CARSON, Calif. — For one player, Sunday's U.S. national team victory against Panama was a coming out party. For another, it was a triumphant return to his best.
Gyasi Zardes played like a seasoned veteran against Panama, rather than someone making his first national team start. At the same time Michael Bradley reminded everybody that when he's on his game, he can be the best player the U.S. has.
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The opponent may have been a shorthanded Panama side, but for U.S. fans that hadn't seen their team win a match in five months, watching Zardes terrorize Panama's defense and Bradley dominate the midfield was a sight for sore eyes.
Bradley played like the Bradley of old, as in the Bradley before a World Cup spent playing out of position, and second half of 2014 spent playing with a nagging foot injury. He squeezed the life out of Panama's midfield, and provided effective passes from deep that helped spark several attacks. His set pieces were sharp, and none sharper than his jaw-dropping Olimpico.
Zardes picked up where he left off two months ago, when he starred in the LA Galaxy’s MLS Cup win at StubHub Center. He delivered a beautiful assist on Clint Dempsey’s goal, and continued to pressure Panama’s defense throughout a strong 90-minute performance.
“He's an exciting, exciting player for us,” Bradley said of Zardes. “There's no two ways about that. Everything he showed in MLS, he showed here with us. I think he's a great kid. He comes everyday with the right attitude, willing to learn, willing to listen and he continued to get better and better as the month wore on, which is also a sign of a player.”
“I thought he showed some tools that he has, not only with his speed, but also to hold the ball, to combine,” Klinsmann said of Zardes. “The assist to Clint was just perfect, perfect timing. It shows that he has something special.”
Zardes has been the clear-cut breakout star of the recent U.S. training camp, impressing coaches and teammates alike with his willingness to take instruction and put in extra work.
“I’ve just been trying to learn as much as I can from the coaches, but not only the coaches, but players here,” Zardes said. “The players are phenomenal here and they’ve been playing the game of soccer with the highest clubs at the highest levels for ages, so all the feedback they’ve been giving me I’ve been taking it in and just kind of developing and growing as a player.”
After a breakout 2014 with the Galaxy, Zardes now looks like a legitimate attacking option for Klinsmann, and someone who could push players like Aron Johannsson for a higher place in the pecking order. He has certainly earned more looks from the national team, which could come as soon as March, when the U.S. plays Switzerland and Denmark.
Bradley, for one, agrees with that sentiment, though he is careful to caution against the long-standing trend among fans and media of over-hyping promising national team newcomers.
“I think we have to be careful because we don't want to put too much pressure on him and we don't want to rush him along too quickly,” Bradley said. “But there's no doubt that he's shown, going forward, that he's a guy that has to be here.”
As much as Zardes may have surprised some people with his national team emergence, Bradley’s virtuoso performance on Saturday was the kind of display he has put in several times during his 94 national team appearances. It had been some time since Bradley had truly controlled a game like he did on Sunday.
After a fall marred by a foot injury that eventually required surgery, Bradley chose not to elaborate on just how much he was hampered by the injury. His comments after the Panama match did shed some light into the fact he finished the 2014 MLS season playing injured.
"As professionals, we're never 100 percent," Bradley said. "You learn to compete, you learn to play with pain, you learn to deal with things. You learn to, as a professional, and as a competitor, make sure that no matter what, every time you step on the field, mentally, you're 100 percent.”
Bradley has emerged in 2015 recharged and looking more like the dominating player he was during World Cup qualifying in 2013.
"I feel good, for sure,” Bradley said. “It's still very early in preseason, and obviously the only way to get sharper and stronger is to play, to train, to play and allow those good days to add up.
“That’s where I am. I'm in the midst of trying to do that, but that's always been my mentality. To just continue to work and let my play and let my commitment on the field do the talking.”
Sunday’s win not only boosted Zardes’ stock and provided a reminder of Bradley’s elite quality, it also helped snap a five-match winless streak for a U.S. team that badly needed a positive result. When the team reconvenes in March for a pair of road friendlies in Europe, there won’t be the stigma of a lengthy winless streak.
“Maybe this isn't the most important game that we'll play this year, but for us, the mentality was to step on the field and improve and really lay down the marker with a good performance and a good win,” Bradley said of Sunday’s victory. “While it wasn't perfect, I think we were able to do a lot of good things and it sets the ground work for an important year for us.”