An appetite for Turkish Delight

Soccer is a sport where there are not time outs or opportunities to regroup after one’s gameplan is shredded—and quite easily.

Thinking must be done on the fly, or during half time, and adjustments must be made just as fast. Some teams are adept at this without too many tactical changes, while others need an infusion from the bench to get the winning concoction.

The United States victory over Turkey was an example of the latter as the Americans recovered from a 27th minute goal to win 2-1 in the last match played in the States before the team travels for South Africa May 30.

Throughout the first 45 minutes the Turks used the counterattack to deploy the counterattack and exploit the lack of American pressure. Using a 4-4-1-1 formation the Americans allowed too much space for midfielders Tuncay, Hamit Altintop and Arda Turan to possess the ball and run at defenders.

American captain Carlos Bocanegra and right back Jonathan Spector could only do so much to keep those three from getting opportunities on goal. In truth Turan and Tuncay missed golden opportunities in the fifth minute, and the 14th before the Galatasaray man put the ball past Tim Howard on the counterattack.

Spector went forward with a heavy touch only to be disposed at the box. A couple touches and Turan was off to the races in the space Spector voided. The goal was a deserved and one that likely grabbed the attention of the Americans that they had to track back defensively.

The pressure improved dramatically in the second half, thanks in part to the speed and skill brought on in the second half.

Second half goals from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey secured the victory. Both men started the contest, but it was the four substitutes introduced at halftime that changed the balance of the contest.

Veteran Steve Cheruldolo provided better cover at right back for the United States. His performance was the type that showed why he has started in 56 of his 59 caps.

Oguchi Onyewu still did not look completely healthy, but he was not asked to do much in defense. It was also a nice sight to see he could recover 96 hours after playing 65 minutes Tuesday.
Jose Torres provided the flair starting left midfielder Benny Feilhaber could not in the midfield. Though he came on for holding midfielder Ricardo Clark the Texan was someone who kept the ball and allowed Michael Bradley and others to get forward.

Robbie Findley, the man so many people—at least in the soccer circles I hang out in—thought did not show enough to deserve a place on the final 23-man roster showed his worth. The Real Salt Lake forward allowed the US to revert to a 4-4-2 and threaten the Turkish defense with his speed.

Findley’s delicious chip to Landon Donovan in the 58th minute set up Altidore’s goal, which left most of the 55,000 fans in Philadelphia hoarse. The most encouraging factor about the goal was that it came from the run of play, the first time in three games the US scored outside of a set piece.

The defensive pressure allowed the US to play a very high back line. Turkey was not able to exploit that, gaping hole between Howard and central defenders Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, but other teams may.

There was the presumption that the 11 who took the field in Philly would largely be those who take the field in two weeks. Saturday’s victory, the first against Turkey in three meetings, proves there are a lot of questions to answer in the fortnight before kickoff in Rustenburg.