ASN: U.S. Olympic staff finds a option to maintain on & defeat Costa Rica 1-0 in qualifier

It wasn’t fairly. In actual fact, it was ugly for lengthy, lengthy stretches however the U.S. U-23 staff discovered a option to put up an enormous 1-0 win over Costa Rica. Coming into the sport, a lot of the gamers have not performed a sport in 5 months and the circumstances in Mexico made that solely tougher, however Jesus Ferreira’s aim and a few qualify goalkeeping from David Ochoa secured the three factors. ASN’s Brian Sciaretta is right here to interrupt it down along with his ideas. 

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
March 18, 2021
1:00 PM

SHARE THIS STORY

THE UNITED STATES U-23 staff open its Olympic qualifying with an unpleasant, hard-fought, however finally profitable begin with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica. Previous to the match, this was a very powerful sport for head coach Jason Kreis and his U.S. staff and so they walked away with three important factors.

Group A consists of the U.S., Mexico, and Costa Rica and Mexico has, by far, the strongest staff on this match. That units up the opposite three groups within the group for possible going for one semifinal berth – with the U.S. and Costa Rica the favored.

This sport would go a great distance from figuring out a semifinal berth.

Kreis’s beginning lineup contained a number of surprises with the largest coming in aim as David Ochoa began instead of J.T. Marcinkowski who had been coping with an ankle harm.

CONCACAF Exhibiting the usU-23 lineup vs. Costa Rica as:Ochoa (GK)HerreraPinedaGladVinesYueill (C)DotsonMihailovicMichelLewisFerreira

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 18, 2021

Among the many subject starters, Benji Michel began instead of the injured Uly Llanez who left the staff the day earlier than. Hassani Dotson additionally earned the beginning instead of different midfield choices reminiscent of Johnny Cardoso and Andres Perea.

The U.S. really began the sport enjoying effectively and had been on the entrance foot. Jesus Ferreira hit the woodwork early on and the U.S. performed with loads of power for the primary 10 minutes.

Regularly, nonetheless, Costa Rica discovered its method into the match – principally via poor turnovers from the U.S. staff in defensive areas. For a lot of the first half, it was two groups attempting to capitalize on errors however the U.S. staff discovered the important thing second within the thirty ninth.

Left again, Sam Vines did effectively to manage the ball on the left facet. He despatched in a harmful cross that took a deflection within the field and rolled to Ferreira. The FC Dallas attacker made no mistake with the end for the massive opening aim.

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 18, 2021

Within the second half, the U.S. staff struggled to carry the ball and was compelled to defend more often than not. The U.S. obtained fortunate within the 83rd minute when Costa Rica hit the put up off a header.

Whereas his begin was shocking, David Ochoa put forth an important outing to permit the U.S. staff to hold on. Later that night time, Mexico defeated the Dominican Republic 4-1. A U.S. win over the Dominican Republic and a Mexico win over Costa Rica on Sunday would see the U.S. and Mexico into semifinals, whatever the ultimate spherical of video games in Group A.

Ugly however useful

The U.S. staff struggled on this sport mightily. It was not a reasonably efficiency and the staff was not capable of maintain the ball a lot within the second half. The staff’s depth dropped after the primary 10 minutes and it was lucky to seize the winner.

Contemplating all of the elements, it was solely possible that the depth was going to drop off. Many of the gamers on the staff haven’t performed a sport since early November. Simply 5 within the beginning lineup performed within the January camp pleasant – the 7-0 laugher over Trinidad & Tobago.

“For us, we knew there weren’t going to be many players who could last 90 minutes,” Kreis stated. “It wasn’t great. It was an important result for us but I would say we would have hoped to have gotten that result in a little bit of a better fashion. I think we hoped we could have been better on the ball, made better decisions, and maintained the tempo of the game better. But unfortunately, that’s part of guys not playing matches. It’s not just about fitness, but it’s also about their touch on the ball. So. I felt that the majority of what Costa Rica did to try to hurt us was in transition when we gave the ball away very cheaply.”

Glorious Ochoa

The Man of the Match on this sport was David Ochoa. The Actual Salt Lake goalkeeper made a staggering 9 saves en path to the clear sheet win. On prime of that, lots of his saves had been of high-quality and he was the largest cause why the U.S. staff received the sport.

¡Espectacular! ????

Ochoa voló por los aires de el Jalisco para salvar a los Estados Unidos ????

????EN VIVO???????? https://t.co/C4PONUi4EY???????? https://t.co/BvzJi8qUBr#ATokyo2020 I #USMNT I #VamosTicos pic.twitter.com/0Cd49eiAVy

— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) March 18, 2021

Coming into this sport, Ochoa and J.T. Marcinkowski had been each carrying accidents and each had been recovering in the course of the course of camp. Kreis admitted the choice to go together with Ochoa was a late one however one which was based mostly on efficiency in camp.

“I thought Ochoa was excellent and the decision was based on performance in this camp,” Kreis stated. “He came through very big today.”

Backline woes

It’s not normal for the protection to get criticized a lot in a 1-0 win in very tough circumstances – such because the U.S. was confronted with on Thursday. However on this case, it was fully warranted as many careless turnovers led to the very best alternatives for Costa Rica to attain.

Mauricio Pineda, particularly, had a really powerful day and within the first half his confidence appeared to fully drop off along with his passing. At one level, even easy passes had been a problem. Pineda’s central protection companion, Justen Glad, had one ugly second within the first half with a foul cross however general was a lot better. His emergency defending and his capacity to snuff out a number of of Costa Rica’s possibilities was an enormous edge.

However that is an space which a lot enhance considerably if the U.S. staff desires to place forth higher efforts towards the Dominican Republic, and if profitable there, within the semifinal that can resolve qualification.

“It’s not surprising to me because we were asking our team to build up,” Kreis stated of the defensive errors. “I think for me it would have been a different affair had we just said with every goal kick, we’re going to hit long and push into the opponent’s half and fight for second balls. But that’s not part of our DNA, that’s not who we are, so we ask to build up. The majority of the shakiness that I saw came just through mistakes in build-up. That’s just a footballing issue.”

Chopping off Yueill

Costa Rica head coach Douglas Sequeira advised the media after the sport that a part of his staff’s sport plan was to chop off service to U.S. midfielder and staff captain Jackson Yueill. For Sequeira, that might fully throw the U.S. staff’s transition and offense out of line.

Sequeira was proper in his evaluation and his staff executed it effectively. With how the U.S. staff was aligned, Yueill was the hyperlink between the backline and the assault. The offense and the transition was designed to movement via him.

Costa Rica spent loads of power to chop the ball off into Yueill and in occasions when Yueill acquired the ball, he had defenders on him instantly.

The U.S. staff struggled to take care of this. The ahead line needed to drift additional again into the midfield. The backline was compelled to attempt to hit line-splitting passes into the assault with a low-probability of being profitable.

This can clearly be an method the Dominican Republic and different opponents on this match will take towards the U.S. staff. Kreis and his workers should discover a option to regulate as opponents concentrate on Yueill. The U.S. staff realized that opponents discovered a weak spot, and now it’s going to necessitate a response.

Who performed effectively?

In addition to Ochoa, there have been different optimistic performances from the U.S. staff.

Justin Glad had a really sloppy second within the first half with a turnover however his emergency defending was a web optimistic. With Pineda struggling on this one, Glad needed to choose up loads of slack and take the majority of passing out of central protection.

Sam Vines was additionally a formidable participant and he was energetic on the left facet. His passing into harmful areas continues to impress. Within the January camp pleasant towards Trinidad & Tobago, Vines was key with two assists. On this sport, his cross into the field resulted within the opening aim. However he clearly regarded on one other stage.

Lastly, Jesus Ferreira had a troublesome second when he hit the put up within the second minute, however he was calm and composed when he delivered the sport’s solely aim. He appears to actually thrive whereas sporting a U.S. jersey – and that’s badly wanted in the mean time.

Enchancment to come back?

The U.S. staff will dwell to see one other day however the sort of efficiency will possible not result in spot this summer time in Tokyo.

Additionally, the U.S. staff discovered a option to win regardless of not being at its greatest and Kreis stated that might be an indicator of a great staff.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the sign of a good team but I think it is a sign of a good team,” Kreis stated of discovering a option to win regardless of not enjoying effectively. “It’s one thing you’re looking for from your players is to be able to gut out a result when things aren’t going their way or when they’re super fatigued. You saw how difficult it was at the end of the game for some of our players to get through that match. Now we say we’ve got the three points in our pocket and we are a team that will improve over the course of this tournament.”