Losing to Mexico at home is embarrassing for the United States men’s national team, but they’ve got no time to sulk. They follow up that disappointment with an away game against Costa Rica possibly their most difficult match in the Hex.
USA vs. Costa Rica 2016: Time, live TV schedule, and 3 things to know for their World Cup qualifier
The USMNT is in trouble after a poor first match performance. They need a result against Costa Rica.
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While the Americans are off to a terrible start in World Cup qualifying, things couldn’t have gone better for Los Ticos on Friday. They never had to get out of first gear in a very comfortable 2-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. On the evidence of that performance, the USMNT might struggle to break down their defense.
Coming into this game, Jurgen Klinsmann will be engaging in a serious re-think of his tactics after a dramatic change went horribly wrong in the team’s last game. Despite only playing with a back three one time during Klinsmann’s tenure -- and for 45 minutes in a January camp friendly, at that -- he tried it out against Mexico, and it was a disaster. He was criticized by his own players for the decision. Now ,the lineup we see on Tuesday is anyone’s guess.
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. -- English), NBC Universo (U.S. -- Spanish)
Online: beIN Sports Connect, Fubo, Sling (U.S. -- English), Telemundo Deportes en vivo (U.S. -- Spanish)
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica
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Three big things to know
- The USMNT’s road to qualification is a tough one if they lose. That’s not to say the USMNT can’t qualify if they fail to pick up a point away to Costa Rica -- the schedule stacked two really hard fixtures up front for the Americans -- but recovering from two losses to open the Hex is very hard. They’d have to run the table at home and pick up five points from their remaining road games to feel good about their qualifying chances.
- The USMNT has never won this fixture. They’ve lost by multiple goals four times in a row. They actually did really well to only lose by one in 1997. They’ve never drawn in the professional era. The last time the USMNT got a draw in World Cup qualifying in Costa Rica was in 1985, when Duke University midfielder John Kerr scored the equalizer in a 1-1 draw.
- Will Costa Rica go for pace or ball control? Against Trinidad and Tobago, the Ticos played their experienced players who are good at keeping the ball, while leaving their more athletic players on the bench. They might throw the USMNT a slightly different look. And even if they play the same lineup as they did against T&T, they’ll have some serious impact players on their bench in Yeltsin Tejeda, Joel Campbell and Rodney Wallace.
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