Dempsey is the difference for U.S.
In the larger scheme of things, the goal that Clint Dempsey scored Thursday night to earn the United States a 1-0 victory over Guatemala does not rank particularly high on his list of recent soccer accomplishments.
There was, for instance, the goal he scored against Ghana at the World Cup in Germany last summer. That certainly ranks higher.
And there was the goal he scored against Liverpool this spring that gave Fulham, his London club, a vital victory and kept it from being relegated from the English Premier League. That ranks considerably higher still.
But Thursday’s effort, in front of a boisterous crowd of 21,334 at the Home Depot Center, was satisfying all the same for the former New England Revolution standout. It started the U.S. out on the right foot in defense of the Gold Cup title it won in 2005 and it gave Coach Bob Bradley a winning start in his first competitive match in charge of the American team.
“When you play with confidence you play your best, and I think I’m starting to get sharp again,” said Dempsey, who also scored during a 4-1 rout of China in a warm-up friendly in San Jose on Saturday.
It took the U.S. less than half an hour to solve Guatemala’s overly defensive approach, which involved playing the game in its own half and relying on occasional counterattacks.
The goal came in the 26th minute off a move started by Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein, who redirected a Guatemalan clearance out to DaMarcus Beasley on the left wing.
Beasley, the third-most experienced U.S. player on the field behind Frankie Hejduk and Landon Donovan, passed the ball down the wing to Taylor Twellman, who sent a square pass through the penalty area for the onrushing Dempsey to side-foot into the net.
The goal took all of 20 seconds to create and execute and was Dempsey’s eighth in 27 appearances for the national team.
“The sequence that led to the goal was very well done,” Bradley said. “The ball from Taylor and the run and finish from Clint were excellent.”
The U.S. should have scored at least one and possibly two more goals in the first half but was denied by some stubborn defending and some bad luck. In the second half, an already physical game became even more so and the U.S. played the last 15 minutes with 10 men after defender Oguchi Onyewu was sent off after picking up his second yellow card.
Bradley said he felt the opening game was typical of tournament play.
“Any time you start a tournament like the Gold Cup, the expectation is that the first game is going to be difficult,” he said. “Guatemala is a well-organized team. We saw that when we played them in Dallas” to a 0-0 tie in a March friendly.
“We feel good that we improved in some areas from the last time we played them. We did a better job of attacking wide. We definitely did a better job of finding some spaces that we didn’t find the last time.
“We hoped for more goals, but again I think credit goes to Guatemala for doing a very good job in terms of organizing their team.”
That credit belongs to Coach Hernan Dario Gomez, a Colombian who previously has coached his own national team, and coached Ecuador at last summer’s World Cup.
Guatemala caused the U.S. defense only two real scares. The first came five minutes into the second half when Leonel Noriega sent a speculative 45-yard volley toward the U.S. net. The ball dipped late and forced U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard to leap and tip it over the crossbar with both hands.
Later, Guatemala striker Carlos Ruiz drove a free kick from behind a screen of two teammates, who split left and right at the last instant. Howard spotted the ball late and did well diving low to his right to make the save.
The victory left the U.S. tied with El Salvador atop Group B in the 12-team tournament that concludes June 24 in Chicago.
An 81st-minute goal by Dennis Alas earned El Salvador a 2-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in Thursday’s nightcap. Alas pounced on a loose ball that the Trinidad and Tobago defense failed to clear and powered it into the net.
Earlier, Silvio Spann had given the Caribbean team the lead with a goal in the eighth minute, but Ramon Sanchez tied it up for the Central Americans a half hour later.
Locally, the tournament continues Saturday when the U.S. plays Trinidad and Tobago at 2 p.m., with El Salvador playing Guatemala at 4 p.m.
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