Spain Slips By US

Americans Can't Finish in Close Contest

June 5, 2008

In front of 13,500 fans at the Estadio El Sardinero in Santander, Eddie Johnson had one goal called back and barely missed a second as Spain extended its unbeaten run to 17 matches and improved its record against the United States to 3-0-0 all-time.

Despite not finding the back of the net, forwards Freddy Adu and Johnson created chances around goal, and the U.S. defense did well to contain a dangerous Spanish attack. But as the game wore on, Spain began to pull away, hitting the woodwork twice before Xavi slalomed through four U.S. defenders and slipped the ball past Brad Guzan in the 79th minute.

Eddie Lewis and the US team fell to Spain. (Photo credit: Joyce Furia)

"In certain areas, I think there was improvement (from the match against England)," said U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradly. "In the first half, I certainly felt that we passed the ball better. In the second half, we had a very good chance early on but we lost a little bit of energy and Spain was able to capitalize.

"I thought we stopped moving to support each other when we had the ball. [Cesc] Fabregas and Xavi started moving very well to find little gaps in our midfield. At that point, Spain was able to take advantage. They're a very good passing team."

While Spain looked for cracks in the U.S. defense, it was Johnson who nearly opened the scoring in the 30th minute. After winning the ball in midfield, Adu appeared to have sprung Johnson over the top of the Spanish defense and in alone on goalkeeper Iker Casillas. While Johnson slotted the ball past the charging ‘keeper, the play was whistled dead with the assistant referee’s flag raised for offside.

Adu and Johnson connected again nine minutes later when Adu lofted a long ball over the Spain defense from the U.S. half, leading his forward partner. Johnson showed his speed and strength as he raced from the midfield stripe on the right flank to beat Puyol to the ball at the 18-yard box and then held the Spanish defender off to rip a shot towards the near post, but Casillas was there to make the save with his knees.

The U.S. made three changes to start the second half, once again inserting Brad Guzan for Tim Howard and Frankie Hejduk for Steve Cherundolo. DaMarcus Beasley made his second appearances in as many matches, replacing Adu and pushing former Rev Clint Dempsey into the center of the 4-2-3-1 formation. Spain also made a handful of changes in the second half, and almost immediately Ruben De La Red and then Xavi began to find space between the USA’s central midfield and backline to orchestrate attacks.

Spain nearly grabbed the lead in the 62nd minute when a well taken free kick from Xavi clanged off the crossbar. Five minutes later, Guzan came up big against Marcos Senna, stifling a close-range shot from the midfielder who had been played through one-on-one in the right side of the penalty area.

Spain managed to break through in the 79th minute on a crafty run by Xavi. Collecting the ball near the top of the area, he cleverly shaped up to pass to a rushing striker, but quickly turned towards goal and split Oguchi Onyewu and Bocanegra. With Hejduk closing, Xavi held off the challenge and beat Guzan to the lower left corner.

The U.S. will have a short turnaround as they next face No. 1-ranked Argentina on June 8 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the team’s final match before beginning their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

U.S. Men’s National Team Game Report:

Scoring Summary:
ESP – 8-Xavi Hernandez (10-Cesc Fabregas) 79th minute.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard (18-Brad Guzan, 46); 6-Steve Cherundolo (5-Frankie Hejduk, 46), 22-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (Capt.), 12-Heath Pearce; 8-Clint Dempsey (25-Pablo Mastroeni, 86), 26-Maurice Edu, 4-Michael Bradley, 11-Eddie Lewis (16-Josh Wolff, 70); 9-Eddie Johnson, 19-Freddy Adu (7-DaMarcus Beasley, 46)

ESP: 1-Iker Casillas (capt.); 11-Joan Capdevila (3-Fernando Navarro, 53), 4-Carlos Marchena, 5-Carlos Puyol, 15-Sergio Ramos; 12-Santi Cazorla, 8-Xavi Hernandez, 14-Xabi Alonso (19-Marcos Senna, 46), 21-David Silva (22-Ruben De La Red, 58); 9-Fernando Torres (17-Daniel Güiza, 46), 10-Cesc Fabregas (18-Álvaro Arbeloa, 84)

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