OK, that’s your lot. Thanks for reading. Goodnight!
So the USA win, and a nice moment for Darlington Nagbe, who netted his first international goal. But it was such bad defending from Ecuador, and such a needless loss: that was meandering towards a dreary 0-0, and they just had a brain freeze in the penalty box! USA maybe just about to deserved to win it, on balance, since they improved in the second half, but no one would have quibbled with a 0-0. Wood and Nagbe did well for the hosts, though.
Full-time: USA 1-0 Ecuador
That’s it!
90 min: Well, how about that. Dreadful defending from Ecuador, but USA have won it at the death. Paredes’ defensive header was pathetic, Wood climbed highest to win the second ball, and Nagbe was all alone 10 yards out: he slightly mishit it, but Dreer just dived out of the way of it. Hilariously inept from the visitors.
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GOAL! USA 1-0 Ecuador (Nagbe 90)
Ha! Nagbe’s first international goal.
88 min: Good last five minutes from Ecuador. They’ve kept the ball effectively.
86 min: Orozco replaces Zusi and gets three and a half minutes. What’s the point?
85 min: Arroyo’s free kick is deflected, and easy for Guzan. Snooze.
84 min: When you take a step back and look from a distance, this game has been really boring. Just so little snap. It feels exactly like a pre-tournament friendly match that no one, deep down, can be bothered with.
82 min: Mena gets into another good position, but not for the first time, his cross is putrid.
80 min: Ten minutes to go, and the teams are just going through the motions, really.
79 min: Birnbaum looked for it, but it was well defended by Arboleda. The game’s being played in the Ecuador half, though.
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78 min: Mat Besler in for John Brooks. Bedoya is fouled and USA have a free kick in a promising position.
77 min: Ecuador have lost their way. They can’t get anything going in attack.
75 min: Pulisic did well down the left, Ecuador failed to clear, and it just wouldn’t sit for Wood! It came to him quicker than expected and he just couldn’t control.
74 min: Zusi is called for a high boot on Ramirez. The game’s just lost its rhythm, that Bedoya chance notwithstanding.
73 min: Last change for Ecuador, and Arboleda replaces Achilier.
72 min: Big chance, and Bedoya should have scored! Great play from Graham Zusi, who injected some pace into the move, ran past two defenders, crossed well, but Bedoya at the back post sent it the wrong side of the post! He went back across goal – the angle was tight – but it ended up being neither cross nor shot, and it just slid wide. The game’s best moment by a country mile.
69 min: This game has lost what little thrust it had. Too many substitutions!
68 min: The Cavaliers are crushing the Raptors, by the way. Changes for Ecuador: Gaibor is on for Noboa, and Cazares replaces Bolanos.
65 min: Spell of possession for Ecuador, but then they give it away on the left touchline. Duh.
63 min: They’ve definitely picked it up, USA. Ecuador not nearly as threatening as they before the break. And now Christian Pulisic comes on! He’s on for Clint Dempsey. Michael Alejandro Bedoya replaces Jermaine Jones, and a change for Ecuador: Arroyo on for Montero. The inevitable raft of substitutions.
60 min: Dempsey’s shot is blocked … and then Bradley’s shot is over the bar! USA’s best move of the match. Wood went down the left, cut it back beautifully for Dempsey, but Erazo did well to get in the way, and then Bradley couldn’t make it count on the follow-up, from 30 yards.
58 min: Jones from distance, but it’s straight at Dreer. Larrea is on for his international debut.
57 min: Gruezo is carted off; Pedro Larrea is going to come in.
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55 min: Not quite as stylish from Ecuador since the break. Gruezo is down, and we’ll take a break.
52 min: This is better from USA: the passing is crisper. Ramirez fouls Zusi on the right hand side, and Bradley swings it in, but it was too flat, and headed clear.
50 min: Whacked clear by a black shirt. Ecuador’s set pieces have been dross.
49 min: Oh, Mena! Great link-up between Valencia and Mena, but the latter wanted to check back on his left foot, and Bradley came back to cover. If Mena had run with it on his right, he was clean through on goal. Corner to Ecuador.
48 min: Nice pass from Bradley, and Wood just couldn’t quite take it on the left side, but he does enough to pressure Paredes into conceding a corner. Great ball in by Bradley, but Birnbaum and Dempsey get in each other’s way! And it rolls through to Dreer.
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47 min: Looks like Bradley has dropped back into Beckerman’s midfield anchor role. Nagbe and Jones further forward.
We're back!
46 min: And Klinsi has made changes. Bobby Wood is on for Gyasi Zardes, and Darlington Nagbe replaces Kyle Beckerman.
And Alexander Dominguez can’t continue, so Esteban Dreer is in.
Disappointing. Ecuador have been much slicker, and have worked the ball very nicely in the final third, but haven’t created all that much. USA have been ordinary, but they’re still level. See you shortly!
Half-time: USA 0-0 Ecuador
That’s the whistle. It’s been pretty low-key.
45 min + 2: Claimed well by Dominguez. Poor ball in from Bradley. Although it looks like Dominguez has a problem, and the trainer is on.
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45 min +1: Two minutes of stoppage time, and it’s a free kick 30 yards out. Final chance for USA, maybe.
44 min: Ecuador have been pretty impressive, but they haven’t really tested Guzan. Another yellow card, this time for Mena, for a foul on Beckerman. Weird: it hasn’t been a game with any needle. In fact, it has the slight feel of a practice game; as though no one really cares, or is arsed.
42 min: Gruezo, in the stadium where he plays his club football, breaks clear down the right hand side, but his cross is diabolical. Shame.
40 min: Poor corner, and easily cleared by Zusi.
39 min: More good attacking play from Ecuador, and Brooks did well to intercept and prevent Valencia from getting in. Corner, taken short, and Noboa is almost in at the back post! Headed behind by Johnson for another corner.
38 min: Long ball from Achilier into the channel for Valencia, and, ooh, that looked like a foul! Valencia was complaining to the linesman, and Brooks seemed to get the wrong side, but no call from the officials. Lucky Brooksy.
37 min: A slight lull in play: Dominguez and Zusi both needed treatment after taking whacks, and that’s just taken some of the impetus out of the game.
35 min: Another yellow card, this time for Ramirez, who came through the back of Zusi. It was deserved.
33 min: Mena wins the free kick from Brooks, and Montero wanted another free kick after it was taken short. He didn’t get it.
31 min: Good ball from Erazo, and nicely taken by Montero on the left touchline, but he was offside. Ian Darke on commentary recalls Montero’s performance against Branislav Ivanovic when Swansea played Chelsea earlier this season. “By the end of it, I think Ivanovic has twisted blood!” Darke remarks. Lol! What a dud.
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29 min: Chance for Zardes! Beckerman fizzed it into Dempsey’s feet, and the Seattle player turned, and lobbed it through for Zardes, but it came off his knee and ran through to Dominguez! Poor control, unfortunately: he was through on goal, but his touch let him down.
27 min: Ecuador have gone plenty of pace and skill, and they’ve caused the USA back line some minor headaches. No really clear looks on goal, but the visitors’ attacking quartet has been impressive.
25 min: Ooh, that’s snide from Jermaine Jones, and he’s rightly booked. Yedlin had gone upfield, but then gave it away with a sloppy pass, and Ecuador broke: Montero and Bolanos combined, and Jones just pulled the shirt of Montero as he looked to go clear. Cheick Tioté would be proud of that foul.
24 min: USA’s best move of the game, and Jones was involved down the right side, but Zusi just couldn’t quite profit, and Ecuador hack clear.
23 min: Dempsey with it … and it’s over the top.
22 min: Lots of empty seats in Frisco. Toyota Stadium only holds 20,000 or so. I’d be surprised if it’s even half full. The uncompromising Achilier comes through the back of Zardes, and is booked, surprisingly. Shooting chance, maybe, 30 yards out.
21 min: Zardes has been quiet so far. As has Zusi. And Dempsey, actually. Ecuador dominant in possession.
20 min: Birnbaum wins the header, but he’s climbing all over Achilier, and he’s whistled.
19 min: Dempsey is clipped in midfield by Achilier, and it’s a free kick. Chance to get the ball in the box.
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17 min: Christian Noboa, the veteran midfielder with Rostov in Russia, has been influential in that anchor role. He’s a lovely intelligent passer, and has hit two or three very nice long balls. Then Montero goes to the byline, and Guzan pushes it clear! Ecuador just lacked bodies in the six-yard box, but Guzan did well to command his box. Montero has seen a lot of the ball early on.
15 min: Guzan claims confidently. Ecuador look way more assured on the ball than the USA.
14 min: Ecuador look to go left for Montero again, but Yedlin does well once more, and the momentum is lost from the attack. And then Brooks makes a last-ditch tackle to deny Valencia! It’s a corner, but Valencia should have got his shot off more quickly.
12 min: Nicely worked, but Dempsey can’t quite pull off the volley. He got free of his man.
11 min: Zusi, man bun piled extravagantly atop his head, wins a corner, and the big lads come up from the back.
10 min: Montero runs at Yedlin – my word, those two have pace, don’t they? – but the Sunderland man does well to keep at it and win it back.
8 min: Cleared effectively by USA, but it’s been a poor start in defence. And then Guzan has to race out of his box to whack it clear! USA need to shape up.
7 min: Ooh, Montero’s cross, and Guzan had to be alert at his near post! Nervy header from Steve Birnbaum, and Montero was on to it … his cross was deflected, and Guzan had to get down to keep it out! Corner.
6 min: It’s been a low-key start from the home side. Not much going forward so far, although Jones just showed some bite in winning it from Noboa.
4 min: More dopey defending from USA, and Yedlin gives it away, and Ecuador were quick to break as Bolanos ran in behind – but it bounced off his backside, and USA win it back.
3 min: Erazo looks to smash it crossfield for Mena, but it’s overhit. Ecuador have made a decent start.
2 min: Early chance for Valencia, but he completely scuffs his shot! Brooks gave it away, Ecuador recycled it, and Mena, I think it was, found Valencia free in the box, but he miskicked it! A let-off for USA.
And we're off!
1 min: Ecuador get us under way. USA in their reliably dreadful black away shirt with alternate maroon and navy sleeves. Ecuador keep it classy in yellow with the navy sash.
Just to confirm: USA line up in what is basically a 4-3-3. Ecuador are more of a 4-2-3-1, and they’re no mugs: they’ve won four of their opening six games in Conmebol World Cup qualifying, and sit top alongside Uruguay. Jefferson Montero and Enner Valencia start tonight, and we like Carlos Gruezo, the young midfielder who’s impressed for FC Dallas.
The teams are in the tunnel! Not long now.
So Steve Birnbaum and John Brooks start in central defence, and Fabian Johnson comes in at left-back. Beckerman, Jones and Bradley make up an experienced midfield, and Graham Zusi will help Clint Dempsey and Gyasi Zardes in attack. Dempsey is winning his 123rd cap –and he’s one strike away from 50 international goals.
Tonight's teams
USA: Guzan, Yedlin, Birnbaum, Brooks, Johnson, Jones, Beckerman, Bradley, Zusi, Dempsey, Zardes.
Ecuador: Domínguez, Paredes, Achilier, F Erazo, C Ramírez, Noboa, Gruezo, Mena, Montero, Bolaños, E Valencia.
Re: substitutes – presumably the coaches, Klinsmann and Gustavo Quinteros, are able to select the other 12 players already selected in their official Copa America roster.
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Hello and welcome
The Copa Centenario starts in nine days, and time is of the essence for Jürgen Klinsmann. The USA coach still has much to decide on tactics, strategy and team selection, so tonight’s friendly against Ecuador gives him another chance to fiddle and tinker and ponder and theorize before the big event. USA have one more friendly to play, against Bolivia on Saturday, and then it’s crunch time: the hosts open against Colombia next Friday night, and for Coach Klinsi anything less than a semi-final place will be a failure.
“The next level is: win your quarter-final,” Klinsmann said this week. “Win your quarter-final against whoever that will be in order to make the final four. This is our goal, so we want to be in that tournament very long. We want to play six games in this tournament, and we believe that this roster is very, very hungry, very determined and very aggressive going into these games.”
Kick off is at 7pm in Frisco, 8pm Eastern.
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Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Andrew Helms on the Jordan Morris conundrum:
In the American press, the Morris saga turned into a proxy war between Jürgen-phobes and Klinsmann-philes, engaging in circular debates about the relative merits of MLS and Europe for young American players. But after several tortured weeks for Sounders fans, Morris decided to come back. “When I was over there, I was just like I really want to play at home, and I want to play in Seattle,” says Morris. “I feel like I trusted my heart before staying another year at Stanford, and it always paid off for me. And it was telling me to go home. You know, I listened to it and came back here.”
While some have criticized Morris for staying in school and not jumping immediately to Europe, ignoring the hype was in some ways the harder choice to make. “Sometimes with young players, they get caught up early,” says Schmid. “You know, whomever it may be, Freddy Adu or others. And they jump. And hey, the money, the glory, but maybe it wasn’t the right time, right place. Jordan has been good about making his decisions step-by-step.”
“There’s more pressure here on Jordan than there would have been in Germany,” adds Lagerwey. “I think he made the decisions that were mature and were things that he thought were best for him long-term. And when you have a little bit more perspective like I think he does, I think it’s going to serve him really well over the course of his career.”
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