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Nats notes: winless in Costa Rica
A collection of observations from the United States’ dreadful 3-1 loss to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday.
LASTING IMAGE ON COSTA RICA’S FIRST GOAL: Pablo missing the tackle and falling down.
LASTING IMAGE ON COSTA RICA’S SECOND GOAL: Onyewu just kind of stopping on the play.
LASTING IMAGE ON COSTA RICA’S THIRD GOAL: Bocanegra looking like an orange cone.
SPEAKING OF IMAGES: Wonderful 10-second camera shot of Donovan and Pablo arguing about strategy as the dismal first half wound to a close.
EVEN THE COSTA RICAN FANS KNOW: When the U.S. defenders would panic and clear the ball out of bounds, rather than finding a teammate to pass to, the home fans would whistle and hoot in delight. Those jeers should be better motivation than any yelling that any coach could do.
AND IN THE 59TH MINUTE … Pablo heard those jeers for that terrible shot he took from distance. Oh, what a night.
TACTICAL ERROR: Why would Costa Rica tip its hand on that deceptive free kick in the 89th minute? It was clever and effective. It prompted a wonderful save from Tim Howard. But why would they trot that play out in a game they were leading 3-0? Surely all of CONCACAF was watching? Now it won’t be a surprise during the rest of qualifying. It was a mistake by Costa Rica in a match in which the Ticos made few errors. The Costa Rican bag of tricks just got a little lighter.
GOOD ADVICE: In the 34th minute, Harkes complimented Onyewu for a good decision he made: Gooch looked like he was going to stroke a long ball up the field to the forwards, but he stopped and tapped forward to Bradley, who began a slow surge. “Don’t force it. I thought he was going to clip that forward,” Harkes said. “You need that one extra, two extra passes to keep it moving, break pressure.” Spot-on, Harkesie. Spot-on, Gooch.
I LOVE HARKESIE … but doesn’t it seem like he’s no fan of Pablo?
I ALSO LIKE MARVELL WYNNE: I think he’s the long-term answer at right back. And having Wynne play in games like this, even though he didn’t have the greatest night (who did?), gives him valuable experience.
UGH: That wee, yellow NBA championship trophy in the lower, right corner of the screen bugged the hell out of me. I don’t care when the NBA finals start. I’m watching this game. And don’t interrupt the match to tell me somebody called Nate McLouth was traded to the Braves.
ER, UM, I MEAN, THANK YOU, ESPN! At least the cable network shows soccer. Right?
SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING POSITIVE (AND REACHING PRETTY DEEP): I liked the Americans’ gray socks!
UP NEXT: The Nats host Honduras on Saturday night then head to South Africa for the Confederations Cup. First game June 15. U.S. in same group with Brazil, Italy and Egypt.
HALFTIME SWITCH: The referee changed from a hot-pink number, which clashed with Costa Rica’s red kits, to a gray shirt.
AMERICAN MAN OF THE MATCH: I thought Michael Bradley worked harder than anyone on the field. Tried harder. Looked better.
pablo played horrible. as bad as team usa played, pablo played distinctively worse. i’m glad that the rapids aren’t my team. i’m glad someday pablo will retire and i won’t have to ever see him trip an fall ever again. i wish i could move further away from denver just to avoid having to see pablo.
here are some player ratings from American Soccer News: http://usmen.american-soccer-news.com/?p=199
and here are some player ratings by ives galarcep:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=652582&sec=us&root=us&&cc=5901
Why did he take out Torres at halftime?!?!? I thought he was clearly our only midfielder capable of maintaining possession and finding teammates. Granted, he wasn’t perfect but i thought he was our best midfielder.
Oh that’s right — Bob had to fulfill his man-crush on the woefully ineffective Sasha Kleiswhatever. Ugh.
i agree about torres. he looked very comfortable in an uncomfortable setting. he was moving well and using his feet well. i was surprised that he got pulled. but putting adu and davies were good moves.
Agree on Adu/Davies. And the announcers were right to be a bit harsh on Pablo, he was dreadful (and I’m a fan). But with Bradley out, Edu out for 3 months (ack! I wanted to see him this summer!) … he HAS to step it up.
I love Beas, but that might have been his worst game yet, and unfortunately it comes on the tail of several other below-par performances.
I would love to see Spector get a try.
And I know it’ll never happen, but I’m so sick of seeing Dempsey out there. He’s so ineffective. He holds the ball too long and I’m so sick of him trying his fancy-pants moves that never work. He’s one of those players like Twellman …. better for club than country. But I guess he plays because what other options do we have?
I agree, George on Marvell … I think he’s got potential.
Gimmie your projected lineup for Saturday.
and i agree with you, tiger, on dempsey. i think he was the worst player on the pitch, and few people are saying anything about him. compare his lethargic pace to how torres was playing. and i agree on spector, too. i think he’s legit.
on the other hand, this was only one game. it’s not worth getting in a lather. let’s see how they do on saturday.
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