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The first six games of the Jurgen Klinsmann era resulted in two goals by the U.S. men’s national team.
Then there was Game 7.
The U.S. got first-half goals from Edson Buddle, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, and held on for a 3-2 road win Tuesday against Slovenia at a cold and foggy Stozice Stadium in Ljubljana. The offensive explosion gave Klinsmann his second win (2-4-1) and capped the 2011 schedule on a positive.
Captain Carlos Bocanegra earned his 100th cap in what was a rematch of a World Cup group-stage game from last summer. The match also saw a couple records updated as Dempsey tied Joe-Max Moore for fourth on the all-time scoring list at 24 goals and goalkeeper Tim Howard passed Tony Meola for sole possession of second place on the all-time victories list with 38.
Here’s the scoring summary (with the highlights posted above):
USA – Edson Buddle (Clint Dempsey) 9′
SLV – Tim Matavz (Zlatan Ljubijankic) 26′
USA – Clint Dempsey (Michael Bradley) 41′
USA – Jozy Altidore (penalty kick) 43′
SLV – Tim Matavz (Zlatan Ljubijankic) 61′
I’ve added another video with reaction from U.S. players and coaches after the jump.
What did you make of the performance? Nice to see two forwards? What’d you think of Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson seeing extended minutes?
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