The US men's national team kicked off their 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup march with a passable 1-0 victory over 2019 tournament darlings Haiti at Children's Mercy Park on Sunday.
Aside from a few brief episodes, the home side was basically in control of the game both before and after Sam Vines nodded them in front on eight minutes. Still, the USMNT's lack of killer instinct made the final scoreline closer than it should have been.
As a periodic reminder, all grades are handed out on a scale with "6" as the average. Marks are also relative to time played, meaning that a "7" given for a full shift is more impressive than one given for 15 minutes of action.
United States Men's National Team Player Ratings
There wasn't any real heavy lifting from a save standpoint, and Turner handled Haiti's weak shots with ease. The New England netminder also comfortably handled their crosses, but one loose touch nearly caused a late problem.
What a nice surprise to see the Tenerife right back look like the most effective player on the field. For long stretches, leading Moore wide was the USMNT's best idea; he repeatedly penetrated the opposite corner to play troubling balls into the box. He was also always present when needed at the back, including a huge intervention in the box midway through the second half.
In his first US start since February 2020, Zimmerman put on the display one would expect. He made some strong clearances, opened the game up with a couple of long passes and twice demonstrated why he's a dangerous target when up for a restart (without actually scoring, alas).
In a no-nonsense performance, the Atlanta United defender put on a body positioning clinic to snuff out several Haiti advances.
For all but a moment or two, Acosta was in firm command of his region of the field. The Rapids utility man did a bit of everything from box-to-box, plus was among the supporting players on the US winner.
The D.C. United winger was limited to 14 minutes by an apparent hamstring injury, but eagerly found spaces to exploit on the run while he was competing.
The Columbus Crew striker supplied some strong hold-up play, but couldn't quite find the right runs to get on the end of any service.
On the plus side, the Colorado winger was a consistent nuisance when pressing. What was easily more noticeable was the indecisiveness that rendered him ineffective when trying to breach the away area.
Head coach
On one hand, the team's defensive coverage was top-notch. On the other hand, Berhalter has to get the USMNT keeping their tempo up after grabbing a lead. For now, I'll give more weight to the former.
Substitutes
Playing in his birthplace, the injury substitute pitched in with some link-up play over his hour and change. Gioacchini earned a couple of decent looks, but his targeting system was a hair off (hit the post).
The US debutant nearly sent his home stadium into raptures with a laser-guided blast that drew a great save. Busio also made a few nice central-park plays to relieve pressure.
The Orlando City forward banged around a bit, but never got loose during his half hour of work.
The New York City FC youngster solidified the backline down the stretch.
Though it was a short first USMNT look, it appears that Williamson's pesky all-around Timbers game can translate to this level.
