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Player Ratings

Gold Cup Player Ratings: Donovan on Another Level

You love player ratings. You loved the U.S. performance in the Gold Cup. Will you love our player ratings from the Americans’ performance in the Gold Cup? We sure hope so.
BY Jon Arnold Posted
July 31, 2013
10:00 AM
Goalkeepers

Nick Rimando: 6.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 5.5
V. Cuba: 6
V. Belize: 6

It’s a good thing the keeper wasn’t busy this tournament. He didn’t do anything too remarkable, a tremendous save against Costa Rica excepted, because he didn’t need to. It was a solid outing, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be the third keeper in Brazil.

Defenders

DaMarcus Beasley: 6
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 6
V. El Salvador: 6
V. Costa Rica: 6

The captain made it look easy. No squad strife, no prolonged scares, no disappointment. On the pitch, he clearly remains more comfortable getting forward. That’s fine, and playing Beasley at left back hasn’t burned Klinsmann yet, but it’s still very tough to envision this arrangement working in the World Cup.

Michael Parkhurst: 4
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 5.5
V. Costa Rica: 4.5
V. Belize: 4.5

Parkhurst wasn’t bad, but he didn’t stand out, not offering much in attack and not having any real tests in defense. He coped with Panama’s wingers much more efficiently than the Mexican back line did but was victimized against Belize (Belize!). The reality is the fullback situation is so fluid right now that Parkhurst could’ve done enough to earn at least a look with the top team despite a performance that was no better than decent.

Clarence Goodson: 6.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 6
V. El Salvador: 6.5
V. Costa Rica: 6.5

If Earthquakes fans weren’t excited about their new arrival, they should be now. Goodson availed himself well to the center back role, and even if he was just feasting on weaker opposition, he showed a flair for the attack as well with a goal and several accurate long balls that led to scoring chances. He has to be sitting third on the center back depth chart with a real shot to pull a Prince Charles and prevent the heir apparent, Omar Gonzalez, from taking the throne for at least a little while.

Matt Besler: 7
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 6.5
V. El Salvador: 7

Klinsmann called for heavy re-enforcement for the knockout stage, and Besler delivered. The Sporting Kansas City center back kept up his streak of nearly error-free football. With strong results and no gaffes, Besler is a lock for future qualifiers and the World Cup barring a catastrophic injury or slip in form.

Michael Orozco: 6
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Costa Rica: 6
V. Cuba: 5.5
V. Belize: 6.5

The Puebla man, who plays at right back for the club, looked better than serviceable in central defense. Was he spectacular? No, but he did enough to get U.S. fans talking about him for something other than that one time he scored at the Azteca. By the way, remember that one time Michael Orozco scored at the Azteca?
Midfielders

Joe Corona: 5.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. El Slavador: 7.5
V. Costa Rica: 5
V. Cuba: 7

This Gold Cup was Corona’s chance to step up and prove he belongs with the national team. He didn’t seize the opportunity and run with it, but he also showed continual progress and considerable skill, sometimes in unfamiliar positions. He won’t burst into the starting line-up but should continue to be on qualifying rosters and make substitute appearances.

Mix Diskerud: 5.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. El Salvador: 6.5
V. Costa Rica: 5.5
V. Belize: 6.5

There arose a furious backlash to media Mix love after the group stages. Like so many things, the truth is somewhere in between. Should Diskerud start in Brazil? No. Did he play well enough to earn more consideration from Klinsmann going forward? Definitely. I rate his substitute performance in the final more highly than my colleague Liviu Bird and think he’s entered the discussion as a depth player.

Stuart Holden: 6
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 6
V. Costa Rica: 5
V. Belize: 6.5

Anything written here is rendered irrelevant by the ACL tear Holden suffered in the final. In this tournament, Holden showed once again that when he’s healthy, he has the quality to be an integral part of the United States national team. Unfortunately for Holden, Klinsmann, and football fans everywhere, he’ll again be sidelined for months and months.

Kyle Beckerman: 6.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 7
V. El Salvador: 7
V. Belize: 6

Kyle Beckerman isn’t going to drop any jaws, but he also isn’t going to make too many mistakes. That’s the prognosis, at least, after this outing when Beckerman filled the defensive midfield role well and distributed carefully, giving few passes away and helping the U.S. to a very possessive Gold Cup.

Jose Torres: 5.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 6
V. Costa Rica: 7.5
V. Belize: 5.5

Torres may have suffered unfairly from Bedoya’s performance in the semifinal against Honduras. After netting two assists, it would’ve been harsh to drop him from the team, so Torres was the victim of Joe Corona returning to the starting lineup. Torres didn’t have an outstanding tournament, but he wasn’t at all bad. If he can stay in Tigres’ starting line-up there’s a chance we’ll see him again soon.

Alejandro Bedoya: 5.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 7.5
V. Costa Rica: 3.5

Unimpressive against Costa Rica, impressive against Honduras, in between in the final, Bedoya boosted his chances at continued call-ups, but by how much? I know he’s beloved by fans at his Swedish club, but Bedoya could do well to face some more stringent competition on a regular basis. Perhaps that would help him clear up some of the inconsistencies in his game and have him playing like he did in the semifinal more often.

Brek Shea: 5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. El Salvador: 6
V. Costa Rica: 5
V. Cuba: 3.5

To some extent, Brek Shea took advantage of his opportunities. His play was cringe-worthy in the Cuba match, and even his good matches against Costa Rica and Panama didn’t dazzle. Yet, he scored two of the most important goals of the Gold Cup and could ride that momentum back into a regular roster spot.

Forwards

Landon Donovan: 8
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 8
V. El Salvador: 8.5
V. Costa Rica: 6

There’s a phrase that keeps cropping up when discussing Donovan’s performance in this tournament. He’s on “another level.” No player in the region, at this tournament at least, could match his vision, his energy, and his play. Landon Donovan is back. There’s no question about it. The only question now is how it will translate when he steps in with the qualifying gang.

Chris Wondolowski: 5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Costa Rica: 3.5
V. Cuba: 8
V. Belize: 7.5

Wondolowski presents quite the ratings conundrum. On one hand, he won a share of the Golden Boot. On the other, it looks like the goal scoring was simply Wondolowski feasting on minnows on the periphery rather than finally swimming along with the big fish. The knock against the Earthquakes forward is that he can’t do enough to score against top international teams. Despite five goals, he did nothing to shake that this summer.

Eddie Johnson: 6.5
Selected ASN Ratings:
V. Honduras: 6.5
V. El Salvador: 8

Realizing he needed a forward who wasn’t Chris Wondolowski, Klinsmann turned to Johnson after Herculez Gomez went home with a knee problem. His impact was immediate, and he didn’t waste much time scoring against Honduras either. Panama kept him more isolated and forced him to wander (they didn’t force him to do stepovers, he does that on his own), but it was a good competition for Klinsmann’s ringer.

Incompletes: Edgar Castillo, Sean Johnson, Bill Hamid, Tony Beltran, Will Bruin, Alan Gordon, Herculez Gomez, Jack McInerney, Omar Gonzalez, Oguchi Onyewu

Jon Arnold is an ASN contributing editor. Follow him on Twitter.

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