I was hoping tonight would be his night, and so far so good... Here's the starting lineup: Kasey Keller Jonathan Spector Jimmy Conrad Jay DeMerit Frank Simek Clint Dempsey Benny Feilhaber Michael Bradley Justin Mapp Eddie Johnson Landon Donovan
Dumb commentators but they just gave Watford and the Demerit story its due. Not much for a US defender to do in this one. Possesssion at 70% US, 30% Guat.
Guatemala's top attacker Carlos Ruiz, playing in Dallas at the stadium he plays his club ball, is going straight at Demerit. I guess he's trying to exploit his inexperience as the only guy there on his first cap. Ruiz is a pathetically infamous diver, so laddy better be careful.
Simek (Sheff Wed) just got kicked three times while on the ground by an angry Guat defender. Someone is going to get hurt bad soon. Things really got sour fast.
Result was 0-0 and sounds like a very drab game. Jay booked on 50 minutes. You can read the report here: USA MATCH REPORT
Sorry had to run off to my beer league game. We drew 3-3, gawddammitt. Then drank beer. Anyway, yes it was a miserable game, full of stereotypical Latin American dives and random leg "cramps". A very different performance from US v Ecuador. Sooner or later US has to learn how to defeat 9 men behind the 40 yard line, or we will not be seeing games in S. Africa or Australia or Los Angeles or wherever the 2010 cup ends up... Importantly, Jay didn't have a bad game. He did get booked, but it was ridiculous. Nothing you wouldn't see in any Pompey vs Charlton game. The Mexican ref carded Jay for it. He is truly an "EPL" player, but needs to get savvy with how CONCACAF plays or he will have trouble. Deuce needs time at Fulham or he's toast. Spector was miserable. Simek was a pleasant surprise. I honestly had never heard of him before he and Demerit were called up. The MLS guys truthfully outplayed the overseas guys, except Keller and Eddie Johnson. Keller was his usual enviable self, while EJ was what we all feared he was becoming: irrelevant to US Soccer. Still, this was a big experiment to see who could contribute and so in that regard, the game was good to give a few people some time on the pitch to see what they could do. I think Jay may get asked again. He only made one ?able play, a pass that was not a good idea. End of coverage by Fitz...g'night.
