Aston Villa’s Brad Guzan played a decent first half against the Czech Republic in Prague but Nick Rimando’s second half performance surely left Jurgen Klinsmann with doubts on who will be his first-choice goalkeeper for the next matches.
It was a pretty even match between the Czech Republic and the USMNT on Wednesday. The first half saw chances at both ends, with a few more opportunities created by the USMNT, which they managed to capitalize in the 39th minute.
Mifielder Alejandro Bedoya scored from a left footed shot which went into the bottom left corner after grabbing a rebound from a Mix Diskerud shot deflected by Petr Cech.
Bedoya with the goal for the #USMNT. Credit to Mix for winning the ball there. https://t.co/LMcCx1OAMF
— TopDrawerSoccer (@TopDrawerSoccer) September 3, 2014
One of Nick Rimando's impressive saves.
Rimando with the big save! https://t.co/itblayKVDt
— TopDrawerSoccer (@TopDrawerSoccer) September 3, 2014
During this match, Klinsmann had the chance to give a few players their first minutes with the USMNT. Joe Gyau made his debut and first start with the national team. Greg Garza and Emerson Hyndmann also earned their first cap with the USMNT after coming on as substitutes in the 63rd and 67th minutes respectively.
Twitter reactions followed, praising Rimando's performance.
To come off the bench into the second half and have that game @NickRimando well done man well freaking done
— Trey Mitchell (@TreygkMitchell) September 3, 2014
Well Nick Rimando looked great in the absence of Tim Howard so that's a huge plus
— Matty (@proetential) September 3, 2014
Sure is fun to see @NickRimando Show how to be a great goal keeper. Even if he's shorter then the rest. Always in the right position.
— Ben Schroeder (@borysfx) September 3, 2014
FINAL- USA 1, Czech Republic 0. Nick Rimando's 2nd-half heroics help keep the shutout. Good debut for Gyau. Solid game for John Brooks.
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) September 3, 2014