Due to a tight hamstring, Landon Donovan missed the US national game against England at Wembley on Wednesday night - the Americans missed him dearly.
The 2-0 loss to the Three Lions was not entirely unexpected, but the lack of imagination the US side played with was shocking. Especially in the final third, where the Americans put up only one shot that had anything close to conviction - a daisy-cutter by Freddy Adu, sometime after he was subbed-in for the non-existent Josh Wolff in the 68th minute. The back line was plagued with errors, one which led to a goal, another that resulted in a yellow card and a free-kick from an opportune spot. More mistakes from the Americans is nothing new.
To the American defense however, look at the mid-field they played against: David Beckham, Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard. Seven of the English starting eleven started in the Champion's League Final in Moscow last week. John Terry, who missed the penalty kick that would have secured his side European glory, scored the opening goal from a patented cross by Beckham himself.
After the game, US Soccer president, Sunil Gulati said, "we'd like to win, but is it a positive experience? Yes."
Maybe, that's true. American soccer is still young and only a few years ago, a game between England and the US would have ended more like 5 or 6 nil. But, the real positive to come from this game from an American perspective is that David Beckham is still relevant, still being chosen for the English side, still producing world class service for his team, and yes, still drawing thousands to LA's newest stadium, the Depot Center, to watch mediocre soccer at its best.
