Twellman Shines Again
USA-Japan Report Card
By Mike Woitalla in San Francisco
Two weeks after hitting a hat trick, Taylor Twellman was again the star, scoring on a torpedo diving header and assisting twice as the USA downed fellow World Cup qualifier Japan, 3-2, in San Francisco Feb. 10.
The game took place before 37,365 fans at SBC Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and the ball remained mostly in the Japanese half.
The Americans flew at the Japanese from flanks, with Pat Noonan particularly effective on the left, while Landon Donovan pierced the middle when the opportunities opened up. Midfielder Clint Dempsey, on the right, frequently beat the Japanese, who fouled him three times in the first half and once at the start of the second. Chris Klein moved forward often from his right back spot but passed inaccurately on too many occasions.
Two defenders were part of the first U.S. goal. From the midfield, left back Todd Dunivant lofted a ball well into Japan's penalty area. With his back to the goal, Twellman nodded it into the path of onrushing central defender Eddie Pope, who hammered home low from 12 yards for the first goal.
On the second U.S. goal, Twellman took a pass from strike partner Josh Wolff and dished it off to Dempsey, who had moved into the left side of the penalty area and stroked the ball nicely past keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.
The 3-0 came when Twellman juked his marker and flew forward to meet Donovan's corner kick with a six-yard header.
The Japanese replied with another diving header, from Seiichiro Maki, and scored again in stoppage time because forward sub Chris Rolfe blew his assignment to watch the right post on a corner kick.
With the win, the Americans celebrated a second straight high-scoring, dominating performance while relying on MLS-based players. Norway was the victim of Twellman's three strikes and a 5-0 rout Jan. 29.
SA REPORT CARD
(1=low; 5=average; 10=high)
STARTERS:
5 Hartman
5 Klein
7 Pope
5 Conrad
6 Dunivant
7 Dempsey
5 Zavagnin
6 Donovan
6 Noonan
8 Twellman
6 Wolff
SUBS:
3 Rolff
4 Johnson
4 Ching
5 Olsen
nr Pearce
nr Carroll
Friendly
Feb. 10 in San Francisco
USA 3 Japan 2
Goals: Pope (Twellman) 24, Dempsey (Twellman) 39, Twellman (Donovan) 50; Maki (Kaji) 60, Nakazawa (Ogasawara) 90+
USA – Hartman, Klein (Carroll, 79), Conrad, Pope, Dunivant (Pearce, 90), Noonan (Rolfe, 87), Zavagnin, Donovan, Dempsey (Olsen, 69), Wolff (Johnson, 58), Twellman (Ching, 68)
JAPAN – Kawaguchi, Tanaka (Hasebe, 55) Miyamoto, Nakazawa; Kaji, Fukunishi (Abe, 55), Endo (Sato, 46), Santos, Ogasawara, Ono (Motoyama, 68), Kubo (Maki, 46)
Stats: USA-Japan
Shots: 22-7
Saves: 2-5
Corner Kicks: 13-5
Fouls: 12-14
Offside: 2-2
Yellow cards: USA — Klein 8, Olsen 75, Pope 76.; Japan – Endo 26, Nakazawa 32.
Red cards: none
Referee: Horacio Elizondo (ARG)
Attendance: 37,365