That’s how the United States men’s national team approached Friday’s opening match of the Copa America Centenario, a special edition of the South American championship to celebrate its 100th anniversary with neighbors from North and Central America and the Caribbean.
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Certainly, the final grade has yet to be determined. “We had a totally even game”, said the German.
In theory, the talent is there but the US was playing from behind after the eighth minute when Geoff Cameron lost Cristián Zapata on a corner kick and Zapata buried a cross past Guzan.
Cristian Zapata and James Rodriguez scored for the Colombians, who controlled wide stretches of the match in front of a predominantly South American crowd. But an old bugaboo – conceding early – came back to haunt the U.S.
After falling to Colombia yet again, US head coach Jurgen Klinsmann must go back to the drawing board. “I don’t think they [Colombia] were miles better than we were”.
After a disastrous first half of the host nation, Colombians took the lead after only eight minutes.
While the United States of America eventually settled and enjoyed some extended periods of possession, the side never troubled goalkeeper David Ospina, with Dempsey’s long-range effort just past the half hour, which nearly curled inside the post, the only real highlight for the home team. But it’s important to remember that the draw only seemed so tough because the US was handed a spot in Pot 1, a seed they didn’t really even earn. DeAndre Yedlin, who made great strides as a right back for Sunderland in the Premier League, was called for a handball in the box. James Rodriguez sent an unstoppable PK into the side-netting to give Colombia a formidable 2-0 lead.
In spite of USA’s attempts to take control over the game, Colombia was fortunate as well as equipped. “Obviously when you open up against them, you risk a counter break here and there, which is their strength”.
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In the meantime, home hopes were raised when Dempsey saw his header from a Michael Bradley bending corner and a curling free kick on 64th minute was cleared off by Perez and David Ospina respectively. He used all three of his substitutes, bringing on Darlington Nagbe for Jermaine Jones and Christian Pulisic for Bobby Wood in the 66th minute and Graham Zusi for Alejandro Bedoya in the 86th. The opening game is Colombia vs. Bacca’s strike was lifted over Guzan’s right shoulder, but deflected off the cross bar and it remained 2-0. They’ve always been a second-tier team in CONCACAF and are without Keylor Navas at Copa America. But the United States soccer team couldn’t find any opportunity not just to score but even trouble the Colombian side. Cristian Zapata’s goal in the eighth minute came off a corner kick after defender Geoff Cameron had raced back to quell a Colombian threat by sending the ball to the sideline.
