JamieZ

To anyone who has even a half notion of Michael Bradley's importance to this U.S. team, that statement is self-evidently ridiculous.

YES!!!

BOOM!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

TIMMY!!!

Bradley looking much sharper than he did against Ghana.

Geez.

I have such butterflies right now.

I agree. Klose is an excellent finisher, but has had four world cups, won nothing, and most of those goals were ugly tap ins. Ronaldo is one of the very best in the history of the sport, scored some great world cup goals and drove Brazil to victory 2002 with his haul. How 'bout he's a lethal finisher who knows exactly how to be in the right place at the right time? Give him a chance and he'll make it count. He's had a long and distinguished career at the highest level, and he's an honest and classy player on top of it. I will applaud him when he breaks the record.

That's probably a good idea. I mean, we've already got Clark and Baker. If you think Clark and Baker are mistake prone, just wait until we sign Brooks. I've watched him with both us U.S. team and Hertha Berlin. He's just 21; he's still learning and there are going to be some blips along the way, but I think his potential is self-evident and categorically greater than that of several of the players we've fielded in our back line over the past couple seasons. To expect a young kid to adjust flawlessly to being thrown into any deep end isn't realistic, and the Bundesliga and international football present steep learning curves, but he deserves to be where he is. It would be exceedingly shortsighted to dismiss a young player on the basis of a bad game here or there.

That's probably a good idea. I mean, we've already got Clark and Baker.

This feels like a Pyrrhic victory after losing Jozy and potentially Besler and Bedoya. I hope the latter two will be fit for the Portugal match.

BOO-YA!

Dammit.

This is the worst I've seen Bradley play in a U.S. shirt in quite some time. Jones has been everywhere we've needed him.

John Brooks looks to be coming on for Matt Besler, who pulled up in the first half with a hamstring tweak. Villa have been linked with him in recent weeks. Here's a chance to see him play.

I'm actually really worried. I know he's the butt of jokes, but there's nobody else on this team who can offer what Jozy brought. We left Terrence Boyd out of the squad and he's the only like-for-like replacement in our pool. Johannsson is a good striker, but he can't hold the ball up or bring others into play like Jozy can.

Beauty!

Mexico robbed again. This officiating is just atrocious.

Brooks is still learning, but he's got a big upside. He has all the physical attributes—including impressive speed for his size—and he's making strides in the mental aspects of his game. I'm not ready to say he would fit right into a starting role in the Premier League without some growing pains, but I think the potential is there and I think he's certainly a player I wouldn't mind seeing the club. Am I a bit biased as an American? Of course. Do I think he has it in him to be a top defender? Yeah, I do.

I think it more closely resembled the old 4-3-2-1 "Christmas Tree" formation we used to trot out a while back. I agree that it seemed to work quite well. Beckerman holding things down in the midfield freed up Jermaine Jones to play one of his best matches in a U.S. shirt.

Tom Vek - Luck