Never in a million years did I think I'd be watching let alone live blogging a sporting event involving Guadeloupe yet here I am. The U.S. men's national team suffered one of its worst losses ever on Saturday (losing 2-1 to Panama) and now they face a must-win to get out of the group stage of the Gold Cup. That's probably the most depressing sentence I've ever written.
Anyway, Canada just drew 1-1 with Panama. So a U.S. tie or win puts them through to the quarterfinals to face Jamaica (3-0) on Sunday in Washington, DC.
U.S. starting 11:
Howard; Cherundolo, Goodson, Bocanegra, Lichaj; Dempsey, Jones, Bradley, Donovan; Wondolowski, Altidore.
Guadeloupe starting 11:
Grandel; Ictoi, Viator, Tacalfred, Zubar; Racon, Gamiette, Auvray, Loval; Socrier, Nabab
Lichaj is making his Gold Cup debut, this is only his fourth match with the team.
I wish I could give you more insight on the Panama loss but I missed it live and once I read the recap I couldn't bare to watch it. Yeah, I'm a baby.
At least the U.S. has a good crowd, soldout Livestrong Arena in Kansas City (the new MLS only stadium).
And we're underway, Altidore wins a free kick outside of the Guadeloupe box.
JP Dellacamara and Kyle Martinho are the announcers on Fox Soccer Channel.
Guadeloupe wins a free kick outside the U.S. box. Howard comes out to get the deflected shot but he goes out for a Guadeloupe corner kick. Sweet Jesus, Howard bungles the corner which leads to a shot off the crossbar and over. Yikes.
No worries, Bob Bradley is shown on the sidelines in his usual dead to the world state.
Ugh, Jozy had a nice to work a 1-2 into space but he gives it right to a defender.
Dempsey wins a free kick outside the Guadeloupe box. Dempsey fires it on goal and Grandel tips it over the crossbar for a corner kick. Nice shot, good save.
Ok, Jozy scores one of his best goals that I've ever seen. A rocket from 25 yards out, Grandel barely moves (9th minute, 12th international goal, 2nd of the Gold Cup). 1-0 U.S., what a strike!
Donovan takes an elbow in the face but no foul call. Hope he's alright.
Wow, they showed a replay from the Guadeloupe goal and that shot took a crazy curve at the end leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.
Nabab breaks free for a partial breakaway but he shoots it out on the other sideline. Not sure which U.S. defender was beaten there but it wasn't pretty, he just ran by him pretty easily.
Jones tries to find Altidore with a through ball but he was offside, nice idea.
Brian Dunseth is the sideline reporter, haha what a selection of washed up mediocre American players.
Yikes, Goodson just got tangled up with a Guadeloupe player in the box but there was no call. There definitely could have been, U.S. dodged a bullet there.
Guadeloupe is offside but not before the player shoots it off the crossbar.
And I just found out on Twitter that Guadeloupe isn't even a member of FIFA. Uh shouldn't the U.S. be wiping the floor with these scrubs?
Lichaj makes a nice run into the box, drops it for Donovan but his shot is blocked. Wondolowski skies one from just inside the area (why is he on the team?).
Semifinal loss to Mexico (2007) and Quarterfinal loss to Costa Rica (2009) are the highlights of Guadeloupe's Gold Cup history.
And the announcers make me puke as they note Guadeloupe is a "good team." Yeah ok guys. Haha, their coach is wearing jeans (no joke).
Dempsey with a great chance that he usually buries. Cherundolo puts a cross right on his head but Dempsey puts it wide. Should be 2-0, no excuse.
Cherundolo with another great ball, this time to Wondolowski but it's just out of his reach.
Dempsey with a shot from distance that was ticketed for the back of the net. Good save by Grandel, U.S. corner. Bradley tries a backheel but it's cleared off the line.
If you're wondering Guadeloupe has 400,000 fake people, it's the size of Vermont.
Bradley almost found Dempsey with a sweet chip but Grandel came off his line to clear it out of danger. Good idea.
Cherundolo is flying around, almost had another sweet cross. It was knocked out for a throw in. He's one of the few U.S. players that is doing anything consistently.
Bradley finds Dempsey with a cross that Dempsey puts wide. Didn't matter since he was called offside.
There we go, Wondolowski earns a foul with a nice turn on a Guadeloupe defender on the edge of Guadeloupe's box.
Donovan's free kick is not the best (as usual) but Altidore earns the corner with a nifty move.
Wondolowski gets stuffed twice by Grandel on very good chances. Is Charlie Davies ready to return to the team? Bob Bradley still hasn't found one suitable replacement, anyone that can play with Altidore.
2 minutes of added time and I'm already tired of this game. The U.S. is going to win but they should beat this team by a minimum of five goals on a normal day but right now, they can't get out of their own way.
Halftime: U.S. 1, Guadeloupe 0
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