3/9 Friendly: US vs. Colombia Post Game Thread [R]

[dark knight]

3-0 US on goals by Noonan and Marshall and Mathis. Twellman redcarded.

Serious discussion please and don't feed the trolls.

[lurking]

Id like to make comments about how players played, but well, none of us saw it. Whee.

[Hawkeye17]

Can't say much, except on what has been said on the matchtracker...

Noonan, Marshall, and Mathis find the net, with Ralston factoring in with the assist on two goals... Busch gets the nod over Cannon-wasn't tested that much but in for Arena to see if he can play at this level...

Several players get their first cap... It's the first time that GAM doesn't find the net, but that's OK--he still deserved to start up front--the next two WCQs will be the real mettle where he has to finish his chances... Having two forwards seems to be the better formation to go over the lone forward setup that was tried tonight...

Ching should be brought along for the next game--he has scored in a WCQ... Ralston, well, might as well keep him on the roster and see what happens next, until the Euros join the camp...

I don't think we'll see Twellman again for a while--he's always been a bubble player and he comes him as a sub and then 10-15 minutes later he makes a slide tackle and gets the red... just a shame for a player who can do well for club, but struggles to crack into the lineup for country...

Only complaint is resorting to matchtracker--should have been on any television but that's about it... next game against Honduras, and thankfully on FSC. Cheers!

[Delta Blues]

Id like to make comments about how players played, but well, none of us saw it. Whee.

Like that'll stop anyone here! ;) It's nice to see Clintinho get a goal. Twellman may have just dropped off the radar. I wouldn't mind Noonan getting more camps at least to give Bruce some more looks, he's a decent player.

[SC LaPurisma]

Nap,

Good analysis. I believe these MLS USMNT friendlies will serve to arrange the depth chart and bench in WCQ in case our stud starting players in Europe get injured.

[Jabinho]

Soon some who were there will be here on the boards to give us expert and interesting first hand insight into the game .. ;)

[SC LaPurisma]

I bet they will say the USMNT took on more players one on one.

[GersMan]

What was the attendance in Fullerton?

I wouldn't assume the red knocks Twellman out of the picture. Circumstances, including whether Bruce agrees with the call, are important.

[Ghost]

You know, for all the MLS forwards who have their little cheering sections around here, it amazes me that the most productive forward in MLS last year doesn't have much of one, if any. Then he walks into the lineup and poaches a goal. Good fun.

[Hawkeye17]

Soon some who were there will be here on the boards to give us expert and interesting first hand insight into the game .. ;)

Would be good to hear what actually went on live and from the spot... :)

[Delta Blues]

Would be good to hear what actually went on live and from the spot... :)

C'mon! How fun is that? Baseless speculation and imagination is usually a lot more exciting! Clints wicked lazer at the near post which completely baffled and handcuffed the Colombian keeper, who despite diving at full stretch, with a perfect jump on the ball only grazed the scorching shot, which tore off his fingertips and ripped the net as Clint grabbed his crotch and tapped his watch while screaming "long live the confederacy!"

[lurking]

What was the attendance in Fullerton?

I wouldn't assume the red knocks Twellman out of the picture. Circumstances, including whether Bruce agrees with the call, are important.
Probably not... but there has to be a point where Twellman stops getting the call, and I have to imagine hes getting perilously close.

[pupusa3000]

What was the Colombian roster like compared to the squad they played against Mexico? They tied with Colombia 1 - 1 a couple weeks ago, so I wonder if this Colombian team the US played was at least comparable to the one Mexico played and if so, what does that tell us? Regardless a good win tonight. I was a expecting a 1 - 0, 1 - 1 game so this score is pleasantly surprising.

[voros]

Probably not... but there has to be a point where Twellman stops getting the call, and I have to imagine hes getting perilously close.
He's played a total of 50 minutes in the last two years. He's hardly been a fixture.

[Beckham7]

What was the attendance in Fullerton?

I wouldn't assume the red knocks Twellman out of the picture. Circumstances, including whether Bruce agrees with the call, are important.
The attendance was between 7 and 8 thousand.Can't remember the exact number.

[scaryice]

From what I read, Mathis scored directly from the corner kick.

[helmzgk]

Saw the game at Fullerton. That ref was horrendous, but our boys seemed to adjust ok to his calls. Colombia only threatened a couple of times, both on free kicks outside the box, but that was about it. Arena's high pressure style stopped them time and time again, except towards the end of the first half, where our boys seemed to tire just a little bit and lighten up on them.

I start now by saying this, Dempsey will become everything we wanted Reyna to be. He played a great game, and its going to be hard for Arena to keep him off any roster.

Noonan's goal was a gimme, it was Ralston who did the hard work. Ralston over all had a great game, I believe, and his chip off the crossbar is what lead to Noonan's goal. A good showing from him.

Noonan was a threat all night long until he got subbed out, but we really need to see him on the right, IMO. His left foot is just not up to par.

Enough with the Revs though. Clint Mathis showed some of his magic, but he and GAM just didn't get along too well. It's been said that GAM needs great service to play great, and today was a perfect example. Mathis just could not get him the ball, and EJ was affected dramatically. You could almost count the amount of touches he had on two hands. He should've done better with a diving header early in the first half.

Mastroeni played well, and was solid, even after the yellow card he didn't shy away from aggressively breaking up plays.

The Mullan project has officially begun, and I like him at right back. He hustled and played well, probably our best defender out there. He also got forward a lot and seemed to be able to play off of Ralston well.

Marshall, what's with all these guys scoring on their first caps! He played well, and showed he deserves to get more looks. Got elbowed hard a couple of times, but that was only evidence of how much he frustrated Colombia.

Kotschau should've stayed far far away from this field, even at the college level. He played horrendously and was prone to giving away passes time and time again.

Albright, playing left back, was decent in the first half, but he needs to learn how to play with his left. Defenitely did not show he belonged, and got burned real bad in the second half. Keep him on the right.

Busch was solid, but it's a little unsettling seeing a keeper who's below the average height of the team. Played well though and with confidence. Caught everything he was supposed to catch and kept his undeveloped back line intact.

The Subs:
Gaven looked like he didn't belong at all, but I'll give him an excuse, we were down to ten men when he was on. He still didn't do too well at keeping possesion but did get us a couple of good fouls.

If San Jose are going to go through Ching to score goals this year, they're in for a lot of trouble. Didn't have one decent touch, and was caught sleeping a couple of times. He lost the ball far too often for a "Target" forward.

Martino showed a little bit of energy when he came on for Ralston. It was late in the game and they were a man down, so there's not really much to say for him.

Borchers got his first cap, but didn't score. Helped defensively, but by the time he got in, the crowd was leaving.

Twellman, poor Twellman. One's got to believe that he is the most frustrated man on Earth. Not a red card in my book, but that doesn't matter. The ref straight redded him and he was off. You've got to believe that his chances are getting fewer and fewer and he's gonna have to have a good showing in a couple of Nat games here and do well this season in MLS. It just looks like his confidence is shot. FWIW, Arena thought that was a bad call, and didn't seem to be dissapointed in Twellman.

Other Notes:
The crowd was good, for less than 8000 people. There were cheers the whole night. Bravo to the guys in the cheap seats who were telling the Keeper of Colombia that he had a nice behind, and that he had nice hair as well :p

The refs were horrendous, that's all that had to be said. It seemed that the entire game the ref had to let everybody know he was there. More than a few guys got yellows for going shoulder to shoulder, or not doing anything at all. Arena was not happy.

That's about it, great American crowd there and great Colombian crowd as well.

[bigredfutbol]

Probably not... but there has to be a point where Twellman stops getting the call, and I have to imagine hes getting perilously close.

I don't think he's used up his chances. A good (not even great, just good) season this year will keep him on the radar.

[Frankie Boy]

Saw the game at Fullerton. That ref was horrendous, but our boys seemed to adjust ok to his calls. Colombia only threatened a couple of times, both on free kicks outside the box, but that was about it. Arena's high pressure style stopped them time and time again, except towards the end of the first half, where our boys seemed to tire just a little bit and lighten up on them.

I start now by saying this, Dempsey will become everything we wanted Reyna to be. He played a great game, and its going to be hard for Arena to keep him off any roster.

Noonan's goal was a gimme, it was Ralston who did the hard work. Ralston over all had a great game, I believe, and his chip off the crossbar is what lead to Noonan's goal. A good showing from him.

Noonan was a threat all night long until he got subbed out, but we really need to see him on the right, IMO. His left foot is just not up to par.

Enough with the Revs though. Clint Mathis showed some of his magic, but he and GAM just didn't get along too well. It's been said that GAM needs great service to play great, and today was a perfect example. Mathis just could not get him the ball, and EJ was affected dramatically. You could almost count the amount of touches he had on two hands. He should've done better with a diving header early in the first half.

Mastroeni played well, and was solid, even after the yellow card he didn't shy away from aggressively breaking up plays.

The Mullan project has officially begun, and I like him at right back. He hustled and played well, probably our best defender out there. He also got forward a lot and seemed to be able to play off of Ralston well.

Marshall, what's with all these guys scoring on their first caps! He played well, and showed he deserves to get more looks. Got elbowed hard a couple of times, but that was only evidence of how much he frustrated Colombia.

Kotschau should've stayed far far away from this field, even at the college level. He played horrendously and was prone to giving away passes time and time again.

Albright, playing left back, was decent in the first half, but he needs to learn how to play with his left. Defenitely did not show he belonged, and got burned real bad in the second half. Keep him on the right.

Busch was solid, but it's a little unsettling seeing a keeper who's below the average height of the team. Played well though and with confidence. Caught everything he was supposed to catch and kept his undeveloped back line intact.

The Subs:
Gaven looked like he didn't belong at all, but I'll give him an excuse, we were down to ten men when he was on. He still didn't do too well at keeping possesion but did get us a couple of good fouls.

If San Jose are going to go through Ching to score goals this year, they're in for a lot of trouble. Didn't have one decent touch, and was caught sleeping a couple of times. He lost the ball far too often for a "Target" forward.

Martino showed a little bit of energy when he came on for Ralston. It was late in the game and they were a man down, so there's not really much to say for him.

Borchers got his first cap, but didn't score. Helped defensively, but by the time he got in, the crowd was leaving.

Twellman, poor Twellman. One's got to believe that he is the most frustrated man on Earth. Not a red card in my book, but that doesn't matter. The ref straight redded him and he was off. You've got to believe that his chances are getting fewer and fewer and he's gonna have to have a good showing in a couple of Nat games here and do well this season in MLS. It just looks like his confidence is shot. FWIW, Arena thought that was a bad call, and didn't seem to be dissapointed in Twellman.

Other Notes:
The crowd was good, for less than 8000 people. There were cheers the whole night. Bravo to the guys in the cheap seats who were telling the Keeper of Colombia that he had a nice behind, and that he had nice hair as well :p

The refs were horrendous, that's all that had to be said. It seemed that the entire game the ref had to let everybody know he was there. More than a few guys got yellows for going shoulder to shoulder, or not doing anything at all. Arena was not happy.

That's about it, great American crowd there and great Colombian crowd as well.

A solid, fun crowd (8000 is about all Fullerton seats)-as usual, a late - arriving crowd in socal...

First goal was definitely a golazo-great run through a pack of defenders leading to gimme. 2nd goal a good one also-didn't see much of the third.

[helmzgk]

A solid, fun crowd (8000 is about all Fullerton seats)-as usual, a late - arriving crowd in socal...

First goal was definitely a golazo-great run through a pack of defenders leading to gimme. 2nd goal a good one also-didn't see much of the third.

I didn't catch much of the third one either, but it looked like Mathis's corner bounced off the shin of one of Colombia's defenders and went right under the keeper.