International Friendly: USA 2-2 Poland - Match Report
The international friendly between USA and Poland ended in a 2-2 draw in Chicago on Saturday. America took the lead twice but Poland managed to equalise on both occasions to end the game in a draw. After the match, Stuart Holden, the United States midfielder
said, “We did enough to get ahead twice. But as soon as the goals went in, we rested on it. We have to keep pushing. We have to become a team that can finish out games.”
This match was a debut game for Jermaine Jones who did not disappoint. It was his long ball that accurately reached Jozy Altidore, who made the most of it and shot it past the keeper to bury the ball into the back of the net. In the 13th minute,
USA was leading 1-0.
US coach Bob Bradley told reporters in a post match conference, “He (Jones) meshes on the field so I think there were some stretches in the game where we all saw some very good plays. He played a very good ball for the first goal that Jozy scored. And it’s
going to take some time just as far as overall movement and coordination and everything else; because I think it can still be better.”
Poland came to scoring in the 22nd minute when Robert Lewandowski was one-on-one with US goal keeper Tim Howard, but Howard blocked the ball and Poland’s effort was wasted. However, a few minutes later, Poland did equalize with Adam Matuszczyk
scoring the equaliser in the 30th minute.
Poland gained confidence after their equalizer and focused on their attack. They were almost rewarded as Jakub Blaszczykowski’s effort was heading towards the US goal, only before Tim Howard blocked it. They didn’t give up though, and at the opposite end,
it was Altidore who found some space. However, the US player shot off the right post in the 42nd minute, which was their last attempt at goal in the first half.
Bradley was full of praise for Altidore when he said, “He was active, worked hard, took the first goal well and had some other chances that made a difference in the game. It’s nice to see him get on the score sheet because that’s something we need him to
do on a more consistent basis. He had, in addition to the goal, two or three other very good chances. He had the one in the first half that went off the cross bar and then he had the one-on-one in the second half. So, good to get the chances and it would’ve
been better to see him put one more in the net at least.”
Stuart Holden put the US in front for a second time, scoring from a corner kick into the box just a few minutes into the second half. The 53rd minute goal seemed to have sealed Poland’s fate but the visitors didn’t give up just yet and continued
to fight on.
Poland was awarded a free kick just past the hour mark, after a foul from Jones. Ludovic Obraniak shot towards the goal with great accuracy, but Howard made another amazing save, blocking the ball with his fists for defender Bradley to clear the ball out
of danger.
US gave away their lead once again in the 73rd minute of the match. Poland were constantly pushing their attack. The US defence slipped under pressure which resulted in a goal for Poland. Blaszczykowski found some space and after beating Carlos
Bocanegra, the US captain, found the back of the net to make the score 2-2. Bocanegra told reporters after the match, “One of the things we need to do is clean up our play. We weren’t so sharp after we scored tonight. We have to find the right balance.”
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