Guzan Call of Duty
While Aston Villa are on an international break, Brad Guzan is currently enjoying a pivotal moment in his career, that should build his confidence even further, having already received the boost of establishing himself as Villa’s Number One this season.
With the USA’s regular Number One Tim Howard injured, it was finally a chance for Guzan to stake a claim to his country’s jersey. Yet, it’s difficult for Brad to have picked two more extreme back-to-back games to prove himself.
Already done and dusted was the home game in Denver against Costa Rica, where in the middle of a snow blizzard, Guzan managed avoid potential embarrassments due to the extreme conditions (see below pics), to keep a clean sheet, as the USA ran out 1-0 winners. The win moved USA into second place in their group, with four points from three games.
Next up, is a clash against Mexico in the Azteca Stadim, where altitude and air pollution play a big part in making it a tough place to play for visiting teams. The joke in Mexico, is on match day the locals go out for drives in their cars just to add to the pollution to make it even harder for visiting teams. The home team will be keen to impress having so far drawn both their opening Word Cup qualifiers.
Guzan though isn’t fazed easily, but the intense atmosphere that the Mexican’s will lay on to welcome their bitter rivals, will definitely be character-building for the Villa keeper. It’s an experience that should prove invaluable for the rest of Villa’s season too, as the tension increases match-by-match for the claret and blue’s relegation battle.
This latest phase in Guzan’s development further proves what a masterstroke it was by Paul Lambert in bringing Guzan back to the club and promoting him to Number One. His saves, coupled with Christian Benteke’s goals, is the lifeline that Villa’s season currently hangs from. UTV
PS – As well as being a celebration of Guzan, this was just an excuse to show those snow pictures!
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Guzan played for Chivas USA before coming to Villa which is a very latino-influenced team in L.A. so he should be well used to the type of atmosphere the passionate Mexican support will create. Hopefully he can keep his cool under pressure and add to his rapidly growing stock
JanGuilfoyle Might be a different experience for Guzan if the Azteca is packed though. Think I might watch that game, should be a good one.