Jozy Altidore Broke His Long Scoring Drought with a Tap-in vs. Nigeria

Jozy Altidore won’t have to worry about his long scoring drought going into the World Cup anymore. The American striker scored for the first time since Dec. 4, 2013 — a string of 27 games for club and country — with an easy tap-in of a Fabian Johnson cross against Nigeria Saturday evening in Jacksonville.

By no means is it a goal to remember, but nobody will talk about Altidore’s lack of scoring for a few hours, or at least until June 12 when the United States opens up the World Cup against Ghana. Then Altidore’s “confidence” in front of goal came be debated all over again — at length — on Twitter. During his drought Altidore continually whiffed on chances, although never one this easy. If nothing else, Altidore timed his run properly and finished the movement — sometimes it’s that simple.

Altidore’s last goal came playing for Sunderland in a match against Chelsea. It was his only goal in Premier League play during the 2013-14 season.

Playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman side-by-side in the midfield, Jurgen Klinsmann’s team played its best soccer (so far) of the three “Send-Off Series” games.