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U.S. player ratings
by Paul Kennedy, March 23rd, 2012 12:55AM
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TAGS:  olympics


[USA-CUBA REPORT CARD] Joe Corona (three goals) and Mix Diskerud (two assists) were outstanding for the USA in its 6-0 win over Cuba. Soccer America's Paul Kennedy grades the U.S. players ...

Starters
GRADE PLAYER (CLUB/COUNTRY)
5 Bill Hamid (D.C. United).
Only save came on a shot from distance in 44th minute.

5 Kofi Sarkodie (Houston Dynamo).
Positioned behind Adu on the right side and moved into attack when Adu moved inside.

5 Perry Kitchen (D.C. United). Beaten by Michael Chang, Cuba's most dangerous player, for free kick early in first half.

5 Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes). Laid the ball off to Adu for fifth goal. Like Kitchen was troubled by Chang on a few forays.

5 Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact). Chose to stay back on a night when he had plenty of open space in front of him.

5 Jared Jeffrey (Mainz II/GER).
Played as deep-lying midfielder behind Diskerud and Corona.

8 Mix Diskerud (Gent/BEL).
Quick distribution was a key to putting the Cubans away. Set up Corona for his second and third goal.

8 Joe Corona (Tijuana/MEX).
Played rebound off his chest to score into open goal for first goal, then deftly put away chances inside the post for his second and third goals.

6 Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union).
Played mostly on the right wing and had a rather quiet game until he made it 5-0 with a shot from 25 yards out.

6 Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls).
Tangled with Dario Macias in incident that led to red card for the Cuban in 19th minute. Scored on header from Shea to open the floodgates late in the first half.

7 Brek Shea (FC Dallas).
Made it look easy against outmatched Cubans. Cross found Agudelo for second U.S. goal; his centering pass was put into the Cuban goal by Arturo Diz Pe.

Subs:
4 Teal Bunbury (Sporting KC). Saved by goalie Odisnel Cooper shortly after entering game. First touch failed him after being put through by Corona late in the second half.

4 Joe Gyau (Hoffenheim/GER). Showed off his speed but shot well over bar on best look at goal.

5 Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union). Helped keep possession for almost the entire last half hour after coming on for Jeffrey.

(1=low; 5=average; 10=high.)



2 comments
  1. Paul Lorinczi
    commented on: March 23, 2012 at 11:06 a.m.
    Seriously - Joe Gyau only gets a 4 because of one shot over the goal? Weird. So, all those 1v1 battles he won had no meaning. How many times did he get into the box?

  1. Ric Fonseca
    commented on: March 23, 2012 at 1:14 p.m.
    Fairly good assessment of player performance, however, when one is trying to judge the starters and then the subs, one can lose concentration and focus, what with having to see the forwards, then the defenders, midfielders and on occasion the GK, in addition to see how the opposing players react. Maybe evaluating players should be a two soccer-knowledgeable team approach? Now we'll see how the US will react vs Canada and then El Salvador. Team looked good though, not outstanding, so Coach Porter must have seen something positive! GO USA!


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