{"id":18633,"date":"2013-03-23T02:16:27","date_gmt":"2013-03-23T06:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=18633"},"modified":"2013-03-23T12:42:16","modified_gmt":"2013-03-23T16:42:16","slug":"player-ratings-u-s-mens-national-team-vs-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=18633","title":{"rendered":"Player Ratings: U.S. Men\u2019s National Team vs. Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"460\" height=\"259\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C9xuaQDkmL8?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em>After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of the United States National Team players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5 average, 10 perfection). This week Brian O&#8217;Connell Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=18627\">USA\u2019s 1-0 win over Costa Rica<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><b>Brad Guzan<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>6<\/b> (Brian 6, Sean 6)<br \/>\nHad a few expected bobbles, and didn&#8217;t look strong on a 53rd minute corner. Nevertheless, made the stops he needed to, which is all you can ask in a game impacted by the conditions. (Brian) \u2026 A few errors, but that was to be expected given the weather. Got the shutout and filled in admirably for Tim Howard. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>DaMarcus Beasley<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>6.5<\/b> (Brian 6, Sean 7):<br \/>\nHow many lives does this guy have? Only there because of injuries, but brings exactly what the team needed in this kind of game: leadership, savvy and an engine that wouldn&#8217;t quit. Involved early and late; a thorn in Costa Rica&#8217;s side. (Brian) \u2026 One of the most active players for the U.S. in the match. Actually seemed to thrive in the poor conditions and did a great job on both sides of the ball filling in at left back. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Omar Gonzalez<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>6<\/b> (Brian 5.5, Sean 6.5)<br \/>\nOvershadowed by Goodson, and gave too many openings to Saborio and Co. Came on a little stronger late. (Brian) \u2026 His sliding block on Bryan Ruiz\u2019s shot just before halftime probably saved the U.S. two points. Otherwise nothing too fancy, but got the job done. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Clarance Goodson<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>6.75<\/b> (Brian 7, Sean 6.5)<br \/>\nMost reliable player in the rear. Stepped up big under pressure, and made a few important clearances. (Brian) \u2026 Strong at the back all night and made some big aerial clearances with Costa Rica attempting plenty of long balls. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Geoff Cameron<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>5<\/b> (Brian 5, Sean 5)<br \/>\nShook off a few troubling moments and improved as the game progressed. Made a key second half clearance with Costa Rica knocking on the door. (Brian) \u2026 No big mistakes, but turned the ball over too easily at times, including finding teammates on only 4 of his 13 throw-ins. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Michael Bradley<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>6.75<\/b> (Brian 7, Sean 6.5)<br \/>\nDid everything but score; got the attack going early, partnered well with Jones, provided support and played the ball into space. (Brian) \u2026 Didn\u2019t get the ball as much as usual, but when he did, made smart passes in transition. Great effort to get forward and still get back in position to clog the passing lanes. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Jermaine Jones<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>5<\/b> (Brian 5, Sean 5)<br \/>\nA typical Jermaine Jones game &#8211; linked well on a few advances, brought usual brand of physicality and earned a yellow for his efforts late. (Brian) \u2026 His talent was often evident, but needlessly gave away some dangerous set pieces \u2013 including one late where he saw yellow and was only saved from it leading to an equalizer by an offside. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Herculez Gomez<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>5.5<\/b> (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)<br \/>\nService from set pieces was decent, found a few openings early. Held the ball well. (Brian) \u2026 First touch let him down on a few occasions, but otherwise had a solid and active outing. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Graham Zusi<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>5 <\/b>(Brian 5, Sean 5)<br \/>\nPlayed a few decent balls forward, but the snowy conditions prevented him from keeping it on the ground. (Brian) \u2026 Rarely got on the ball, but showed glimpses of his quality when he had the chance. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p><b>Clint Dempsey<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>7.25<\/b> (Brian 7.5, Sean 7)<br \/>\nA threat for much of the match and the goal was the icing on the cake. Combined well with Altidore and exploited space near the edge of the area. (Brian) \u2026 Dempsey\u2019s fitness \u2013 having just recovered from an injury \u2013 was a concern heading into the match, but the Texan managed to go the full 90 minutes, scored the game winner, survived some rough challenges, and spearheaded the U.S. attack.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jozy Altidore<\/b> \u2013 Average: <b>6.25<\/b> (Brian 5.5, Sean 7)<br \/>\nStrong holdup play sharpened the offense, and nearly snuck one through in the second half. (Brian) \u2026 Confident play from Altidore. Played a huge role in the lone goal, came close to scoring one of his own and did well in holding up the ball and helping the U.S. maintain possession going forward. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p>(sub)<b> Eddie Johnson<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>5 <\/b>(Brian 5, Sean 5)<br \/>\nCollected some dangerous touches, and provided a little spark late. (Brian) \u2026 Mixed bag. Showed some spark off the bench, but also turned the ball over too easily when the U.S. needed to maintain possession. (Sean);<\/p>\n<p>(sub) <b>Maurice Edu<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>5.5<\/b> (Brian 5.5, 5.5)<br \/>\nCame in and provided some good energy to thwart the Costa Rica attack. (Brian) \u2026 Helped solidify the midfield for the final minutes. (Sean)<\/p>\n<p>(sub) <b>Kyle Beckerman<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: <b>NR<\/b><br \/>\nNot enough time to make an impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dempsey was among the top performers in the U.S. win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/dempseyfeature5.jpg?fit=490%2C225","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18633"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18633"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18635,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18633\/revisions\/18635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}