By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor
Some miserable individual performances and a questionable tactical scheme unhinged the USA sufficiently for the Netherlands to post a deserved 1-0 victory at the Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday.
There were good points for the USA. Cory Gibbs' eighth cap, which matched him against Dutch predator Ruud Van Nistelrooy, was by far his best showing. Claudio Reyna again exemplified the ruggedness and poise a midfield man must display facing a tough foe on foreign turf. Aside from a uncharacteristic bobble, Kasey Keller dealt with everything except an unstoppable Arjen Robben rip that whistled inside the far post in the 57th minute.
But the Americans couldn't compensate for a lackluster Brian McBride, a tepid Clint Mathis, a misfiring Eddie Lewis, and a badly overmatched Frankie Hejduk. Against a potent Dutch team purring along in third gear for much of the evening those misfires proved too great.
The Americans started the match overloaded on their left side, which left a wide channel through which the Dutch could, and did, attack right back Hejduk. If the alignment was designed to present Hejduk opportunties to push forward, the tactic backfired.
Robben twice cut inside Hejduk to threaten before he nodded a driven ball from Wilfred Bouma past him and darted inside to drill a shot past Keller from a rather sharp angle for the game's only goal.
With midfielder Bobby Convey playing on the left side inside Lewis, and that duo anchored by Bocanegra playing the same left back role he does for Fulham in the Premier League, the USA clearly hoped to pierce the Dutch defense on that flank. But Lewis seemed totally out of sync and Convey's crude touches to kick-start his dribbling runs sent the ball bouncing erratically.
Convey's touch smoothed out as the match unfolded. Landon Donovan, however, didn't wake up until midway through the second half.
Their efforts weren't helped by McBride's inability to check back sharply to gain separation and hold the ball and his scant success winning aerial duels against strong-boy center back Jaap Stam.
In turn, McBride seemed stranded as Donovan wavered between playing as a second forward and drifting wide as a de facto right mid.
DaMarcus Beasley, a halftime sub for Lewis, sparked several promising sequences. In sharp contrast to Robben and several another Dutch players, the Americans' finishing lacked bite.
Beasley did force a good save from Edwin van der Sar in the final minutes, but he blasted well over the crossbar on one occasion and had another decent effort deflected wide. The latter effort should have merited a corner kick but it wasn't given.
The Beez howled in protest after one of his scything dribbles ended with a bump from which he fell, but that's all it was — a bump, not a foul.
Beasley set up Convey for the best U.S. chance by nodding down a great long ball from Gregg Berhalter but an in-between bounce forced Convey to delay his shot and by that time van der Sar had closed down the angle.
The Dutch forced Keller into several good saves with shots from middle distance, negating somewhat a fairly solid U.S. defensive effort. Reyna dueled valiantly with Edgar Davids, seldom lost possession, and found space in the middle to prompt a few promising sequences.
Aside from Hejduk, the U.S. backs handled most situations and Gibbs kept a rather tame Van Nistelrooy in check. Gibbs stepped up to trap Van Nistelrooy offside just before he nailed a deflected shot into the net and the Dutch striker also garnered a caution by batting in a cross with his hand.
Robben's goal resulted from Bouma bypassing midfield with a ball up the wing. Chris Armas and Berhalter and were caught upfield and Gibbs was marking up in the middle, so when Robben cut inside Hejduk's ill-timed challenge there was no cover. Gibbs closed the gap but held up, fearing Robben might cut the ball back.
Instead, Robben nudged the ball to his left and as Hejduk dived in, he smoked a laser inside the far post.
The goal exemplified the superior class shown by the Dutch, whose suddenness and sharpness in the attack occasionally surprised the Americans. Shot totals were nearly even, yet van der Sar had an easier night than Keller, whose save from Roy Makaay midway through the second half was anything but routine.
A flurry of chances in the final 25 minutes could have resulted in goals for either side yet the final margin reflected which team held sway.
Feb. 18 in Amsterdam
Netherlands 1 USA 0. Goals: Robben 57.
Netherlands — Van der Sar, Heitenga, Stam, Bouma (F. De Boer, 80), Cocu (Zenden, 72), Davids (Seedorf, 46), Van der Meyde (Makaay, 46), Sneijder (Van Bommel, 46), Van der Vaart, Van Nistelrooy (Van Hooijdonk, 80), Robben.
USA — Keller, Hejduk (Cherundolo, 85), Berhalter, Gibbs, Bocanegra, Convey, Armas, Reyna (Wolff, 72), Lewis (Beasley, 46), McBride (Mathis, 61), Donovan.
Yellow card: Netherlands — Van Nistelrooy 39.
Referee: Tom Henning Overbro (Norway).
Att.: 29,700.
STATS:
Shots: Netherlands 7, USA 7.
Saves: Netherlands 3, USA 3.
Corner Kicks: Netherlands 9, USA 2.
Fouls: Netherlands 13, USA 14.
Offside: Netherlands 7, USA 1.