Guzan Has Best Game For U.S. National Squad

USA 1, South Africa 0

The match against South Africa yesterday was a breath of fresh air for all of us who were growing tired of seeing the same squad pushed out every game. The last time we saw this many new faces was 9 years ago against Korea when former Saint Paul Academy (MN) stand-out Manny Lagos secured his first cap with the senior national team.

It was also the first time in recent history that I can recall Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach) not starting in the midfield. He's a good player, but it gets frustrating to see his dad refusing to give a look to any other midfield players. Logan Pause (Chicago Fire) and Brian Carroll (Columbus Crew) didn't make a huge impact, but they didn't make any glaring mistakes either.

It was really nice to get the win, but it was also very cool to see a few new faces step up in a leadership role. Clarence Goodson (IK Start - Norway) and Brad Guzan (Aston Villa) really seemed to adopt the leadership role very well. It was particularly surprising to see Goodson, who always seemed to have a mild-mannered field persona, frequently provide direction to the younger players.

Guzan put forth his best performance in a U.S. goalkeeper jersey. He made two exceptional 1-on-1 saves in the first half that kept the U.S. in the game. Without those key stops, the match could have quickly got out of hand. Guzan bought the rest of the squad some time to work out some on-field chemistry.

Guzan's performance at the international level begs the question: Why does Brad Guzan continue to ride the pine for Aston Villa?

By no means do I think Brad Friedel (Aston Villa) should take a seat. Friedel is arguably still the best U.S. goalkeeper in the world (no disrespect to Tim Howard). But why doesn't Brad Guzan demand to be loaned to another club? Guzan hasn't played a competitive match in 4 months and deserves to see the field somewhere. It's very odd to have your international #2 not play for his club.

Other Notes from USA vs South Africa...

South Africa's Itumeleng Khune continues to impress as the #1 goalkeeper for Bafana Bafana.  He is currently one of the best distributors of the ball from the GK area.


Juan Agudelo (NY Red Bulls) had a great finish and it was very cool to see the 17-year old get a goal in his first appearance. What is getting lost in this story is that Mikkel "Mix" Diskerud (Stabæk - Norway) displayed a brilliant piece of creativity to set up this goal. It would be nice to see Diskerud and Jose Torres (Pachuca) get a chance to play side-by-side.

Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa) may have secured his spot in the starting XI with a very solid performance. He is very fast and very physical and the yellow card didn't slow him down a bit. Our national squad needs to continue to churn out players like this... players who are confident, aggressive, and not afraid to mix it up with top international players.