Jesus Rico-Sanz, PhD
Soccer Performance & Science Institute
In the previous three articles, I reported the match analysis of the players of the USA National Team during the group stage games that the USA played against Wales, England, and Iran in the World Cup 2022 (www.soccerpsi.com/blog).
In the present article, I will be presenting the technical actions, percent accuracy, the technical attacking grade performance average (GPA), and the match GPA for the starting eleven of the USA National Team during the round of 16 game against Holland. The USA lost the match 3-1and was therefore eliminated from the World Cup.
Reyna is included in the results as he played the entire second half substituting the starting forward Ferreira. Other players that came later in the second half of the game are not included for simplicity.
TECHNICAL ACTIONS
During the game against Holland, the USA players completed 1,129 attacking actions, which was the highest number for them in a single game of the tournament. The total number of actions included 460 ball controls, 118 dribbles, 521 passes, 12 headers, and 18 scoring attempts. Once again, the two central defenders (Zimmerman and Ream) and the central midfielder, Adams, had the highest number of attacking technical interventions. The percent accuracy of the total number of attacking actions by the USA team was 89%.
The ratio of attacking actions executed by all the defensive players participating in the game over the attacking players was 1.53 (Dest, Zimmerman, Ream, A. Robinson, Adams, Yedlin, total actions= 664; Musah, McKennie, Weah, Ferreira, Pulisic, Reyna, Wright, Aaronson, total actions= 435), once again indicating that the USA team approached the round of 16 game with a conservative style of play.
Regarding the defending technical actions, the total number was 161 which was also the highest recorded value for them during the World Cup. The total included 38 blocked passes and blocked dribbles, 8 blocked shots and saves, 45 clearances and defensive headers, and 70 interceptions. The percent accuracy of the defensive actions was 85%.
The USA had several chances to score. Of the 18 scoring attempts, 7 were on target (Ream 1; Weah 1; Pulisic 3; Wright 2: one goal and another saved at the goal line). The first chance came in minute 2 of the first half, but Pulisic's inside kick with the left foot was saved by the Dutch goalkeeper (image below).
Another good chance came in minute 42 of the first half from a side half-volley with the right foot taken by Weah (image below). Although hit with a lot of power, the goalkeeper saved the shot.
In minute 3 of the second half, Ream had a chance inside the 6-yd box but his attempt was saved at the goal line by a Ducth defender. Three minutes later Pulisic had another shot from outside the 18-yd box but his shot was also saved comfortably by the goalkeeper. Wright was active and alert when he came in the second half. In minute 74, he intercept the ball on a Dutch defensive mistake to generate a good chance to score by himself. After taking a touch to dribble around the Dutch goalkeeper, he took the shot with the inside of his right foot, but the shot was saved at the goal line by one of the defenders covering for the goalkeeper (image below).
One minute later, Wright scored the only USA goal of the game. Yedlin delivered a diagonal penetrating pass for Pulisic who guided the ball with one touch and delivered an inside pass to the 6-yd line to assist Wright. The picture below shows the moment when Wright contacted the ball facing the side of the field while running towards the side of the first post (image below).
PERCENT ACCURACY VS GPA OF ATTACKING TECHNICAL ACTIONS
The percent accuracy of the attacking actions was 89% which is similar to the previous three games (90% against Wales, 89% against England, 88% against Iran). Only 4 players had percent accuracy above the team average; three of them are the defensive players Zimmerman, Ream, and Adams, the other player was the forward Weah.
The team average technical GPA for attacking actions was 1.32; which was similar to the previous games against England (1.33) and Iran (1.34). The highest GPA for the defensive line for the USA team was 1.35, earned by Dest for his attacking performance. Regarding the midfielders, it was McKennie who obtained the highest score with a GPA of 1.54, while Pulisic had the best attacking technical performance for the forwards and the team with a GPA of 1.58.
MATCH TECHNICAL GPA BY POSITION
The average match GPA for the USA team against Holland was 1.48 which was very similar to the GPA from the previous game against Iran (GPA= 1.49). For the defensive line, the best GPA was obtained by A. Robinson (1.53). Regarding the midfielders, McKennie was the best match performer with a GPA of 1.49. For the forward line, the best grade was earned by Weah with a GPA of 1.63. Below is the graph showing the eleven starters (goalkeeper in yellow, field players in blue). In red, Reyna who played one half of the game substituting Ferreira.
When considering the attacking and defending technical performance, the top five performers were:
Weah, GPA = 1.63
Pulisic, GPA = 1.62
Turner, GPA = 1.59
A. Robinson, GPA = 1.53
McKennie, GPA = 1.49