U.S. vs. Switzerland (Running Commentary)

Good afternoon folks. Apologies for the late start but I'm ready to roll with the running commentary. Follow along below:

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Share your comments on today's match below. I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about. Until next time, thanks again for supporting SBI.

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FINAL- USA 1, Switzerland 0. Michael Bradley with the winner, set up by Danny Szetela and Clint Dempsey. Not the prettiest game but a great result and good debut for some young Americans.

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92nd minute- Adu earns a free kick at the top of the box. Nice play.

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90th minute- Dempsey is off, Findley is on. Two minutes of stoppage time left.

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88th minute- Dempsey springs Adu behind the Swiss defense but Adu's shot is a bit high. Nice sequence though and much better stuff from the Americans.

Szetela looks to have earned a yellow card.

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87th minute- Edu finds Szetela on the right flank and Szetela sends a great cross into the box. Dempsey hits it toward Bradley, who taps home from close range for his first national team goal. USA 1, Switzerland 0.

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86th minute- GOAL USA. MICHAEL BRADLEY!!!! Szetela's cross makes it happen.

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84th minute- Danny Szetela in for Lewis. It's Szetela's first cap. An Adu free kick looked like it was handled in the box by a Swiss player but no call made.

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83rd minute- Guzan saves the free kick.

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82nd minute- Guzan touches the ball outside the area and now Switzerland has a dangerous free kick.

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81st minute- Now that Twellman has left the match I think it's fair to say he didn't do much to state a case for ever starting another match for the U.S. team. He works hard but he has no impact on the attack.

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78th minute- Adu's first touch is a sweet back-heel pass that springs Cherundolo. By the way, "disbalances" is not a word.

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77th minute- Adu in for Twellman.

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76th minute- Adu is coming in.

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75th minute- The Swiss are set to take a free kick from a good spot. Barnetta leaves the match to the relief of the U.S. defense.

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72nd minute- Nice work on Bocanegra on that play, and a subsequent play. He's been the U.S. team's best player today.

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71st minute- A great ball from the Swiss midfield splits the American defense but the Swiss striker botched his touch, letting the U.S. off the hook.

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67th minute- Califf commits a foul to set up a Swiss free kick that doesn't find a taker. I wonder what Jay Demerit supporters are thinking about Bob Bradley's decision to play Califf and not DeMerit.

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66th minute- Barnetta frees himself in the area but slips and sends his shot high. The Americans got lucky there.

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64th minute- Um, Max, Euros are played in the summer, not October. Weather tends to change.

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60th minute- The Swiss are taking control of the game. Not sure what American players will step up to generate some offense. Will we see Adu and Findley?

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57th minute- Michael Bradley hasn't had a huge impact on the match but he finds his way to the ball with ease and has passed well today.

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55th minute- Danny Szetela and Freddy Adu are warming up. Will they see action today?

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53rd minute- Edu gets a yellow card he didn't deserve for a phantom foul on Hakan Yakin.

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51st minute- Guzan and Califf in, Hahnemann and Onyewu out.

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49th minute- We're off and the Americans have earned a corner kick. A little more lively action so far.

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HALFTIME- I didn't mention it in the commentary but the Swiss lost defender Johan Djorou early in the first half.

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HALFTIME- Players who looked good: Edu, Onyewu, Cherundolo and Feilhaber. Players who could show more: Twellman, Lewis and Dempsey. Nobody's been terrible, but nobody's been great. Barnetta has been the only player worth watching so far.

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HALFTIME- We're scoreless in a rather boring match. The Swiss fans are whistling so they don't like the action so far either.

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45th minute- A double yellow card to Onyewu and Streller for a clash. Not sure if Onyewu deserved the booking since Streller knocked him down.

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43rd minute- What a sequence for the U.S. team off the corner. A handful of chances blocked before a Bocanegra volley goes right to the Swiss goalkeeper.

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42nd minute- Great sequence from the Americans, Feilhaber, Lewis, Twellman then Lewis, who's shot is saved.

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39th minute- The U.S. finally gets a free kick but a foul is called. It wasn't a good one anyway.

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37th minute- The U.S. defense is doing okay so far, even though every set piece is still an adventure.

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34th minute- No Donovan and No Beasley. It will be interesting to see where the attacking spark comes from for the Americans. Dempsey needs some help and I'm not sure it's coming from this group.

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32nd minute- Lewis will shift to the left wing, with Pearce at left back. You have to wonder how healthy Beasley even was coming into this match. Hopefully for Beasley it isn't serious because Rangers have some BIG games coming up.

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31st minute- Heath Pearce is coming on and Beasley is off. Beasley is hurt.

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30th minute- Edu with a key clearance. It doesn't look like his first cap.

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28th minute- The Swiss are applying pressure and have earned a corner kick.

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26th minute- The Swiss have put some good sequences together but they're having just as much trouble with the final shot as the U.S. team has.

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24th minute- The U.S. attack is a bit flat so far. Still waiting for the Americans to start controlling possession in central midfield.

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21st minute- Edu looks pretty smooth early on. One good thing about this slow track is that the U.S. back four is less likely to be split open by a good through-pass.

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18th minute- Twellman with some shaky touches early on. His passing touch is off to say the least.

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17th minute- Some good sequences for both teams. Feilhaber looks good early on and Onyewu is dealing well with Swiss giant Marco Streller. The two big boys are having a nice battle.

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13th minute- Beasley with a great chance but his chip sails over. The Swiss team is giving the U.S. players space. The Americans just have to do something with it.

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12th minute- The ball really does just die on this grass.

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9th minute- Anybody seen Twellman? Ah, there he is.

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8th minute- Players are slipping a lot on what is apparently a bad field. This isn't going to be a pretty match.

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6th minute- I must say that I kind of like the all navy uniforms.

Tranquillo Barnetta is working on the left flank for the Swiss and is clearly the home team's main attacking catalyst.

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5th minute- Beasley is down after being stepped on by a Swiss player.

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4th minute- No real chances early on from either team. Edu with a decent look but sent his shot wide.

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USA LINEUP:

-------------------Twellman-----------------

Beasley-----------------------------Dempsey

--------------------Feilhaber-----------------

--------------Bradley-------Edu----------------

Eddie Lewis-----------------------Cherundolo

---------Bocanegra-------Onyewu------------

----------------Hahnemann-----------------

BENCH: Guzan, Szetela, Adu, Califf, DeMerit, Findley, Pearce.

This is the starting 11, Edu is the one surprise here, well that and Bradley using Lewis at left back (not as big a surprise). Feilhaber should have more freedom to get involved in the attack.

It will be very interesting to see Lewis at left back. Could this be a sign that Bradley isn't happy with his options there? The Bradley-Edu pairing should be a good one to watch, especially since there are several people who like to argue over which is the better prospect.

You can expect Brad Guzan to see action today and I have a feeling Adu and Findley will get looks as well.

What do you think of the lineup? Share your thoughts below (And yes, this is where the running commentary will be.)

Comments

[Katatonia]

sweet. sub in adu and i will be happy.

[sprool11]

can't believe the US are only starting 10 players...you forgot Twellman

[Braden]

Thanks for posting this, but you're missing a forward (I hope). Perhaps Bradley simply decided to accept the inevitable and play a man down rather than start Twellman.

Kidding...

[Braden]

WOW... you're fast. Do you think this is a 4-3-3 or a lone-striker set-up?

[Ives]

Apologies for the mix-up earlier. I fixed the lineup and comments. That's how it should look today.

[Andrew]

that's the lineup but not the right formation, at least according to the team's blog it isnt. at mnt-ussoccer.blogspot.com the lineup is a straight 4-4-2. Twellman and Dempsey side by side up top with Beasley on the left of midfield, Feilhaeber on the right, and Bradley and Edu central. Defense is the same.

[Ives]

Good one Braden.

[Andrew]

i love giving Edu the start, btw. i'm thinking it'd make sense to substitute Adu for Edu at the half, move Benny into the middle, and let Freddy out on the wing (maybe switching with Bease).

The subs bench is as follows :
Guzan
Adu
Califf
Demeritt
Finley
Pearce
Szetela

[eric]

great, we went from exciting options in camp to Twellman and Lewis starting.

hopefully MB will get to run forward too, he's shown he ain't just for D-Mid anymore

[matt]

When I first saw the list of starters I thoiught 3-5-2. In a camp that's looking to future options, I just don't understand Lewis at left back. Wasn't Heath Pearce in camp? Also, god save us from Twellman as lone striker

[Ives]

Beasley and Dempsey will play in advanced roles so it will play as much like a 4-3-3 as a 4-5-1.

[FP from the Left Coast]

Glad to see Edu in the mix, a little bit surprised to see Lewis in the back though.

[Tim Archer]

A little shocked, but I definitely see this being a 4-3-3 with Twellman high and Beas and Deuce as wingers. Feilhaber high middle is a little shocking, and Edu instead of Adu is a little odd. Maybe a typo? (lol) I wish I wasn't sitting in marketing class, because now I can't watch the game...but I will try and follow on MatchTracker and SBI to keep up. Go Nats!

[noname]

Good lineup. Seems like Bradley is still exploring his left back options and seeing if Lewis has anything left in the tank. He has not seemed impressed with Pearce to date...at least not as much as Pearce is impressed with himself. Edu is a nice surprise in the Mastroeni/Clark position.

I have not been much of a fan of Twellman's on the international level, but he has shown an ability to hold the ball and feed others lately despite not putting it in the net himself which earns him some more chances (more so than Johnson at this point and about on par with Ching).

[Dominghosa]

Good, young lineup, except for of course the old geezers Lewis, MH and even Twellman to a point.
Intersting insertion of Edu at the start. Good for the kid. Hopefully, he won't try too much or isn't way over his head starting on European soil against a quality Euro team.

[YankatOxford]

Line up is not surprising at all. Personally, I think this squad is more about wanting to give Edu a look in midfield, than any testament to Eddie Lewis, although the backline mirrors the Worldcup. Here we go.

[Lambda]

I like this line up...... i dont know why.. but i think is a good line up to work with..... Except WE DONT HAVE A FOWARD.... but we are good..... To go... Left back is the problem i think is our weak point. Pearce most not be that good if he cant even get playing time for this game.... so much for people asking for him to start....... lol Bradley and Edu good combination.... call me Crazy but we have alot of Good players ... we are 2 players aways on becoming a Great team.......

[Dominghosa]

Love working from home. I got USA-Swiss on the DLP, Finland-Espanol on sopcast then Germany-Czechs in 40 minutes.

[Dan]

I'm okay with this lineup. If Adu was going to play, it wouldn't be for Edu, because he wouldn't do enough defensive work in a 4-3-3 to play in the middle. If you were going to play Adu, you'd put Dempsey up top for Twellman and Adu on the wing.

I like that Bradley is only making a few changes at a time from his lineups. That way, he can more accurately look at how the changes are affecting the team.

What I'm most interested in seeing is how this team works without Donovan.

[Paul Lorinczi]

Is anyone streaming this game?

[Erik Abarca]

Nothing againt Eddie Lewis, but he does not have the speed for a full back. Anyone watch the first game of the world cup, we got killed on the left side, European teams are a lot faster and Eddie can not defend well in that left full back spot. Especailly whe we have other options, he is not the right choice there. Mark my words, the swiss will exploit that side. I still would like to see DeMerit get the nod over Onyewu, and see how he'll do together w/ Boca.

[smokeminside]

Stuck at work. on the net anywhere? Thanks!

[smokeminside]

I want dominghosa's job.

[Dominghosa]

well, first thing, you need to do, smoke, is find some ho's.
Then talk'em into working for you.

[smokeminside]

Oh. Well, then. Sig. other might have something to say about that, but thanks for the suggestion.