It took Clint Dempsey just one game to find vindication.
Just 25 minutes, in fact. Because that’s how long he needed to score, dinking in an instinctive header from a rebounded shot. And 39 minutes later, Dempsey would get the second with another header, which would make the difference in the United States men’s national team’s 2-1 win over Honduras in its Gold Cup opener on Tuesday.
Following an ugly outburst in a recent U.S. Open Cup game with the Seattle Sounders, Dempsey was suspended for three games after ripping up a referee’s notebook and generally acting abhorrently. The punishment was considered light, even though he was handed an additional two-year ban applying only to that tournament. U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann stripped him of the captaincy but kept Dempsey around, because, as he bluntly put it, he needed his goals.
As the Americans slogged to their narrow win in the suburban Dallas heat and humidity, improving to 29-1-2 all-time in the Gold Cup group stage and 13-0-0 in tournament openers, Dempsey proved why, at 32, he is still worth the slack cut for him.
In an energetic and feisty game, the U.S. found itself under fire early. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan had to make several saves as the Hondurans applied high pressure, clogged the passing lanes, denied the Americans access to the flanks and generally made their lives difficult.
But it was Dempsey’s goal that turned the tide. DeAndre Yedlin tapped a short corner to Michael Bradley, whose cross was headed on at the near post by Jozy Altidore. It eventually bounced back to Altidore out wide, but his low shot was blocked by goalie Donis Escober. His kick-save bounced into the path of Dempsey, though, whose incredible snap-reaction with his head caromed the ball into the net.
Yedlin soon had a great look as well, as he was played in behind the line on a wondrous Fabian Johnson run and through ball, but his left-footed shot from point-blank range was denied by Escober. And while Andy Najar was a menace up the left side throughout the first half with his speed and cunning, the Americans settled into the game.
As the match wore on, the Yanks gained confidence and asserted themselves. If the Catrachos still commanded the run of play for long stretches of the game, it was the U.S. that seemed to control its own fate. Dempsey, in particular, ran at the Honduran lines with gusto. And soon, he would score again.
In the 64th minute, Bradley floated a free kick from out wide to the second post, where Dempsey rose above the scattered Honduran defense and nodded a bouncing header past the helpless Escober to double the score.
His second goal would prove crucial, for the Hondurans got themselves on the board not long thereafter. In the 70th minute, Carlos Discua, who had just come on as a substitute, slipped past Ventura Alvarado and smashed his finish past Guzan. Honduras, smelling opportunity, began piling on the pressure.
While Bradley whacked a free kick to the near post, where Escober could only just keep out, there were a fair few close calls in front of Guzan’s goal. The suddenly beleaguered goalie watched several shots slip behind the end line perilously close to his goal.
But the Americans held on. Thanks to Dempsey, who kept putting the offense on his back even as Honduras pressed ever harder for an equalizer, they prevailed.
Theirs was hardly a banner performance. But given that it secured three points in a difficult group to start an even more difficult tournament, it would do just fine.
