Zardes shines, Dempsey scores in old home as U.S. beats Haiti

FOXBOROUGH, MA— Sometimes making one small tweak can help save a result from turning into an utter disaster.

For the U.S. men’s national team on Friday night at Gillette Stadium, the pivotal switch was taking off Jozy Altidore at halftime for Gyasi Zardes, who in less than 90 seconds of action helped manufacture the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Haiti in Gold Cup group play.

In the 47^th minute, Zardes took down a long pass from Greg Garza just in front of Haiti’s goal, then dished the ball centrally to Clint Dempsey. Dempsey fired the feed past Haiti’s Johny Placido for his tournament-leading third goal of the tournament, tying him with Mexico’s Oribe Peralta.

“I thought it was a smart play,” said Dempsey of Zardes’ assist. “When you don’t have an angle, and you have someone to cut back to, they have a better opportunity to score.

“It shows his unselfishness. It’s good when you have players that want to create opportunities for each other.”

On a night when U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann made seven changes to the starting lineup that he used in the opener against Honduras, the Yanks just needed one more change—putting in Zardes—to make the difference.

“Gyasi is doing a tremendous job,” said Klinsmann. “He has a lot of talent, a lot of potential, we just want to tell him every day ‘one step at a time.’ But he has an amazing positive attitude to his game, to his work…he wants to constantly learn. It’s a real joy to watch him.”

Haiti has always given the U.S. trouble, having taken a 6-5-6 record into the game. The last U.S. victory against Haiti came in February of 2000, while the sides settled for a 2-2 the last time they had met, which coincidentally was at Gillette Stadium in the 2009 edition of the tournament.

Haiti went right after the U.S., jumping out to a 6-1 edge in shots. Mechak Jerome hit the crossbar with his 25-yard free kick in the 10^th minute, while Wilde Guerrier narrowly missed over the crossbar on a bid inside the penalty area.

“Haiti knows how to play the game, technically they’re very good,” said Klinsmann. “They want to impress here, and that’s what they did. They really went at us on many occasions and showed their qualities.”

The U.S., which opted to use Tim Ream and Omar Gonzalez as central defenders, and pair Mix Diskerud and Michael Bradley together in midfield, settled the game down as time progressed.

Their best chance in the first half came in the 35^th minute as the defense won back possession and sent the ball forward to Diskerud, who was crushed by a hard tackle at midfield. Referee Ricardo Montero of Costa Rica waived for play-on, Bradley taking up possession and storming into the attack before finding Jozy Altidore on the left side of the box. Altidore cut to his right foot and crossed to Aron Johannsson, who found the back of the net after trapping the feed, but was incorrectly ruled offside.

Having Zardes enter the game to set up Dempsey for the game-winner certainly avenged the call. The crowd of 46,720, which also supported Dempsey during his playing days with the Revolution from 2004-06, cheered loudly for the man who has since played in the English Premier League and scored in three World Cups.

Dempsey played in attacking midfield on Friday night, though he’s been used as a defensive midfielder, winger, and forward throughout his national team career. He came into MLS as a defensive midfielder with long hair in ’04, but started at forward midway through the season due to injuries to Taylor Twellman. He scored in his first game in that position—a 3-1 loss to the then-Kansas City Wizards on June 19, 2004.

“This is where it all started for me,” said Dempsey. “Paul Mariner, Steve Nicol, they gave me the opportunity. I learned a lot from them. It brings back memories when we were driving to the stadium, it’s the way I’d come when I’d go to practice and the games.”

Dempsey might be back again when the U.S. host Brazil at Gillette Stadium in September, though he and his teammates have their eyes set on winning the Gold Cup first. They’re automatically through to the quarterfinals after securing first place in Group A with Friday night’s win.

Klinsmann may choose to rest players—including Dempsey, Zardes, and Bradley— for their final group game versus Panama next Monday in Kansas City.

“The approach is picking up more rhythm, finishing with three wins,” added Klinsmann. “We know we have influence on who goes through, and we take that seriously. We are not taking the foot off the pedal there. We will keep building confidence, fine-tuning elements and improving elements.

There was stuff that was not so good. We keep working on that. It’s just a nice feeling that we’re through, but it doesn’t mean we’re slowing down. We’ll keep raising the bar.”