Ecuador bring USA crashing back to earth
Reuters - Wednesday 12 October 2011, 02:38
The Jurgen
Klinsmann-coached United States came
crashing back to earth on Tuesday after Ecuador scored a
late goal to win their friendly 1-0 at the Red Bull Arena in New
Jersey.
The U.S., who gave Klinsmann his first win as coach with a
1-0 victory over Honduras at the weekend, slumped to their third
loss in five games under the German's attack-minded direction
after Jaime Ayovi headed in a cross from team mate Walter Ayovi
in the 79th minute.
Klinsmann pledged to turn the U.S. into a more
offence-driven side after taking over from Bob Bradley in July,
but the transition is yet to show on the scoreboard, with only
two goals produced from the last five games.
Still, Klinsmann was encouraged by what he saw on Tuesday,
particularly in a first half that featured a number of promising
forays before Ecuador lifted after the break.
"In the first half we controlled the match completely,"
Klinsmann told reporters. "In the second half it opened up
because we made a lot of changes - it was our second game in
three days.
"A team like Ecuador was a good benchmark. If you make one
little mistake they punish you, and that's what they did."
Klinsmann made a number of subsitutions in the second half
and pacy Ecuador quickly assumed control of the match.
The breakthrough came when Jaime Ayovi slipped in front of
American defender Tim Ream in the box and headed a cross past
goalkeeper Tim Howard.
It was Ayovi's second goal in as many matches after he
scored in Ecuador's 2-0 win over Venezuela on Friday.
The U.S. received another solid performance from 22-year-old
Danny Williams in just his second cap, along with Brek Shea and
defender Oguchi Onyewu.
The Americans were without playmaker Landon Donovan, who was
sidelined with a quadriceps injury. Like Klinsmann, the veteran
international also came away optimistic about the new-look U.S.
side's prospects.
"I thought we played pretty well for long stretches, just
like in the Honduras match," Donovan said. "So many of these
games come down to one play, and that's what you saw."