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Just 25 minutes, in fact. Because that's how long he needed to score, dinking in an instinctive header from a rebounded shot. And 39 minutes later, Dempsey would get the second with another header, which would make the difference in the United States men's national team's 2-1 win over Honduras in its Gold Cup opener on Tuesday.
Following an ugly outburst in a recent U.S. Open Cup game with the Seattle Sounders, Dempsey was suspended for three games after ripping up a referee's notebook and generally acting abhorrently. The punishment was considered light, even though he was handed an additional two-year ban applying only to that tournament. U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann stripped him of the captaincy but kept Dempsey around, because, as he bluntly put it, he needed his goals.
As the Americans slogged to their narrow win in the suburban Dallas heat and humidity, improving to 29-1-2 all-time in the Gold Cup group stage and 13-0-0 in tournament openers, Dempsey proved why, at 32, he is still worth the slack cut for him.
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