U.S. Downs South Africa in Friendly

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Ticker) -- Steve Cherundolo scored in the first half, lifting the United States to a 1-0 victory over South Africa on Saturday. The Hannover 96 defender blasted home after 26 minutes as Bob Bradley's team ended the year on high note, winning for the 12th time in 18 matches in 2007.

The game also marked impressive performances from Freddy Adu - in his first international start for the U.S. - and Maurice Edu in just his second game for his country. But it was the home team who almost took an early lead when Michael Bradley's poor clearance led to a scramble in the area, before the ball was eventually cleared away. Nasief Morris also came close in the first 20 minutes, when his near-post header was turned aside by goalkeeper Tim Howard. However, the visitors took the lead with their first real chance, with Cherundolo latching on to an Edu through-ball, before finishing emphatically putting a powerful shot past goalkeeper Rowan Fernandez. On the half-hour mark, good play by the South African midfield gave a chance to Sibusiso Zuma, who fired wide. Five minutes later, DaMarcus Beasley was played down the left, but his shot from just inside the penalty area was acrobatically pushed wide by Fernandez.

At the start of the second half, more sloppy play from the home team saw Aaron Mokoena's loose ball back to Fernandez pounced on by Clint Dempsey, but the goalkeeper managed to steal the ball back. Teko Modise missed an easy close-range header shortly after, before Delron Buckley twice came close as the host looked desperately for an equalizer. In the 71st minute, a rather subdued Benni McCarthy had a good shout for a penalty after being slightly pulled back by Edu in the penalty area, but the referee waved play on, as the home team's frustrations continued to grow. Modise, Zuma and MacBerth Sibaya all came close toward the end, but were let down by poor finishing as the U.S. secured the victory in the Nelson Mandela Challenge.