U.S. U23 Player Ratings vs. Canada

U.S. U23 Player Ratings vs. Canada
March 25, 2012
Two set piece goals from Canada spelt the doom for the U.S. U23 Men’s National Team in the second day of Group B play at CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying. Doneil Henry scored off a corner kick by Philippe Davies early in the second half, and Lucas Cavallini added the insurance goal late in a 2-0 win for Canada.

With the defeat, U.S. drops to third in the table, which means Caleb Porter’s team will likely need a victory in the final group play game on Monday night against El Salvador to advance.

U.S. Player ratings:


Bill Hamid, 3 -- Didn’t have much to do on the night, but came up short on Canada’s two goals. He didn’t even challenge Doneil Henry for the first, waiting for the ball to come to him as opposed to charging for it. And for the second, he didn’t command his box well enough, allowing Cavallini to head it home through a sea of four white U.S. jerseys.

Zarek Valentin, 4 -- Switched from left back to right back for this game, Valentin didn’t really bring much else to the table from a distribution perspective and failed to make an impact going forward. Wasn’t tested as much defensively as some of the others.

Ike Opara, 3
-- Opara lost his mark on both goals. On top of that, he nearly scored an own goal in the first half on a terrible clearance. It was a nightmarish performance for the Earthquakes center back.

Perry Kitchen, 4 -- Unlike a couple of his back line counterparts, Kitchen made no grievous errors, but deserves his share of the blame for the lackluster and unorganized effort at the back.

Jorge Villafana, 5 -- No one on the back line deserves high marks, and while Villafana didn’t do terribly, he was solid enough as he needed to be. He did do well to get forward and create a chance for Adu in the second half.

Mix Diskerud, 5 -- Credit to Canada, but Diskerud had no space and no time on the ball to pull the strings in midfield. Didn’t have many opportunities to press forward and pick out teammates.

Jared Jeffrey, 5 -- Jeffrey, along with the rest of the U.S. midfielders, was outworked all night by Canada. The lack of a strong presence in the center of the field showed, as Canada found success on the counterattack.

Joe Corona, 5 -- Canada’s formation focused on limiting the chances through the middle of the field, which left Corona invisible for much of his 45-minute outing. The Club Tijuana man struggled to operate, as defenders continuously swarmed him.

Freddy Adu, 4 -- Adu delivered two great set pieces, but both were neglected by the offside flag. When the ball was in play, Adu was a nomad when the U.S. needed an anchor. The lack of imagination in the attacking third was a stark contrast from the daring captain the U.S. displayed on Thursday.

Teal Bunbury, 5 -- The most meaningful contribution from Bunbury came when he pressured the keeper into a shaky clearance - probably not what you want from your starting striker.

Brek Shea, 4
-- Shea’s performance wasn’t all on him, as he spent long stretches of the game wide open on the flanks with no one able to get him the ball. Showed flashes at times, but wasn’t the impact player this game needed.

Substitutes

Joe Gyau, 5 -- Coming off the bench limited Gyau to an extent, as he wasn’t able to have any influence on the game playing mostly on the left flank. That said, he didn’t do much to stamp his authority on the game when he had the chance.

Terrence Boyd, 5 -- The opportunity was there for Boyd to grab the starting spot from Bunbury, and he did nothing to prove he should be in the top 11. Quiet, reserved, and unwilling to assert his authority on the game, Boyd had a similar outing to the man he replaced.

Amobi Okugo, 4 -- Okugo was another one that failed to take advantage of an opportunity. Inserted with the U.S. trailing, Okugo was tasked with stopping the counterattacks, but the speedy Canadian forwards and wingers skated past him.
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