The US Men's National Team played their first game under new interim coach Bob Bradley yesterday, beating a Danish B team 3-1. The US team was also a B team, without the European-based players.
Here's a good Boston Globe article by Frank Dell'Appa on Bob Bradley.
The US had a bad first half and a good second half. You can read about it here.
Players who's stock rose (in my opinion):
Ricardo Clark (looked dangerous going forward, won a penalty kick, looked composed and had a good second half)
Kenny Cooper (first cap, first goal, also looked very smooth on the ball and his size created real problems. Could be our Mark Viduka)
Johnathon Bornstein (first cap, first goal)
Justin Mapp (incredible run to set up Bornstein's goal)
Players who stock fell:
Chris Albright (terrible marking on Denmark's goal, was beat by Simon Poulsen all day)
Landon Donovan (was anonymous against the Danish B team, almost had his penalty saved, and was totally upstaged by Justin Mapp)
Pablo Mastroeni (you have to try to get a yellow card in a friendly match, but that's what Pablo did)
Nate Jaqua (very slow, looked like he had no idea what to do when he got the ball)
Players in the middle:
Jimmy Conrad (terrible marking on Denmark's goal, but had an OK game otherwise)
Matt Reis (Denmark's goal wasn't his fault, had nothing to do the rest of the game)
Bobby Boswell (did well enough)
Eddie Johnson (didn't get much service, but worked hard on defense)
Chris Rofle (was played at both midfield and forward, looked better as a forward)
Bryan Namoff (wasn't the disaster Chris Albright was at right back)
I was disappointed to see Michael Parkhurst wasn't even on the team sheet. I really think he is a better defender than Boswell and that when paired with someone bigger he could be very effective on the international level. Also I want to cap him as soon as possible for the USA so that Ireland doesn't steal him (he is a dual-citizen).
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