United Grab Lead

Benny Olsen hit the mark in the 23rd minute to give DC United a 1-0 half time lead over CD Guadalajara (Chivas) in a Copa Sudamericana tie at RFK Stadium. However, Marc Burch has been sent off just before halftime. It is absolutely critical for DC United to win this first leg at home to stand a chance of advancing. The game will be shown on Fox Soccer at 11:30 pm ET on tape delay.

Casey and Olsen Deserve a Look

For some reason Bob Bradley as I write this has yet to submit his squad for Sunday's friendly versus Brazil at Soldier Field in Chicago. Based on recent performances in MLS two specific National Team veterans need to get a long look from Bradley with World Cup Qualifying around the corner next year.

Benny Olsen performance at Copa America alone should merit another call up for him. But beyond that, his recent performance in MLS has been nothing short of remarkable. Olsen is finally healthy and it's showing with his fantastic ball winning on display in every DC United game, and seven goals to boot in the attack. Olsen as we've discussed before on this site and the Major League Soccer Talk podcast is a perfect utility player who can play in a holding midfield role or out wide. He's an asset to any national team coach looking for gritty veteran leadership and deep player pool.

It's been a while since anyone mentioned Conor Casey and the US National Team in the same sentence. Casey seemed to fade from Bruce Arena's radar even as he played well for Mainz in Germany a few years back. Casey still has not scored a goal for the US at the Senior Level, and his early play in MLS after leaving Germany earlier this year was pathetic. But Casey has in the past four Colorado Rapids game completely regained his confidence, scoring two goals and contributing to several more. Casey has held off Daniel Osorno, the longtime Mexican National Team forward to keep the starting striker position with the Rapids.

Casey hasn't been overally convincing, but considering the woes the national team has at striker, I'd certainly give him a good look given his recent form.

What We Learned

Soccer can be a cruel game. For over sixty minutes our US National Team boys looked lively and more energetic than the favored Argentines. In fact I would venture to say we looked like the better team. However, tired legs and inexperience caught up with the USA and we succumbed to a 4-1 defeat. Watching the game at my newly adopted futbol home in Cozumel, the patrons and owners were pulling for the US largely because of me. It’s too bad we were so outclassed late in the match. I found it interesting that the waiter simply assumed that without Landon Donovan, a single player the US would get smoked out of the Copa, whereas if he were playing the US would be a threat to win the event. Such is the high respect Mexican fans have for the #10 they call the “Mexicutioner.”

I would say the most disappointing aspect of the match for me was how out of position our central defenders, Jimmy Conrad and Jay DeMerit seemed to be on multiple occasions. DeMerit looked completely outclassed which is especially unfortunate considering he seems to be everybody’s favorite player these days, the guy we want to see do well. Secondly, I’m still curious about why Coach Bradley decided to pull Benny Olsen who seemed to be outworking Cambiasso and Riquelme in the midfield for Eddie Gaven, whose career has been a complete washout to this point. Bob Bradley has pushed all the right buttons this year with the national team, but this particular substitution was probably his worst moment. Even if Olsen was tiring which didn’t seem to be the case, you are subbing a World Cup veteran whose versatility is among the best in the US player pool for a low energy player who doesn’t position himself properly. Now if Olsen really was spent, I think Kyle Beckerman could have come in to the match and done a much better job than Gaven. Come to think of it, I have no clue whatsoever why Coach Bradley selected Gavin for the squad to begin with.

Our attack was very limited. Justin Mapp and Ben Olsen provided some good energy and runs, but the forwards were once again absent. Eddie Johnson did well to draw a penalty and coolly finished the goal, but otherwise his reluctance to take guys on is mind boggling. Going into last year’s World Cup, Bruce Arena made the same observation publically about EJ, yet Johnson still hasn’t changed his mentality out there. Taylor Twellman once again provided little if anything, but the more I think about it we are for the foreseeable future stuck with there guys in the attack. I was pleased with the sense of positioning and quality runs Marvell Wynne provided. Like Gaven, I thought the selection of Wynne for Copa was questionable, but his effort last night provided otherwise.

I’ll be back stateside for the Paraguay match and hope we can learn from what went wrong late in the match last night.