The U.S. national team returns to action for the first time since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup today when it takes on Slovakia in a friendly in Bratislava (10am, FSC).
The Americans are without Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, as well as the injured Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, but there are still plenty of starters who will have chances to show they can play without the team's top players.
They face a tough Slovakia side that has also qualified for the World Cup. Led by European-based stars Marek Hamsik and Martin Skrtel, the Slovakians should provide a stiff test today.
I will be providing commentary for (the second half) of today's match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action:
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FINAL- That's all for now. Share your post-game thoughts on today's match in the comments section below.
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FINAL- Bright spots for the USA? The Bradley-Feilhaber tandem looked comfortable together today and played well. Spector looked solid in central defense and just might have put his stamp on that position. Robbie Rogers didn't look bad today. Brad Guzan also looked very good in goal.
Not so bright spots? Bornstein got caught out a few times, and gave up the penalty kick. The starting forwards, Altidore and Casey, didn't make much of an impact today. Goodson didn't look good as a centerback option off the bench.
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FINAL- Slovakia 1, USA 0. The home team takes the match courtesy of a Marek Hamsik penalty kick. Not the prettiest match, but there were some bright spots for the AMericans to build on.
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93rd minute- How badly does the USA attack miss Landon Donovan today?
And how bad is the field in Bratislava?
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92nd minute- Two more minutes of stoppage time.
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89th minute- Cunningham draws a foul for a pretty decent long free kick chance for the USA. They took it quickly and Bornstein's low cross is pounced on by the keeper.
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89th minute- Nice touch and turn by Cunningham, but he's run down and dispossessed rather surprisingly.
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88th minute- McCarty has looked good since coming in. He certainly hasn't looked out of place. Goodson? Not so much.
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86th minute- Johnson with a decent run forward, but can't beat Martin Skrtel.
Spector has done well in central defense today. I wasn't sold on him being able to play centerback well on the senior level, but today I think he's proven he's a solid option there.
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85th minute- Jeff Cunningham gets his first cap since 2005. A well-earned appearance, now we'll see what he can do with the opportunity.
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82nd minute- Very good play by Feilhaber to steal a ball and draw a free kick.
Jeff Cunningham and Sacha Kljestan coming into the match, Jozy Altidore and Robbie Rogers come out.
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80th minute- Goodson has not looked good since coming into this match. You wonder if Chad Marshall's fitness is an issue. He did just recently come back from a knee injury.
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77th minute- Bradley and Feilhaber working well today in the second half.
Skrtel just took a hard hit and is down.
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74th minute- SAVE GUZAN!!! Looked like an offside play but no call and Sestak puts a shot on goal that Guzan kicks away. Nice save.
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73rd minute- I know there's been some criticism about McCarty's call up but the simple fact is that he enjoyed very good form for FC Dallas last season, particularly in the second half of the season.
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72nd minute- Dempsey and Bocanegra come out, Clarence Goodson and McCarty come in. This is McCarty's first national team appearance.
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70th minute- Bornstein with a hard foul from behind, no card.
Dax McCarty is coming into the match.
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69th minute- Still 1-0 Slovakia.
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65th minute- Dempsey's free kick hits the wall, setting up a corner. The Rogers corner is caught.
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64th minute- Eddie Johnson is getting his chance right now and it's definitely interesting to see how an Altidore-Johnson tandem might do together.
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60th minute- Marek Hamsik's 26th-minute penalty kick is still the difference in this one as Slovakia holds on to a 1-0 lead.
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54th minute- SAVE Guzan, Slovakia putting some good pressure on in the second half here.
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51st minute- Johnson with a good look but puts his shot into the side netting. Great pass from Dempsey to spring Johnson.
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HALFTIME- Eddie Johnson comes in for Conor Casey.
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37th minute- SAVE SLOVAKIA. Dempsey's long free kick forces a diving save. Well-struck shot from Dempsey on that one.
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29th minute- Nice passing sequence for the Americans, but Altidore's shot is saved. Better movement from the Americans.
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26th minute- GOAL SLOVAKIA!! Marek Hamsik converts the penalty drawn after Jonathan Bornstein committed a foul inside the penalty area. Slovakia 1, USA 0.
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25th minute- PENALTY! Jonathan Bornstein called for bringing down Vladimir Weiss. A closer look at the replay seems to show Weiss actually putting his arm around Bornstein's neck and then tumbling as soon as Bornstein got an arm up on him.
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2nd minute- USA corner leads to a few shots at goal that are blocked before an offside call. Very good chance there goes wasted.
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PRE-GAME- Spector gets the nod in central defense today. Chad Marshall is not in uniform today. I would have pegged him to get the nod, but he's out.
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PRE-GAME- Here is the USA starting lineup:
-------------Altidore-----------Casey------------------
Rogers-----------------------------------------Dempsey
---------------Bradley---------Feilhaber---------------
Bornstein-----Bocanegra----Spector-------Cherundolo
------------------------Guzan-------------------------------
