United States vs. Costa Rica: Final score 0-1, USMNT fall flat in friendly loss

The United States were looking for a strong response after Saturday’s brutal 3-2 loss to Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup, and instead they got anything but that, losing 1-0 to Costa Rica in New Jersey, in what was a very disappointing performance from the entire team.

The first half was, to be honest, an unimpressive one for the United States. The team seemed to be flat and low on energy right from the start of the match, and it showed in their performance — they lost possession too often, struggled to be effective in the box, and gave Costa Rica way too much space to work with on the counter. Brek Shea and Tim Ream especially struggled against the pace of Joel Campbell on the left side of the US defense, and Costa Rica exploited that ruthlessly to generate a number of chances and dangerous moments.

The US did have some chances going forward in the first half. Gyasi Zardes in particular impressed with his service a couple of times, though only one shot on goal came of it, and that was straight at Keylor Navas from a tight angle. It was the same kind of unimpressive, uninspiring soccer that’s seen the USMNT’s form spiral in recent months, and if anything was made worse by the structure of the midfield, with more defensive players all across the midfield band to start the match.

The second half was actually worse for the US, who lost any and all momentum going forward and couldn’t maintain possession against Costa Rica’s press for long enough to do anything threatening with the ball. Poor play was made worse by frustration, and frustration gave way to outright mistakes, as evidenced by the defense getting all kinds of turned around and lost on the pitch when Dave Myrie streaked past Jonathan Spector and was able to easily pick out a pass to Joel Campbell, who was in acres of space as he set up and fired his shot past Tim Howard and into the US goal.

That would prove to be the only goal of the match, and the United States steadily looked worse and worse as the final whistle grew closer. Yes, they had a few half-chances late in the match, but only after Costa Rica decided to start pulling off the gas a bit and just protect their lead. Even then, the US couldn’t even get a genuine threat at goal, and everyone was left hanging their heads when the final whistle blew.

At this point, something has got to give to turn around this struggling United States program. The question now is what all needs to change, and how drastic does the change need to be?

Goals: none

Goals: Campbell (70’)

Jonathan Spector as the big substitution designed to help solidify the back line does not exactly inspire confidence, and it was little surprise when he was one of the guiltiest parties on Costa Rica’s goal. Looking at this team and realizing how little faith you have in most of these players, most of whom represent key reserves for the United States, and you realize just how much work the USMNT has to do to improve.

Maybe it’s just a poor relationship with Jurgen Klinsmann, but Diskerud looked like he was barely paying attention at times after he came on as a halftime sub. Brought on to help add a creative spark and better ball possession for the US, it took him nearly 15 minutes to even touch the ball, and when he did start to get involved he gave the ball away over and over and over again. He’s not helping the team, and maybe he needs some time away to concentrate on improving as a player at the club level — though it should be noted that Danny Williams wasn’t really any better.

The United States played poorly, but credit has to be given to their opponents. Costa Rica played this match perfectly, recognizing the USMNT’s weaknesses quickly and exploiting them with ruthless efficiency. The scoreline tells the tale of a close match, but they were a whiffed volley and a heroic goal line clearance from Brad Evans away from winning this 3-0. If you had any doubts as to how Costa Rica were looking headed into World Cup qualification in CONCACAF, they just established that they are a legitimate power in the region.