John Brooks saved Jurgen Klinsmann from a lot of uncomfortable questions.
Saved the U.S. from a certain early exit from the World Cup, too.
Just about everything Klinsmann espouses was up for question through the first 80 minutes of the game: His snub of Landon Donovan. His decision to keep the aging DaMarcus Beasley at left back. The supposed fitness advantage the travel-tested and workout-fanatic Americans were supposed to have.
And then, with one furious toss of his head in the 86th minute, Brooks made Klinsmann look like a genius. For a few hours at least.
“It’s a huge three points,” Clint Dempsey said. “We didn’t play our best game, but we ground out the result.”
Klinsmann, his players and their fans were giddy after the 2-1 victory over Ghana on Monday night, and rightfully so. The Americans are second in Group G – yes, you read that right – the best-case scenario with Portugal and Germany still to come. They also crammed two World Cups’ worth of revenge into the victory over the team that sent them home in 2006 and 2010.
No wonder Klinsmann threw up his arms as if his team had just won the World Cup when the final whistle sounded.
“This is definitely the start we wanted,” Klinsmann said. “We worked hard for it, and it is definitely a good feeling to have these three points.”
But the euphoria can’t mask the issues the Americans have – issues that Klinsmann has to answer for.
The furor over Klinsmann’s decision to drop Donovan has largely died down since the U.S. got to Brazil. But the sight of Jozy Altidore being carted off 20 minutes into the game with a hamstring injury, might very well come back to haunt Klinsmann.
Donovan may not be the player he was four years ago, when his goal in stoppage time carried the U.S. into the second round in South Africa. He may not even be the player he was last summer, when he went on a scoring spree that carried the U.S. to the Gold Cup title.
But he’s not washed up, either, and he would have been just the kind of insurance policy Klinsmann and the U.S. could use right about now. Start him or bring him on as a sub. Either way, the Americans definitely could have used his skill and savvy Monday night, to say nothing of the upcoming games against Germany and Portugal.
“I don’t know. I hope so. I would love to,” Altidore said when asked if he’ll be able to play again in Brazil. “But at the end of the day, what matters is the team and we got three points.”
If the Americans are going to be short-handed, they can’t afford fitness issues like they had Monday night.
Just as he did with Germany in 2006, Klinsmann has made fitness a priority for his team. Training sessions are more frequent and challenging, and he and his staff track every physical data point possible. So while other teams fretted about the conditions in Brazil, the Americans dismissed them. Few teams would be fitter, they scoffed, or more prepared for the elements.
But on a night when the heat and humidity weren’t all that oppressive, Matt Besler couldn’t even make it into the second half and several players were gasping and clutching at body parts. Instead of looking like gym rats after being under the watchful eye of Klinsmann and his staff for the last month, a few looked more like guys on a rec team trying to shake off the winter sloth.
Besler’s substitution was only a precaution, Klinsmann said. But it forced him to keep Beasley on at the half when it was clear he was in over his head with Ghana’s fast-paced attack. Ghana may as well have taken up residence on the right side for as much as the Black Stars went after the four-time World Cup veteran.
It was only their spectacular lack of accuracy that kept the score from being 6-2.
“At the end, our competitive spirit, our mental determination, our willingness to fight was really good,” said Michael Bradley, a rare non-factor.
Go ahead and celebrate the victory, the kind of never-say-die comeback that is uniquely American and mesmerizes fans back home. The questions will still be there, larger than ever, once the hangover wears off.
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