Scotland v USA

[ronaldo11]

First 30 minutes gone......still 1-0 usa; goal via the penalty spot.

I've been extremely impressed with what i've seen so far. I havent been on this website for a while, but I was reading all the comments made on the USA v England game, and even though it was England's B team, USA's possession was not as threatening as it should have been. I also watched USA beat Mexico when they qualified for the world cup this year, and USA's first half was not convincing.

However, their second half was convincing, and the team has carried that form into this game against Scotland, without several of their key players. There's no Reyna, no Donovan, no McBride. However, USA are playing the ball around with great style and they look very comfortable on the ball, and unlike in the England game, they are able to convert possession into threatening chances.

Whenever USA loses the ball, they all sprint back into their penalty area, and Scotland simply do not have the skills to penetrate through. Scotland did draw with Italy 1-1, so they're not woeful, but you can tell that the Scots dont have much to play for in comparison with the American's who are fighting for a place in Arena's world cup roster.

Its about 35 minutes gone, and i'll report more later on when i watch the replay. However, right now im switching over to England v Argentina. Come on, you cant expect me not to change over!!

[ronaldo11]

Final Score - Scotland 1-1 USA
Seen the highlights now..........

Against the run of play, Scotland scored on the 39th minute with a header from a free kick. In the second half, Scotland came more into the game, whereas USA let a few players without much international experience play. Kasey Keller said, "In the second half we used this opportunity to blood some of the players at international level".

Scotland did score a goal late on, which was ruled out for offside, whilst at the other end Damarcus Beasley seemed to be USA's main threat. I think Bruce Arena has learned a lot about the squad he had with him in Scotland, and judging from his comments after the game, Im sure he'll be happy to welcome back some of his more regular players for the world cup - "With so little of our first choice players available, we threw this squad together at the last minute". For me this is a sharp contrast to his comments before the game, when his positivity about these new players indicated that he was looking for slightly more competition from fringe players.

In my opinion, the message to Bruce Arena is pretty much the same as the one he surely got at the end of his 3-0 defeat to Costa Rica - perhaps he doesnt quite have the depth of quality players that he thought he had. Better stick to the proven players!

PS....why not test freddy adu's in a game like this? i say that ONLY because he's a player who can create something out of nothing, and he did well against Chelsea for DC United in the summer friendly....just a thought though.