Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie ---3-1,3-1,3-1

Was the back line a little shaky at times, yes. Did Hahnemann miss a plethora of dangerous crosses, yes. But let's not miss the forest through the trees, the US Men's National Team soundly defeated a strong Australian team who had been on a winning streak .

In the lead up to the World Cup I had been more concerned with the front line and how we were going to be able to score goals which are necessary to winning, but now with the addition of lower profile players like Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez to proven goal scorers like Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey scoring goals no longer seems like a concern for the Men's National Team. Indeed the play of Buddle against Australia not only alleviates the concerns over Altidore’s fitness after the minor ankle sprain. It may create an actual dilemma in Coach Bob’s mind as to who to start: Altidore or Buddle. And if Findley finishes his two golden opportunities or if Dempsey’s goal isn’t called back on a questionable offsides call, the score could easily have been 5 or 6 to 1 against a team that has a reputation for a strong defense. On the other hand it is becoming increasingly clear that once crowded back line that seems to be the weakest point of the team. In the first half only poor finishing on the Aussie’s part (particularly Kennedy) kept them from tying or going ahead. It was not the right and left back positions that were the issue this time, but the center backs. It did not appear that Goodson and DeMerit were on the same page. Clark had a better game then against Turkey, but there were still disturbing gaps in the middle of the park and the usual set of giveaways on bad passes. Bradley was not much better in the passing department. In the second half, the Onyewu/DeMerit pairing was much sturdier and the Aussies had far fewer solid chances. The commentators liked to pick on Onyewu as a the weak point but his play in the last two appearances (Turkey and Australia) has been very tidy.

While on the subject on the commentators, John Harkes, and Martin Tyler absolutely underwhelmed. US Soccer blogosphere has cheered their appointment with "at least they know soccer" but to me this is damning with faint praise. Harkes has consistently shown a lack of soccer awareness by touting the play of US players like Klejstan, and Ching while ragging on Dempsey and Bradley. You only need to look at the US starting lineup to see how prescient his commentary is. And while Martin Tyler may be British he was golf announcer boring. Although this will not be the case I would much prefer to hear Derek Rae and Adrian Healy announce the US matches, heck hire Greg Lalas and Jay Heaps who have done an excellent job covering MLS and are far more intelligent and entertaining than John Harkes.

Just for a moment, let’s talk about Herculez Gomez and Robbie Findley. With the few minutes Gomez has had, he has scored two goals and shown the ability to take his shots when they are there. This may seem obvious, but far too many times we have seen US midfielders and forwards pass up an open shot, try to make a perfect pass and give the ball away. The goal Gomez scored against Australia may have looked simple, but it wasn’t. He had to reach slightly behind him and yet still got enough power on the ball to drive it past Schwarzer before he could get down on the ground to stop it. Findley has shown far more class in his last two games then in any previous U.S. appearances or any of the MLS games of his I have seen. Perhaps he is poised for a breakout. I think there is a very good chance we see him starting alongside Buddle or Altidore against England.

Final thoughts- I think the back line needs to get it together to be able to face the speed and power of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Aaron Lennon but it will be a strong US team that will face England on Saturday and a tougher match than England is probably expecting. So watch out England, the Yanks are coming!