ASN: Jozy Altidore Sums It Up:

The People fell to Costa Rica Friday evening in Purple Bull Area, and there was loads of blame to be shared. ASN’s Franco Panizo stories from Harrison, N.J., with quotes from the coach and key gamers. 

BY

Franco Panizo

Posted
September 01, 2017
8:00 PM

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HARRISON, N.J.—There was no sugarcoating it. The U.S. males’s nationwide group merely was not ok on Friday evening.

The U.S. suffered a setback in its World Cup Qualifying marketing campaign by being on the unsuitable finish of a 2-0 outcome towards Costa Rica at Purple Bull Area. That the defeat got here at dwelling added to the frustration and frustration, however what made issues even worse was the lackluster efficiency the People put forth.

In a recreation it knew it needed to win to stave off stress after a gradual begin within the Hexagonal, the U.S. was not sharp sufficient to high the proficient Costa Ricans. The assault completed with simply two photographs on track regardless of having 61 p.c possession; the protection made some pricey errors that allowed Marco Ureña to bag his brace; younger playmaker Christian Pulisic was largely negated; and the group basically simply was less than snuff.

“We obviously did not play well tonight,” mentioned U.S. head coach Bruce Area. “I believe on the evening we didn’t make any performs that mattered. We had been most likely outplayed in most positions on the sphere and made some crucial errors, didn’t capitalize on potential alternatives, didn’t have a superb evening.

“Give Costa Rica credit. I thought they outplayed us and outcoached us tonight.”

The U.S. knew going into the match precisely what to anticipate from Costa Rica, however nonetheless couldn’t forestall Los Ticos from executing their gameplan to perfection. They saved numbers behind the ball and waited to hit on the counter, and located some success in doing so within the opening half-hour.

Then, acres of inexplicable house between centerbacks Geoff Cameron and Tim Ream materialzied on one fast play in transition, permitting Ureña to strike within the thirtieth minute. Cameron and Ream weren’t solely responsible, nevertheless, as goalkeeper Tim Howard additionally appeared to take a foul angle whereas shuffling over to the close to publish.

“We should have been a little bit better,” mentioned Area. “Having said that, and I haven’t seen the play, but I thought Tim [Ream] then did a good job and Michael [Bradley] came with him to push [Ureña] wide. It didn’t look like he got much on the shot and Tim [Howard] perhaps lost his angle in the goal a little bit and he was able to roll it in.”

Ureña’s opener harm the U.S. twofold. Not solely did it give the Costa Rica the lead, but it surely allowed the Central American nation to throw much more gamers behind the ball. That gave the U.S. even much less house to work with, and the hosts couldn’t provide you with clear options for breaking down the defensive-minded opponent earlier than heading into the intermission trailing.

Issues improved within the second half, particularly halfway by means of, when Area began to push extra gamers into the assault. Nonetheless, the U.S. managed to solely create near-chances and never concrete ones. The one actually harmful try it had was from Pulisic within the 67th minute, however an unimaginable response save from Keylor Navas denied {the teenager} the equalizer.

The People continued to push arduous for the tying aim however a giveaway from Cameron within the 82nd minute sealed the house group’s destiny. Cameron misplayed a cross, feeding it to David Guzman close to midfield earlier than the Costa Rican slipped Ureña by means of. The ahead made no mistake on his look, firing a low shot previous Howard to all however make sure the U.S. would fall.

“I think we’ve done this to teams quite a bit in my time with the national team, where we absorb, we absorb, and then hit them on the break and score goals,” mentioned Jozy Altidore. “You have to give credit to them. They did exactly what we did to some teams for some time. Look, you’ve got to regroup, take it for what it is on the chin. We were second best.”

Added proper again Graham Zusi: “They performed their gameplan better than we did.”

The defeat, mixed with Friday’s different ends in CONCACAF, left the U.S. in third place within the Hexagonal, however now just one level separates the group from falling out of the World Cup image altogether. A troublesome problem in Honduras awaits subsequent, and a victory there on Tuesday is way from assured.

Particularly if the U.S. performs as poorly because it did towards Costa Rica.

“We were beaten by a good team tonight, and we’ve got a lot to do,” mentioned Howard. “The pressure is back on us.”