The headline story is that the USA continued their World Cup preparations with a 2-1 win over Turkey on Sunday at Red Bull Arena. German-born Fabian Johnson scored his first goal for the Stars and Stripes in the 26th minute when he combined with Michael Bradley for a superb goal that gave the Americans a 1-0 lead.
Clint Dempsey marked his return from injury with a tap-in after 52 minutes following Turkey defender Hakan Balta’s botched clearance. Turkey spoilt the clean sheet when Selcuk Inan scored from the penalty spot in the 90th minute.
With 15 days until the US plays Ghana in Brazil, time is running out on Klinsmann and this American squad. Despite two wins in a week, the US defense was repeatedly opened up by Turkey, the Turks just did not capitalize on the chances they created. I doubt if Ghana, Portugal or Germany will be so generous.
Timmy Chandler gets caught up field far too often, leaving a huge gap for teams to counter attack into, while this 4-1-3-2 formation does’t seem to protect a shaky back four enough.
Someone on twitter tweeted that Jozy Altidore is the USA version of Emile Heskey. He works hard for the team, holds up the ball nicely, but cannot score. That sums up Altidore. It is one thing to score goals against Cuba or Panama, it is something completely different to score on the biggest stage against some of the best defenders in the world. Where the goals will come from in Brazil is really worrying me, as I have trouble seeing the US get a point in their three matches.
