In their first game since Feb. 8 against Panama, the United States Men's National Team squared off against Denmark on Wednesday. Despite getting off to a fast start, the U.S. was soon humbled on the road in Aarhus. It was the seventh meeting between these teams.
Striker Jozy Altidore got the U.S. on the board early on after defender Timothy Chandler led him down the field with a deep pass. Altidore had two defenders on him, but the ball took a great bounce and allowed him to get separation when the Danish defense got caught in a trance while watching the pass in the air. Altidore used his left foot and crushed the shot past keeper Stephan Andersen in the 19th minute.
The Danes answered in the 33rd minute with a beautiful trio of passes. Midfielder Jakob Poulsen got the ball into the penalty area to defender Daniel Wass, who then crossed it to striker Lasse Vibe, who back-heeled it to striker Nicklas Bendtner for the goal. The match went into the half tied 1-1, but the United States broke the silence after 33 minutes without a score by both squads.
Midfielder Michael Bradley played a beautiful ball into the left side of the penalty area and it was hauled in by Altidore, who tapped it over to fellow striker Aron Johannsson for the finish and the 2-1 lead. What looked to be a comfortable cushion heading into the latter part of the match soon became a familiar story for the United States.
Their lead extended to the 83rd minute until Bendtner put another one in the back of the net. Midfielder Thomas Delaney had his cross deflected into the U.S. penalty area and the ball landed right at the feet of Bendtner, who took it off the bounce and blew it by keeper Nick Rimando. But the party wasn't yet over for Bendtner and the Danes.
One minute into stoppage time, midfielder Christian Eriksen served up a deep pass to Bendtner, who hauled it in just inside the U.S. penalty area. Defenders Gregory Garza and John Brooks thought Denmark was offside, and Bendtner took advantage of the steps he had on them. He caught the ball on a nice volley, striking it across his body with his right foot and to the far post, just out of the reach of Rimando. The hat trick was complete.
Denmark held on to the 3-2 lead and earned the well-deserved victory.
"Call it what you want," said Altidore, via Doug McIntyre of ESPNFC.com. "The goals we gave up were just soft. We're not hard enough to play against, and it's really disappointing to give the game away like that. It's just frustrating."
This has been a trend for the United States' defense, which has given up 10 of their past 14 goals in the final 30 minutes of their matches following the World Cup. Jurgen Klinsmann will continue to search for answers after another heartbreaking loss, which was their fourth in the last five matches.
