Tag Archives: Costa Rica

International Friendly: US 0 – 1 Costa Rica

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Typical twenty minute performance from the US tonight, and once again we paid the price.  The a-typical thing about the game was we came out looking like world beaters and then quit, instead of starting slow and then realizing we were playing a game in the 70th minute.  Soooooo frustrating to continue to see us under perform like that.  We’re a better team than them and we need to freaking prove it on the field.  Anyway, it’s hard to make any really good judgments about individual players in games like this, but I’ll share some impressions about what I saw.

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WC Qualifying: US 2-2 Costa Rica

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Color me completely stunned right now.  I can’t believe how this game finished up.  I can’t decide if we played well or played bad.  Maybe we played worse than we should have against a team like Costa Rica, but part of me thinks we played better than the scoreline.  One thing is for sure, there is no doubt we missed Charlie Davies tonight.

I hate to say it, but that was some of the worst finishing I’ve seen from the US team in a while.  It used to be that we couldn’t create any chances.  Tonight, we created plenty of chances and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.  Given what we saw from him this year, I have to believe that Charlie would have put away at least two of the numerous ridiculously open chances we had throughout the game.

We absolutely must dispose of the horrific defensive brain farts we keep having.  Generally speaking, we play solidly and then completely go to sleep long enough for the opposition to score a goal.  I thought Tim Howard was going to rip someone’s head off after their second one tonight.  I don’t know what the answer is, but Bradley has about eight months to figure out how to lock up the defense.

Feilhaber and Holden didn’t have their best games tonight.  Feilhaber had a very, very quiet game.  He didn’t get involved enough and didn’t do enough with the touches that he did have.  Holden was a little better than Feilhaber, but his services weren’t of the typical quality he usually gives us.

I was glad to see Paco Torres get a run out.  I thought he had a very good showing.  He was very involved in directing the attack and he came up with some quality defensive work at the end of the game.  Hopefully, he will continue to get more time on the field between now and next summer so he has a chance to solidify his place on the roster.

I was unsure of the introduction of Robbie Rogers, but he proved to make a huge impact on the game.  He made the initial service on Bradley’s goal and had a couple of good chances shortly after.

Its sort of a relief that qualifying is over and we’re through to next summer.  Now we have a chance to try to get things sorted out in terms of roster spots and team chemistry.  I’m very concerned about Onyewu’s status.  He looked like he was in a fair amount of pain when he was taken off.  I just hope that its not too serious and he’ll be able to get back on the field soon and start getting some time for AC Milan as soon as possible.

Next up for the MNT is a friendly later this year against Denmark, who qualified top of their group in European qualifying.

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WC Qualifying: Costa Rica 3-1 United States

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We didn’t lose, we got embarrased.  If we keep playing like that, we’re not qualifying for the Cup.

So many things went wrong with this game its hard to know where to start, so I’ll just jump right in.

Our defense was terrible on the night.  Their attacking players had way too much time to do whatever they wanted, particularly in the final third

Beasley is not the answer at left back.  Generally speaking, Beasley’s game has stagnated significantly and until he gets more regular playing time with a club team his position with the national team should be in doubt.

Marvell Wynne was completely out of his league.  He may be a great right back for us in the future, but he’s not there yet.

Now that I think about it, I’m going to put this dreadful performance on the shoulders of the coaching staff.  The team was obviously not prepared to play and came out looking terrified.  Its the responsibility of the coaching staff to make sure they’re ready to go, not matter how intimidating the place you’re playing in is.

Given the lack of experience at outside back, how Bradley didn’t have Jonathan Spector in the line-up is beyond me.  He’s been on a long road back from surgery, but he was getting consistent playing time for West Ham at the end of the season and would have been a significant upgrade over the two outside backs we sent out there.

Mastreoni is past his time with the USMNT and his inclusion in the starting eleven should definitely be reevaluated.

I know this sounds all negative, but there wasn’t much positive on the night.  Torres was the best player on the field in my opinion, and Bradley made another terrible decision by taking him off at the half to try to get a spark from Kjlestan, who provided nothing.

We play Honduras tomorrow night in Chicago.  If we come out against them like we did Costa Rica and we’re going to find ourselves in some serious qualifying trouble.

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