By Ridge Mahoney, senior editor
Maybe all that the USA needed to win a game in Europe was revenge. Or maybe not.
Reversing a 3-1 thumping by Poland at the 2002 World Cup certainly spurred the Americans in their 1-0 victory Wednesday night in Plock, but other, more critical, factors had been painfully obvious in a 1-0 loss to the Netherlands and a 1-1 tie with Haiti earlier this year.
Fitness, for one. The Americans pressed and pressured all over the field for long stretches. They won 50-50 balls and swept up the debris of poor touches. Once the ball fell to them, their movement and intelligent running occasionally opened up space for crisp passing and combination play.
Against the Dutch, aside from a U.S. player or two, breakdowns and sluggish reactions were common. A few bright moments vs. the plucky Haitians were overshadowed by despairing sequences during which a gaggle of lobotomized geese had not the slightest idea what their teammates were supposed to be doing.
Cohesiveness and sharpness had been sadly lacking. Borne of conditioning but also anticipation and determination, the U.S. defended solidly for most of the Poland match. Players dropped into passing lanes, hounded aggressively for the ball, and knifed sharply into tackles.
On the attack, Conor Casey absorbed brutal punishment while displaying rugged resilience melded with deft touch. He won balls in the air whether dueling with strong defenders or peeling off them to drop away from goal. If he got the ball to his feet, he usually kept it until feeding it to a teammate.
After nearly half an hour of sustaining fierce hits to his back and shoulders, Casey carved enough space to chest down a ball and turn unimpeded. His pass to Josh Wolff was first-timed diagonally to DaMarcus Beasley racing free on the left and in the blink of an eye the Beez had put a grass-cutter between keeper Jerzy Dudek's legs for a goal of audacious efficiency.
Beasley had just been felled by a knee in the back by a crashing Marcin Basczcynski. He got up grimacing, then minutes later darted behind the Polish No. 4 to score. Now, that's revenge.
CASEY SHINES
For any player, Casey's performance merited praise. For a debutant presented the job of emulating Brian McBride, it was most impressive.
Wolff glided and darted to good effect but an early shoulder injury ushered him out at halftime. There's no question about his talent, and as a wily yet swift frontman he fits most snugly with a McBride-type player but can also play a roaming, breakaway role. He doesn't have the big shot of an Ante Razov but he can pierce defenses from many angles.
Coach Bruce Arena used Bobby Convey in an attacking midfield role to ambiguous effect. Mathis had played that position in the first half, then moved up front to barely discernible effect in the second half. Mathis did more covering work than usual but not much in the attacking third. An atrocious touch with Chris Klein wide open killed one of the best U.S. buildups and he got himself into a yawning space only to see Convey's pass blocked.
Backed by Claudio Reyna, who had a quietly excellent game as the holding midfielder, Convey buzzed loudly yet wielded little sting.
Beasley, like a few of his mates, churned out a good night's work before fading late. His finishing has been inconsistent so a fifth international goal, hit with his lethal left foot, should boost his confidence. His blinding speed will generate chances; he needs assurance that his right foot can slot them as well.
Klein punched his time clock and worked diligently on the right flank, but lacked the touch to deliver good crosses and he didn't get back often enough to help contain Maciej Zurawski. He squandered a sublime buildup by bludgeoning a ball straight to the keeper, who barely moved to collect.
Reyna bottled up Mariusz Lewandowski and thwarted moves through the middle. His tackling prevented Poland from simply charging through the seams, as the Dutch and Haitians had been able to do.
The back line blunted Polish attacks for most of the game. Set plays provided the Poles with a few half-chances; the Americans won most of the duels in their penalty area.
Gaffes were few and when late in the match Poland finally pried open the defense and tested goalie Brad Friedel with a couple of hard shots, he turned them away.
MASTROENI, BERHALTER SOLID IN MIDDLE
The central pairing of Pablo Mastroeni and Gregg Berhalter was usually in sync and they won a lot of balls on the ground and in the air. Berhalter's aerial prowess defanged the Poles and Mastroeni played tough before being sidelined with a back injury in the 52nd minute.
Outside backs Greg Vanney and Steve Cherundolo had scrappier games trying to contain the many crossing attempts of Zurawski and Euzebiusz Smolarek. Vanney rescued the U.S. in the final minutes by cutting out an incisive through ball and served up a free kick Dudek had to punch clear just as Casey thumped him.
The Poles are no great shakes but they can crunch people. They failed to qualify for the European Championship after winning their World Cup qualifying group to reach South Korea two years ago. Once they fell behind, they sputtered until an influx of subs sparked a mild rally in the last quarter of an hour.
Back to the European ''curse.'' That last victory in Europe, a 3-0 win over Austria, prompted then-coach Steve Sampson to proclaim a 3-6-1 formation as the perfect system with which to confront Germany in the 1998 World Cup. After a stinging 2-0 defeat, Sampson changed the system and five players, the U.S. lost to Iran, and Sampson resigned.
Arena won't go gaga over the U.S. winning in Europe for the first time in nine attempts under his tutelage.
Last summer, when pressed by a reporter at the Confederations Cup about what the team's prospects were in Germany 2006 with such a dark European cloud hanging over its head, he replied, ''You're way ahead of me. I'm concerned with qualifying for the World Cup. We have to take care of that first. And what does it mean that we lost to Brazil in Europe? We lost to Brazil because they're better than we are.
''Portugal didn't do well last year in the World Cup. Does that mean Portugal can't win in Asia? I don't know. Nobody does.''
What he does know is beating a decent European team without Landon Donovan, Eddie Pope, John O'Brien, Eddie Lewis, Chris Armas and McBride means more than exorcising demons of dubious creation, and Conor Casey has much to do to match his first cap.