The lineups for the United States and Costa Rica friendly are in, and for the USMNT, the bell of change is tolling quite loudly, starting off with Tim Howard returning to a starting role in goal:
United States make seven changes to starting lineup against Costa Rica
Jurgen Klinsmann changed the majority of his lineup after losing to Mexico on Saturday, while Costa Rica are putting out a strong starting XI.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
#USMNT Starting XI vs. Costa Rica Howard; Evans, Cameron, Orozco, Ream; Yedlin, Williams, Jones, Shea; Zardes, Altidore (C) #USAvCRC
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) October 13, 2015
That's a wildly different lineup from Saturday's loss to Mexico, with only Geoff Cameron, Jozy Altidore, Jermaine Jones, and Gyasi Zardes carrying over from that match -- and with Zardes and Jones playing different roles this time around. It's also a fairly defensive-looking lineup, with two players who have largely played as fullbacks in recent times on the wings and two more defensively-minded midfielders between them.
Given that very reactive-looking lineup and Costa Rica’s side that looks like it’ll be lethal on the counter, this match could be a very close affair. Seeing how the US reacts to Saturday’s loss and some of the controversy since should be very telling to see how the squad’s collective mood is right now.
Costa Rica starting XI: Keylor Navas; Cristian Gamboa, Johnny Acosta, Kendall Waston, Oscar Duarte, Bryan Oviedo; Celso Borges, David Guzman; Johan Venegas, Marco Urena, Joel Campbell
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