The US national team got by with passing marks, for the most part, after ringing up a 6-1 victory over mites Belize in their CONCACAF Gold Cup opener at Portland's JELD-WEN Field.
With a patient possession approach that eventually cracked open the team's second straight six-pack, Jurgen Klinsmann's boys pulled away from their over-matched guests after conceding a set-piece goal near halftime.
GK Nick Rimando (6.5) – Not much business to take care of on the night, but the Real Salt Lake netminder managed a tricky save and a strong restart catch.
RB Michael Parkhurst (6) – On the downside, the right back lost his mark on the Belize goal. Parkhurst atoned for it, though, supplying a pinpoint cross for an assist and completing 50 more passes than anyone else on the field.
CB Michael Orozco Fiscal (7) – With very little defending to do, the Puebla defender stood out with a set piece goal and by completing each of his 60 passes on the night.
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CB Clarence Goodson (6.5) – In the first half, the recent San Jose catch repeatedly wandered into attack to positive effect. Goodson's level of impact was lower after the break.
LB DaMarcus Beasley (6.5) – The left back spent a large amount of time running his usual wing lanes, but without causing much of a scare. In defense, the US captain takes a small demerit for backing off a shooter above the box.
DM Kyle Beckerman (6.5) – Some decent early distribution was marred a bit by a couple of shabby passes in attack. Then, Beckerman served a pair of tempting crosses, one of which earned him an assist.
RW Joe Corona (5.5) – While the right-sider picked up a secondary assist, he often lacked precision on his final third passes and occasionally in his decision making.
CM Mikkel Diskerud (7) – It was another nice display of all the ways Mix can place the offense in a dangerous posture. It was also nice to see a US central midfielder eager to take a crack from above the area.
CM Jose Francisco Torres (6) – He had one cross lead to a goal and a header that bounced around for the opener. However, Torres also shipped some bad crosses and was repeatedly slow to make plays with the ball.
OPTA Chalkboard: USMNT dominates in possession, chances, goals
CAM Landon Donovan (7) – The LA Galaxy star did not operate with a cutting edge as sharp as the other night, but still notched a pair of fine helpers and netted a penalty, even if it was a bit of a gift.
FWD Chris Wondolowski (7.5) – The San Jose man was fairly quiet after having to replace hat trick hero "Wondowlowski" at halftime. In all seriousness, the forward showed his knack for getting open in front of goal at the right time.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (6) – In all fairness, the team scored an acceptable result. One annoyance on the night was the recent trend towards wasting restarts on out-swingers and short deliveries – exposed as bad ideas when an in-swinging restart from near the end line promptly found the back of the net on the other end.
Substitutes:
CM Stuart Holden (7) – The Bolton ace was not as consistently effective as against Guatemala last week, but it was another encouraging show. How great was it to see him back on the scoresheet for the US?
LW Brek Shea (5.5) – It was a middling half hour for the Stoke City winger, with his eagerness to test defenders the best aspect of his outing.
CM Alejandro Bedoya (5.5) – Again showed his worth in build-up play, but looked a bit more "fumbly" around the box.
