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Immediate reactions to the U20 knockout game vs Uruguay

Give them credit: Uruguay scouted the US team well. They cut off Freddy Adu and forced Bradley to be the attacking catalyst for the US team. Bradley’s response was to repeatedly give the ball away, as he’s been prone to do with the U20 team. Uruguay let the US carry the ball from the back, but locked down our players once we tried to bring it forward from the midfield, then ran counters at us, and their plan worked for 87 minutes. And mostly, if you’re a fan of soccer, you had to appreciate what Uruguay’s Luis Suarez did today. He was a handful for the US backline, and willed himself a goal after backup US goalkeeper Brian Perk coughed up a dubious rebound.

And that’s where I end the nice comments about Uruguay. On balance, they displayed a lack of class and gamesmanship, both during and after the game, that we’ve come to expect from US opponents shocked to discover that the US Soccer program is not only no longer a pushover, but a better team of more talented players.

And that is why I am frustrated right now. I’m happy we ground out a tough win. Sometimes it is what you need to do. But our inability to adjust - to read and respond to the game situation - made today’s game harder than it needed to be. Here were some things I kept expecting, but never happened:

1) Bring Freddy back: Rongen kept playing him up high in the attack where Uruguay was isolating him and preventing him from getting the ball. I kept expecting Rongen to bring him farther back into the midfield to have more of an impact on the game and orchestrate a US attack that could not seem to string together passes.

2) When in Rome: Do as the divers do. Uruguay realized that the referee was falling for exaggerations of contact. It is high time the US Soccer realized there is a time to be macho, and a time to take advantage of what’s happening. If diving is working and the ref is buying, then do it. It’s the best form of repayment.

3) Take out Michael Bradley: Who knows - I’m probably wrong here, but the kid was miserable today. Good for him for tapping in an unmissable goal. Other than that, he sucked. He’s a clumsy defender and a miserable passer. He even more than Uruguay killed the US attack. When a player is having that bad of a game (not to mention his overall performance in the tournament), sub him.

Rongen didn’t make what I thought were some simple adjustments to change the flow of the game, and I thought his paralysis was going to cost us. He did, however, bring in McCarty for Zizzo, which proved to be instrumental. McCarty looked outstanding as an out of position fullback, and that versatility allowed us to kill the game. Good move.

My nitpicking is done. At the end of the day, we did what is rare in soccer. We came back in the dying minutes of the game and tied, then won. After what happened to Rongen against Argentina in his last World Cup knockout game, you wonder if justice is being repaid.