This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

U.S. Tops Switzerland 1-0 in Europe to End Losing Streak

He delivered what I thought was the best game preview written in the last few days. And now Michael J. Agovino is back, reporting from the US MNT’s 1-0 win over Switzerland in Basel. But this might have to be it for Michael. Or people are going to start to expect this kind of sharp, concise writing all the time at TIAS. And that doesn’t bode well for me.

It’s hard to think of a friendly, in mid-October, as a big game, but if you’re the U.S. team, on a five-game losing streak, the Gold Cup win a distant memory, and you can’t for the life of you figure out a way to win in Europe, tonight’s game against the Swiss was just that: a big game. And, as it turned out, a big win.

Make no mistake: It was boring, painful even, the kind of game that won’t win any new American fans. Which makes the result, 1-0 to the U.S. on an 86th minute goal from Michael Bradley, all the more impressive.

Away wins are hard to come by, especially in Europe. Just ask Scotland, who had been red hot until they lost to Georgia tonight, in Tbilisi. For the U.S. National Team, Europe has only brought nightmares (3-15-3) since 1998 before tonight’s win. To beat a mid-level European team, in desperate need to improve before they host the European Championships next year, is an achievement.

The Swiss were bad tonight, let’s face it. As sparkling as they were Saturday night in a 3-1 win in Zurich against Austria, they were as unimaginative against the Americans. Even the crowd seemed more alive in Zurich. They had 22,000 come out for that game–maybe because it was a Saturday night, maybe because it was against a border-rival and Euro 08 co-host–but only 16,500 tonight in the wonderful St. Jakob Stadium, another treasure from the hometown star-architect team of Herzog & de Meuron, who also designed the dazzling Allianz Arena in Munich and the Olympic Stadium in Beijing. They were cranky this bunch, booing, whistling, and jeering their men in red at halftime and fulltime. Maybe it was the rain; maybe they wanted invention, ideas in attack, a second striker.

But the U.S. showed composure. They kept their mistake-quotient low, they were well-organized, and played smart tactically. And they kept hustling, that favorite of American virtues. The goal was fluky, sure: Danny Szetela, who so impressed in the U-21 World Cup, sent in a cross that short-hopped
off Clint Dempsey’s shin, ricocheted high in the air, and on its way down Bradley tapped it between various flailing arms and legs in the six-yard box. But he was there: right place, right time. Sometimes, you make your own breaks.

The couple of hundred Americans in the upper deck went nuts, and started chanting (is this something new at U.S. soccer?) “We will, we will, rock you.”

A few minutes earlier, they were chanting, “Fred-y, Fred-y, Fred-y,” when Adu entered in the 76th minute. Give him credit: As soon as he came on, he had a clever little back heel. Ten minutes later, he nearly (OK, maybe shoulda) put in a second goal when Dempsey, after a pretty little pirouette, put him through with a knowing pass. And finally, Adu could’ve been awarded a penalty when he was kicked in the face in the area. Not bad for fifteen minutes of work.

After the game, Bob Bradley talked about the importance of “finding ways to win.” Tonight they found one, against a quality team, on the road, and in Europe. Yep, a big game, and dare I say, a big win.

–
Michael J. Agovino is a writer and editor in New York and Zurich.