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United States Squad Report: A brutal 3 points for USA

Robert Cianflone / Getty

A legendary and unlikely last minute 2-1 victory from the United States national team against their nemesis Ghana, but at what cost?

It wasn’t just the kick in the face and subsequent broken nose for the scorer of USA’s opener after 29 seconds, Clint Dempsey. It wasn’t just Jozy Altidore’s devastating hamstring pull in the 21st minute of play, or Matt Besler’s cautionary half-time substitution for the eventual game-winner John Brooks for hamstring tightness.

The US looked a gear behind Ghana all evening, and it affected their ability to take advantage of gratuitous space afforded to them on the counter by a desperately upfield opponent.

Coach Juergen Klinsmann seemed to sense this match would be brutal too, choosing to warm up the entire team ahead of the game, bench included. Though keeper Tim Howard cautioned “you can’t legislate for injuries,” there may be some questions over Klinsmann’s fitness regimen, particularly in light of earlier hints from Landon Donovan this year over a different mindset about training. The team has been practicing regularly since landing in Brazil.

However, Klinsmann’s admission that “we’ve got to deal with it” with regard to the similar Besler/Altidore injuries may indicate a change ahead of the next game against Portugal, when the US could be without it’s starting central defender and only true target man against a team whose World Cup hangs in the balance.

The team flew back to their digs in Sao Paulo very early this morning, and we should get a better sense of how they’ll prepare for an enormous task on the 22nd of June, one that could make Ghana look like a comparative cakewalk.

Fixtures/Results

Group G — June 16 — Ghana vs United States

Group G — June 22 — United States vs Portugal

Group G — June 26 — United States vs Germany

Squad News/Rumors/Injury Report

DF Matt Besler questionable for June 22nd with hamstring tightness, will be assessed.

FW Jozy Altidore doubtful for the rest of the tournament with a hamstring pull.

FW Clint Dempsey with a broken nose, will need to be assessed. 

Five Quick Notes

1. John Brooks’ 86th minute winner was the goal of the German-born player’s dreams. Literally. “I said I had a dream, I told some team-mates that I dreamed that I had scored in the 80th minute and we won the game. Now it [turned out to be] the 86th minute and we won the game, so that was good.”

2. Among the millions of vines of US supporters celebrating Brooks’ incredible 86th minute header, this was one of the best:

3. Klinsmann and Nick Rimando embrace. The stuff World Cup dreams are made of.

4. Kansas City celebrates Graham Zusi’s corner and the USA’s winner.

5. Heh.

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