Well, we can’t say we didn’t see that as a possibility.
Going into the game we knew a few things had to happen for the USMNT to stand a chance against the best team in the world. First, the line up had to be right. With the suspension of three first team players it was obvious this wasn’t going to happen. With the injury of Jozy Altidore the USMNT were left with no good options up top. Either play a player in Chris Wondolowski that fit the role, but wasn’t good enough to compete, or fit a square peg in a round hole with Dempsey playing the 9 role where he isn’t most efficient.