USMNT Player Ratings: Opara, Morris the standouts of middling B&H draw

The US national team concluded its annual January camp with a rather vanilla 0-0 stalemate against visitors Bosnia and Herzegovina in a Sunday night friendly.


Several MLS players received a bit of international seasoning, but a largely uninspiring attack effort helped keep the home team goalless against an even greener Bosnia side.


Bill Hamid (5.5) - The FC Midtjylland netminder made a good stop late in his 45 minutes of action, but the trouble started due to his second nervy flub with the ball.


Matt Polster (5) - The Chicago Fire right back had all sorts of defensive issues, and was badly beaten into the box on a few occasions. The debutant did finally get forward to ship a few crosses in the second half.


Walker Zimmerman (4.5) - The LAFC defender committed mistakes reminiscent of a tough 2017 season in MLS play. After Zimmerman nearly teed up a close-range chance for Bosnia by misplaying a ball into the box, he was whistled for a unneccessary penalty foul all the way out by the top corner of the area.


Ike Opara (7) - The Sporting KC veteran showed well in a long-awaited first US cap. Opara was strong in the air and positionally, made a big shot block and even accurately supplied a few long lead passes over the top.


Justin Morrow (6) - The left back was tidy enough defensively, but rarely ventured into attack with intent.


Wil Trapp (6) - As is sometimes the case with Columbus, Trapp failed to slow the opponent much when they traveled up the middle. He cared for the ball fairly well and connected a few strong lead passes, but his restart serves could have been better.


Tyler Adams (5.5) - It was an underwhelming display from the New York Red Bulls youngster, who was never really able to get on his transition horse or usher the USMNT into the final third. Adams picked up his defensive game after the break, though.


Cristian Roldan (5.5) - Like Adams, the Seattle midfielder was a minor disappointment on the night. It's a shame Roldan didn't show for the ball more often, because he did provide a few probing link passes in the Bosnia end.


Gyasi Zardes (5) - The fresh Crew SC catch was largely invisible during his first-half shift.


Jordan Morris (7) - Though far from clinical in the box, Morris was easily the most troublesome US attacker on the night. The Seattle man wiggled loose for a near-miss shot, played a couple of dangerous crosses and put the team into good attack postures all night with his running.

USMNT Player Ratings: Opara, Morris the standouts of middling B&H draw - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/styles/image_landscape/s3/images/USMNTJD0128184196.JPG

Jordan Morris | John Dorton-ISI Photos


CJ Sapong (6) - The Philly Union striker was the brightest US player early, but his industrious moments all came while fanned out wide. Sapong didn't get much done in the center channel.


Coach Dave Sarachan (4.5) - This space is not a fan of the formation choices or of the fact that the interim boss eschewed fielding a central playmaking type in both of them. We also don't approve of wasting a sub in January friendlies; that's just one less player we get to test.


Subs:
Zack Steffen (5.5) - The halftime sub made it two US 'keepers on the night to create some anxiety by dawdling a bit on the ball, but made his lone save look easy.


Kelyn Rowe (5.5) - The second-half attack sub was unable to grab hold of the game. 


Paul Arriola (6) - The D.C. United winger aided a pair of solid rushes, but could have been more aggressive.


Juan Agudelo (5) - The New England Revolution forward, who committed a bad turnover mere seconds after entering midway through the second period, seemed to be playing his own game out there.


Rubio Rubin (-) - A brief cameo.