Two leads were not enough for the U.S. Men’s National Team as they drew Poland 2-2 Saturday night at Soldier Field in Chicago.
“I thought we had a very good first fifteen minutes,” USMNT head coach Bob Bradley said. “When we went up 2-1 I thought we had an opportunity to really to pick the rhythm of the game up. When we had the chance to finish them off, we were in low gear.”
The United States came out and pushed the offensive agenda and within the first five minutes, Poland goalkeeper Artur Boruc had to control the ball from the U.S. chances.
“We wanted to go out there and do well,” Clint Dempsey said. “It was important for us to get the opening goal.”
The U.S. would get the scoring going in the 13th minute. New call-up Jermaine Jones took the ball from the opposite half circle; put a pass that went over the entire Polish defense. Altidore, who beat his defender, knocked the ball to set up his right-footed shot that beat Boruc to the right of the net for his 10th international goal. The U.S. led 1-0 and looked to have no rust.
“Jozy was active,” Bradley said. “He worked hard; he took the first goal well. He made a difference in the game and it was nice to see him get on the score sheet. That’s something that we need from him.”
“I am really happy that this is my first game,” Jones said through a translator. “I just hope I get an opportunity to come back.”
Tim Howard made the save to keep Poland off the board in the 22nd minute. Robert Lewandowski had a through pass come to him as he ran down the middle of the 18-yard box. He had Howard on the one-on-one, but Howard stepped up and made the great save to keep Poland scoreless.
However, Poland would not be shut out. In the 30th minute, the U.S. defense could not stop a Polish ball that was crossed into the box. The ball was kicked straight up into the air in the 18-yards box by the U.S. defense. American defender Oguchi Onyewu shouldered the ball down in the box, but it went to Polish midfielder Ludovic Obranski. Obranski passed the ball to Adam Matuszczyk, whose shot went under a U.S. defender and beat Howard to the left.
“Both goals were situations where we did not do a good job of clearing balls in out defending third,” Bradley said. “They are mistakes you do not want to make and it costs us two goals.”
The U.S. had chances to get the lead just before the half. Michael Bradley had a good exchange with Jozy Altidore. Altidore got the pass inside the box to the left. He ripped a shot that beat Boruc, but could it hit off the crossbar and went over. Both teams had six shots on goal in the half, but the U.S. only had one on goal (the goal) and the Poles had five.
The U.S. came out right away and put himself ahead, thanks to the man they call “Guch.” The U.S. won a corner and Stuart Holden took the kick from the right side. Defender Oguchi Onyewu headed the ball after the ball travelled through a crowd of Polish and Americans. After the ball made it past the goal, “Guch” was able to head the ball into the left side of the net, which Boruc had no chance at. The U.S. led 2-1 at the 52nd minute. It was Onyewu’s sixth goal in his 57th cap.
The U.S. made a significant change of personnel in the 62nd minute when Bob Bradley took off Benny Feilhaber for Alejandro Bedoya. It was only Bedoya’s fifth cap for the US.
The Americans would again give themselves trouble in the 73rd minute, as Jakub Blaszczykowski rocketed the equalizer. The U.S. could not clear a ball inside the box and the ball fell to the Poles. The ball bounced around the box and it found its way towards the feet of Blaszczykowski. The midfielder from Borussia Dortmund took his time setting up his shot from 15-yards out, took the shot from the right side and put the ball past Howard, off the post and into the right aside of the net.
“They picked it up,” Holden said. “The guy was just hanging out wide right.”
Very late in the second half, the U.S. had a short rally in front of the Polish net after a corner. Boruc had to stop a shot with his hands, that fell towards the net and was semi-cleared by a Polish defender still on the goal post from the corner. The ball again bounced around the box and Boruc had to dive to make sure went wide of the net.
“I think it’s just knowing how to win games,” Holden said of the defensive miscues. “Overall, I thought we were the better team.”
The U.S. controlled the ball from that point on, won two free kicks, but in the end, the two teams ended with a 2-2 draw. The United States is now undefeated (3-0-2) in their last five games against Poland.
U.S. Starting XI: Howard, Bocanegra (C), Bradley, Onyewu, Cherundolo, Dempsey, Holden, Jones, Altidore, Edu, Feilhaber
Poland Starting XI: Boruc, Mierzejewski, Murawski, Lenandowski, Obraniak, Zewlakow (C), Matuszczyk, Blaszczyowski, Mierzejeewski, Pietrasiak, Piszczek
