Altidore Scores Hat-Trick in US Friendly

3-4

The US Men's National Team travelled to Sarajevo to play an friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina today.  Team USA had a number of changes to their line-up from their previous match, the Gold Cup final, and got off to a slow start.

Manchester City's Edin Dzeko put Bosnia and Herzegovina in front early in the match when he found space behind the US defense.  His initial shot was saved by keeper Tim Howard, but the rebound came right back to Dzeko and he finished with his second chance (8').  Later in the first-half Ibišević also scored for Bosnia on a second effort corner by winning a header (30').  The replay showed that Ibišević was slightly offsides, but since the game was a friendly, the US did not protest much.

After half-time Bosnia and Herzegovina made four substitutions while the US only made one.  The changes to the Bosnian team opened the door for the United States, especially Jozy Altidore.  First Altidore setup Eddie Johnson with a goal by trapping and laying off a well played ball over the top (55').  Soon after Fabian Johnson was able to play Altidore in-on-goal for his first score of the match (59').

Following the equalizer, the US and Bosnia made more substitutions including Aron Johannsson making his debut for the United States.  Johannsson made a positive impact on the game, creating two good shots on goal.  However it was Altidore who made all the plays for the US.  From a free-kick, Altidore scored his second of the match with a perfectly struck shot, curled into the upper-ninety (84').  Moments later Altidore completed the hat-trick when he scored after being played in behind the defense by Bradley (86').

Dzeko also had one more goal late in the game, finishing with a glancing header to the far-post (90').  The game ended with a final score of 4-3 in favor of the United States.  Bosnia and Herzegovina are not really known as a football powerhouse, but right now they are leading their World Cup Qualifying group and are ranked 13th in the FIFA world rankings.  Although it was just a friendly match, this is a good win for the US as coach Jurgen Klinsmann has shown he can win with a number of different lineups.