 1-0 England

[Dominghosa]

Terry header off Becks FK. foul on Rico clark that leads to fk.

[Brant]

Crap - I buffered just in time to watch the Brits score. Ugh.

[Dave]

hope that opens things up.

terrible marking. that's john terry guys come on now

[Chase]

Terry with the goal, wow, especially after such a poor start, thanks Ricardo Clark, your 2nd idiotic foul just cost us a goal...

[eric]

Tough, tough header, Terry had to reach behind him. Marking wasn't too bad, but no one took responsibility for going for the ball.

I'd call that a good set piece more than a bad defensive play. Speaking of which...