[USA REPORT CARD] Soccer America's Ridge Mahoney rates the U.S. players after their 2-1 win over El Salvador on Wednesday in Tampa.
U.S. Player Ratings
Starters
Rating Player (Club) GP/G
5 Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) 4/0
Routine saves handled cleanly, distributed ball well.
4 Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders) 4/0
Terrible error on goal, otherwise defended well and played good balls up the flank.
6 Clarence Goodson (IK Start/NOR) 10/2
A real presence in the air, won tackles on the floor, too.
5 Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA) 28/2
Covered his area well, mix-up on first goal left gap.
6 Heath Pearce (FC Dallas) 30/0
Strong game even before he set up first goal with burst of speed and good cross.
4 Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew) 11/1
Flubbed shots and passes, hit some excellent set pieces in second half.
5 Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake) 12/1
Held the middle, found teammates with passes, caught upfield a couple of times.
5 Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo) 5/0
Caused El Salvador some problems in first half, left at halftime with tight hamstring.
6 Sasha Kljestan (Chivas USA) 23/4
Good shots were saved in first half, wandered at times, pounced to score winner.
4 Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake) 2/0
Floated wide to find space, hit a good cross, left when tendinitis flared up.
5 Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids) 19/2
Used his touches well, set up Kljestan for good chance, didn’t win much in the air.
Substitutes
6 Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew) 7/0
Livened up attack working the right side and cutting through the middle.
7 Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo) 44/11
Headed equalizer, got off several shots, laid ball to Kljestan for winner.
5 Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas) 14/1
Played deeper than normal, passed effectively.
NR Dax McCarty (FC Dallas) 4/0
Nice touches, no mistakes in brief appearance, set up chance.
NR Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo) 1/0
Got into the action to hit a shot just wide in stoppage time.
(1=bad; 5=average; 10=brilliant.)
What did you think of Ridge Mahoney's Report Card? Let us know.

Mark Arnold


