The United States won their final warm-up game before the start of World Cup play with a strong performance from Edson Buddle at Ruimsig Stadium in Roodeport, South Africa. Buddle put the US up in the 4th minute, taking possession and beating Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer from distance. Australia answered back through Tim Cahill in the 19th, but it was Buddle again with a header in the 31st. The US almost had a third goal in the 52nd where Robbie Findley hit the bar, Michael Bradley had a strong shot blocked, and Clint Dempsey headed in the rebound but was called offside. Late sub Herculez Gomez made it 3-0 in the 93rd minute.
"I wanted to build confidence in my teammates," Buddle told ESPN's Rob Stone. "That's very important, because as a striker I want to get the ball as much as I can in front of goal. It puts in Bob's mind that I want to play andI'm glad to get the two goals tonight."
With regular forward Jozy Altidore unavailable while recovering from injury. Buddle partnered with Findley in the US attack. Clarence Goodson started in place of Oguchi Onyewu, but otherwise the US was first choice for the opening 45. Marcus Hahnemann subbed on in place of Tim Howard to start the second-half. US captain Carlos Bocanegra subbed out in the 55th for Jonathan Bornstein, with Landon Donovan taking the captain's armband. Onyewu replaced Goodson in the 61st. Buddle subbed out in the 79th minute for DaMarcus Beasley. Gomez came on for Dempsey in the 82nd.
Match: International Friendly
Date: June 5, 2010
Venue: Ruimsig Stadium; Roodepoort, South Africa
Kickoff: 2:30pm local (8:30am ET)
Weather: Fair, 66 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 2 1 3
AUS 1 0 1
USA – Edson Buddle 4th minute
AUS – Tim Cahill (Luke Wilkshire) 19
USA – Edson Buddle (Steve Cherundolo) 31
USA – Herculez Gomez (Landon Donovan) 90+3
Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard (23-Marcus Hahnemann, 46); 6-Steve Cherundolo, 15-Jay DeMerit, 21-Clarence Goodson (5-Oguchi Onyewu, 61) , 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.) (12-Jonathan Bornstein, 55); 10-Landon Donovan, 13-Ricardo Clark, 4-Michael Bradley, 8-Clint Dempsey (9-Herculez Gomez, 82); 20-Robbie Findley, 14-Edson Buddle (7-DaMarcus Beasley, 78)
Subs not used: 18-Brad Guzan, 2-Jonathan Spector, 11-Stuart Holden, 16-José Torres, 17-Jozy Altidore, 19-Maurice Edu, 22-Benny Feilhaber
Head Coach: Bob Bradley
AUS: 1-Mark Schwarzer; 8-Luke Wilkshire, 2-Lucas Neill (capt.), 3-Craig Moore, 11-Scott Chipperfield; 19-Richard Garcia, 13-Vince Grella, 4-Tim Cahill (16-Carl Valeri, 46), 5-Jason Culina (22-Dario Vidosic, 61), 23-Mark Bresciano; 9-Josh Kennedy (17-Nikita Rukavytsya, 71)
Subs not used: 12-Adam Federici, 18-Brad Jones, 6-Michael Beauchamp, 7-Brett Emerton, 10-Harry Kewell, 14-Brett Holman, 15-Mile Jedniak, 20-Mark Milligan, 21-David Carney
Head Coach: Pim Verbeek
Stats Summary: USA / AUS
Shots: 11 / 14
Shots on Goal: 6 / 6
Saves: 5 / 3
Corner Kicks: 3 / 8
Fouls: 10 / 6
Offside: 4 / 0
Misconduct Summary:
USA – Clint Dempsey (caution) 37th minute
AUS – Craig Moore (caution) 37
AUS – Vince Grella (caution) 76
Officials: Referee: Addul Ebrahim (RSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Luyanda Somi (RSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Reezers (RSA)
Fourth Official: Daniel Bennett (RSA)
