The following is a recap of last night's U.S-Costa Rica friendly that I wrote for He Wrote. Here it is:
As the saying goes, “Success is a journey, not a destination.” The United States men’s national soccer team proved that yesterday with a 1-0 loss to Costa Rica in a friendly played at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. The game marked the team’s second under the guidance of their recently hired manager, Juergen Klinsmann. After a 1-1 draw in a friendly with Mexico last month, fans were hoping for a better showcase from the American squad. However, it is important to remember that these initial friendlies are experimental exhibitions; in theory, the outcome is meaningless and the coach has an opportunity to get acquainted with the players and mess with formations.
Despite the disappointing result, fans can take solace in the fact that the team is gradually picking up on Klinsmann’s attacking style and improving its amount of possession. During the Bob Bradley era, the Americans were restrained under a conservative approach in which the primary focus appeared to be defense – though they were not necessarily masters of that, either – and goals seemed to be an afterthought, or perhaps a bonus for good play. Obviously, the objective in soccer is to score and Klinsmann is still in the process of recruiting the right players, as well as showing the U.S. team the patience and tactics necessary to get that ball into the net.
Contrary to the last few years, the U.S. dominated the game early on. During the first half an hour, the Americans looked like Spain from the way they owned possession. In fact, the team’s most threatening opportunity came in the sixth minute, in which Donovan got a dangerous shot off that was just slightly right of the goal. Although the team was patient with possession, the fact that they could not materialize translated into increasing momentum for Costa Rica. Leading up to halftime, the visitors showed signs of life, though American goalkeeper Tim Howard heroically prevented any score before halftime.
The second half was a completely different story for the U.S. In typical American fashion, the opponent scored the first goal and the Red, White, and Blue were forced to play catch-up yet again. As desperation heightened, so did emotions. The teams got tangled up a couple times, but order was soon restored, albeit with questionable yellow cards to Brek Shea and Sacha Kljestan.
On the bright side, aside from not connecting for a goal, the U.S. executed the way it was supposed to. In hindsight, both Klinsmann and the players were acknowledged the result, but expressed satisfaction from the overall play.
“You get chances in front of the goal and they don’t go in,” Torres said. ”Overall though, we had a lot of possession, attacked a lot from the wings and we played well.”
As with any game, certain players stepped up while others did not represent themselves well in front of their new coach. Midfielder Jose Torres was the MVP of the U.S. squad, having done a brilliant job in maintaining possession as well as making smart passes. Juan Agudelo once again proved to be a spark off the bench and deserves to start. While Klinsmann chose not to pair him with Altidore in the front this time around, do not be surprised to see Agudelo and Altidore play alongside each other in the near future.
As for the veterans, midfielder Maurice Edu, who was robbed of a goal in the 2010 World Cup, played in control but needed some more help from his teammates. Altidore looked fit as ever and had some good chances, but he still needs work on creating a goal. Donovan had an off-night, but was arguably the most effective player after Torres. Carlos Bocanegra, in his 95th cap, proved to be a beneficial veteran presence, but will he last another World Cup cycle?
On the other hand, Brek Shea was not as impressive as he was against Mexico and made some rather lazy passes on what could have led to potentially threatening attacks. Edgar Castillo has stood out but for the wrong reasons in the past two friendlies, to the point where fans may start to miss defender Jonathan Bornstein. Timmy Chandler was a decent call-up, but Steve Cherundolo is certainly a more worthy starter. It was tough to evaluate Robbie Rogers; he continued to move well off the ball, but admittedly squadered the ball in some dangerous positions.
The experimentation will continue on Tuesday when the squad heads overseas to play in a friendly against Belgium. Who knows, maybe back-up goalkeeper Bill Hamid will finally see some playing time. There will definitely be different players in the mix with Donovan heading back to join the L.A. Galaxy, while midfiedlers Kyle Beckerman and Clint Dempsey, as well as defender Steve Cherundolo join the team in Belgium.
“Every game you learn a lot things,” Klinsmann said after the match. “The players come away from this game with a lot of good information. Every situation they saw out there was different and it was a challenge for them…Belgium will be another good experience for them. We want to try to develop that style of play that we are confident on the ball and that we try to pass our way through difficult situations and tight spaces. It will take time.”
