Last night in Foxboro, the United States salvaged a tie with Haiti thanks to a spectacular injury time goal by Stuart Holden. After what can only be described as an uneven performance for more than ninety minutes, it appeared that the Americans were about to lose to an island nation for the first time in recent memory.
Bradley's lineup against the Haitians was slightly more experimental than we've see to this point in the Gold Cup, and it certainly showed on the field. Other factors were at play, of course, and the artificial surface at Gillette Stadium seemed to have a distinct effect on play.
The US defense shaky of much of the match, and particularly poor on the two Haitian goals. Jay Heaps, who appeared to be a sentimental choice for his first cap with the match taking place in his club's home stadium, was too frequently out of his depth and unable to cope with the Haitian attack. Luis Robles, the young keeper many view as the future of the position, showed that he has much to learn. His positioning, particularly on Haiti's second goal, left a lot to be desired.
The bright spots for the US weren't numerous, but there were a few. Stuart Holden was the class of the American midfield all night, and was directly responsible for both US goals. He played a simple, but well-timed through ball for Davy Arnaud to open the scoring in the first half, then pulled the Yanks out of the fire with a magnificent injury time goal in the second. With a young and on-the-fringe team competing in the Gold Cup, it would appear that some of these players have a chance to play themselves onto the full "A" squad, or perhaps set themselves up for a realistic shot at next year's World Cup team. Holden may be doing both.
It's through to the quarterfinals for the Americans now, and the best guess is that Bob Bradley will be playing more of a best eleven from here on out in an effort to win the tournament. Holden will be in that group, Brian Ching is sure to start up top (as long as the surface is real grass), Charlie Davies may pair with him as long as he's still with the team (still wondering if he will be released in order to join his new club), Robbie Rogers will be on the wing, and a few of the defensive spots should be simple choices. But there's still a lot of inconsistency through this squad, and Bradley's job won't be easy.
While a loss last night against Haiti wouldn't have been the end of the world, it was good to see an American player step up and put the game on his shoulders.
Here's Holden's equalizer if you missed it:
