USA's Copa America Opener A Loss - Southern Soccer Scene

The U.S. Men’s National Team put in a strong effort against one of the tournament favorites but allowed two goals on set plays and fell 2-0 to Colombia before a sellout crowd of 67,439 at Levi’s Stadium in the opening match of the 2016 Copa America Centenario.

First half goals from Colombia’s Cristián Zapata in the 8th minute off a corner kick and James Rodriguez in the 42nd from the penalty spot forced the USA to chase the game, but despite an 11-8 advantage in shots, the Americans could not cut into that lead. Clint Dempsey had two excellent chances in the second half, one off a free kick that required a full-out flying save from Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina and a header that was cleared off the goal line by a Colombian defender.

Despite the loss, the USMNT can still advance to the knockout rounds, but must beat Costa Rica in the next group game, and also likely needs to beat Paraguay in the third. U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann felt the only difference between his team and #3 ranked Colombia was the two goals. After the game he spoke of the positives that could be taken from the loss.

“We were absolutely okay with the team performance,” Klinsmann said. “Obviously, we got punished for two set pieces in the first half and against such a quality team, it’s very very difficult if you don’t score this one goal to get back into the game and then equalize it. Overall, we were totally even. Obviously when you open up against them, you risk a counter break here and there, which is their strength. Overall I was very pleased with the performance of the team.

“We were very compact. We were technically very well organized and we played it even,” the USMNT head coach added. “There was absolutely no problem at all when they went 1-0 up. We kept playing, kept a rhythm, pushed forward. Obviously that penalty decision had a big impact, but the players coming out of that game see that it’s No. 3 in the world and we can play with them. We can damage them, which didn’t happen at the end of the day, but hopefully next time.”

Next on the Schedule: The U.S. MNT continues Group A play in the 2016 Copa America Centenario against Costa Rica on June 7 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Broadcast information: FS1, UniMas, UDN

– U.S. Men’s National Team Match Report –

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Colombia
Date: June 6, 2016
Competition: 2016 Copa America Centenario – Group A
Venue: Levi’s Stadium; Santa Clara, Calif.
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. PT
Attendance: 67,439 (sell out)
Weather: 88 degrees, sunny

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 0 0
COL 2 0 2

COL – Cristián Zapata (Edwin Cardona) 8th minute
COL – James Rodriguez (penalty kick) 42

Lineups:
USA: 1-Brad Guzan, 2-DeAndre Yedlin, 20-Geoff Cameron, 6-John Brooks, 23-Fabian Johnson; 11-Alejandro Bedoya (19-Graham Zusi, 86), 4-Michael Bradley (capt.), 13-Jermaine Jones (10-Darlington Nagbe, 66); 9-Gyasi Zardes, 8-Clint Dempsey, 7-Bobby Wood (17-Christian Pulisic, 66)
Subs not used: 12-Tim Howard, 22-William Yarbrough, 3-Steve Birnbaum, 5-Matt Besler , 14-Michael Orozco, 15-Kyle Beckerman, 16-Perry Kitchen
Head Coach: Jurgen Klinsmann

COL: 1-David Ospina; 4-Santiago Arias, 2-Cristián Zapata, 22-Jeison Murillo, 19-Farid Diaz; 13-Sebastian Perez (6-Carlos Sánchez, 86), 16-Daniel Torres, 11-Juan Cuadrado, 10-James Rodriguez (capt.) (5-Guillermo Celis, 73), 8-Edwin Cardona; 7-Carlos Bacca (17-Dayro Moreno, 88)
Subs not used: 12-Robinson Zapata, 23-Cristian Bonilla; 3-Yerry Mina, 9-Roger-Martínez, 14-Felipe Aguilar, 15-Stefan Medina, 18-Frank Fabra, 20-Andrés Felipe Roa, 21-Marlos Moreno
Head Coach: Jose Peckerman

Stats Summary: USA / COL
Shots:11 / 8
Shots on Goal: 2 / 8
Saves: 6 / 1
Corner Kicks: 4 / 3
Fouls: 10 / 14
Offside: 1 / 3

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Alejandro Bedoya (caution) 57th minute

Officials:
Referee: Roberto Garcia (Mexico)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Luis Camargo (Mexico)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Morin (Mexico)
Fourth Official: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)

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