The marks are up for the US national team after they got well with Sunday's comfy 2-0 friendly victory over Panama in Carson, Calif.
With Jurgen Klinsmann turning the dial back on his experiments, Michael Bradley and first-time starter Gyasi Zardes ran the opening period, putting the Nats in position to snap a five-game win drought. While the youth/veteran blend opponent was certainly not the stuff of any nightmares, the team also managed just its second clean sheet since the start of World Cup last summer with little work from the netminders.
Nick Rimando (6.5) – During the opening moments, the Real Salt Lake netminder expertly smothered a back-post runner's chance. There wasn't much for Rimando do after that.
DeAndre Yedlin (5) – The Tottenham newcomer was shaky for much of the first half, both on the ball and defensively. After the break, Yedlin started warming in attack before limping off in the 72nd minute.
Jermaine Jones (7) – Most importantly, Jones kept his wanderlust to a largely positive minimum. This allowed him to rack up the impressive total of 14 defensive stops by the half-hour mark, including four pass picks at Panama's gate to the attacking third. Keeping with the theme, the Revs star kept his passing game in efficiency mode.
Matt Besler (6.5) – The Sporting KC was not as busy as his partner, but worked solidly with one exception. Blas Pérez kindly let Besler off the hook for a turf-slip turnover in front of the US box. Other than that, he was smooth in possession support, completing 67 of 68 passes.
Brek Shea (6.5) – Panama barely tested the Orlando City recruit until the final 15 minutes of the match, so his only significant defensive lapse didn't come until the waning moments. Shea did have a couple of bad turnovers in the first half, but moved the ball solidly after intermission and saved his best cross for last.
Michael Bradley (8) – The Toronto FC midfielder once again showed why he is the leader of the USMNT engine room. The first half was a Bradley clinic in arranging both tempo and attack avenues. While his free kicks ran hot-and-cold, the "Bald Eagle" opened the scoring with a classic olímpico.
Mix Diskerud (6.5) – After a few bad turnovers in his own end during the opening 35 minutes, Mix settled nicely into the game. Diskerud also pitched in with several nice second-wave challenges to help switch the US to attack from an advantageous field position.
Clint Dempsey (7) – While his link play was a shade off recent outings, Deuce found ways to be productive with limited touches. The run, quick detour around the 'keeper and finish on his goal was vintage Dempsey.
Gyasi Zardes (7.5) – The shyness from his debut cap was all gone by this kickoff. Even better than the picture-perfect slip pass to Dempsey on his first US assist was Zardes' ability to find the running space that opened up the attack for a scoring rush. Though he tailed off offensively toward the end of the game, the Galaxy ace never stopped getting back to help the defense.
Miguel Ibarra (6.5) – The NASL MVP was decent, if unspectacular. He moved the ball well with one notable exception and also helped the defenders on his side a bit. Perhaps the best part of Ibarra's night, though, was the flank movement that opened up lanes and space for others.
Jozy Altidore (6.5) – The shiny new Toronto FC model was a bit slow to warm up and vanished somewhat over the last half his 45-minute shift, but showed plenty of "Vroom!" in between. Altidore's rumbling presence at the back post aided the Bradley goal.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (7) – The boss wisely reverted back to what should be the team's default formation and they promptly ran the game with 61 percent possession. Not doing so against this semi-green lesser opponent at home would have made this one-man grading committee very fussy. Klinsmann also toned down the individual position experiments, resulting in a more cohesive effort.
Subs:
Chris Wondolowski (4.5) – Not much to write home about for Wondo, who came on in a tussling mood. Is it harsh to say he missed another chance one would typically advertise as his specialty on that Shea cross? Probably not.
Sean Johnson (6) – After entering at the break, the Fire man probably could have spent his pitch time cooking a pot of four-alarm chili and cornbread to go with it.
Perry Kitchen (6) – The D.C. United talent ably slid into defensive midfield and helped back the shutout into the garage with 15 pass completions in 18 minutes.
Matt Hedges (6.5) – Until temporarily getting caught in possession across midfield near the final whistle, Hedges looked very comfortable on the ball for a debutant working out of position at right back. Four tackles in 18 minutes is not anything to sneeze at, either.
Lee Nguyen (6) – The New England gunner took care of the ball and did some dirty work off it, but was never really able to get turned toward the Panama goal in 11 minutes.
Luis Gil (6) – In nine minutes, the RSL midfielder showed a couple glimpses of his attack potential at this level.
