JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — The United States may have found its newest attacking combination: Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley and … Jermaine Jones?
Saturday night in Northeastern Florida, the trio presented an emphatic case of their chemistry.
Donovan bagged a hat trick, while Bradley and Jones each dented the net as the Americans destroyed rebuilding Scotland 5-1 at EverBank Field. The USA’s German-born coach Jürgen Klinsmann now has ample evidence of further playing time together.
Donovan (spells with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich) opened the scoring less than 180 seconds after kickoff. After a Scottish pass bounced off an American midfielder, Bradley (late of Borussia Mönchengladbach) fed the ball to Jones (Schalke) at the penalty arc. The German-born Jones dealt it rightward to Donovan, who turned and fired on net. His shot ricocheted off Scottish defender Charlie Mulgrew and goalkeeper Allan McGregor, but fell back to him, and he put away the rebound.
The same trio struck again less than ten minutes later. Donovan lobbed a ball from the right touchline to Jones, who one-timed a chip to a rushing Bradley. The Chievo midfielder immediately fired a 25-yard cannon that McGregor could only flail at.
After a frenetic start to the second half by both teams, the new offensive formation struck again. Jones and Bradley drew Scottish defenders wide with a triangle of passes, leaving Donovan wide open for Jones’ cross. Donovan then completed his hat trick, putting away a pass from Bradley, and the Southeastern soccer-record crowd of 44,438 rose to its feet for Donovan’s 49th. international goal.
Five minutes later, Jones added to the Bravehearts’ misery by scoring himself. He gleefully put away an altruistic cross from Donovan, recipient a pass from the newly entered Herculez Gomez.
Sandwiched between the American goals was the lone Scottish strike, which wasn’t even tallied by a navy blue-clad player. A headed cross from Kenny Miller, who had just narrowly beaten an offside call, bounced off the chest of a goal-facing Geoff Cameron and bounced in. Tim Howard, preparing for a shot, was in no position to stop Cameron’s goof. The own-goal was the first conceded by the United States this year, which also means an opponent hasn’t directly cracked the American frame.
New Scotland coach Craig Levein inserted many new faces, in an attempt to invigorate a program that hasn’t seen a global or continental finals since the 1998 World Cup. Other than notable vets Miller (Cardiff City) and McGregor (Rangers), the squad left out a number of the group that failed to reach Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine next month. The new blood certainly worked hard to impress, running fast and hustling despite Florida’s thick humidity. However, Scotland had trouble connecting passes save between defenders during buildups, and American keepers Howard and Brad Guzan unofficially didn’t face a shot on goal.
The USA now faces Brazil on Wednesday, at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Scotland resumes action August 15, hosting Australia. Both are friendlies in preparation for World Cup qualifying.
Scoring
1) USA, Donovan 3′
2) USA, Bradley 11′
3) Scotland, own goal (Cameron) 15′
4) USA, Donovan 60′
5) USA, Donovan 65′
6) USA, Jones 70′
Unofficial Statistics
Shots: USA 9+5=14, Scotland 0+2=2
Shots on Goal: USA 3+3=6, Scotland 0+0=0
Saves: USA 0+0=0, Scotland 1+0=1
Corners Kicks: USA 2=1=3, Scotland 0+0=0
Direct Kicks: USA 1+1=2, Scotland 0+0=0
Offsides: USA 0+0=0, Scotland 1+0=0
Fouls: USA 5+0-5, Scotland 4+4=8
Cautions: USA 1 (Bocanegra 29′), Scotland 0
Attendance: 44,438
Lineups
USA: Howard (Guzan 71′); Cherundolo, Cameron, Bocanegra (Onyewu 63′), Johnson; Edu (Beckerman 64′), Bradley, Jones; Donovan (Castillo 73′), Boyd (Gomez 64′), Torres (Corona 68′).
Scotland: McGregor; Bardsley (Martin 59′), Mulgrew (Wallace 68′), Webster (Berra 82′), Caldwell; McArthur (Whittaker 59′), Brown, Bannan (Cowie 51′); Phillips, Miller, Maloney (Mackail-Smith 83′).
Officials: referee Bonilla (SLV), referee’s assistants Torres (SLV) and Bermudez (SLV), 4th. offiicial Vaughn (USA)
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