Colombia 4, USMNT 2: take-away of Thursday's friendly



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The US national team, shorthanded and overclassed, lost 4-2 to Colombia on Thursday in a friendly match in Tampa, Florida.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "In front of a very pro-Colombian crowd in Raymond James Stadium, Coffee Growers James Rodriguez at the head of the scoring opened the scoring with a goal from around the world in the 36th minute. The Americans took the lead, entirely against the race, with consecutive strikes from Kellyn Acosta and Bobby Wood shortly after half-time. But Carlos Bacca equalized almost immediately before Radamel Falcao, Colombia's all-time leading scorer, found the winner with about 15 minutes to play. Miguel Borja will add a fourth five minutes later to put the game out of reach of the hosts. "data-reactid =" 23 "> In front of a crowd very pro-Colombian to Raymond James Stadium, Coffee Growers James Rodriguez at the head of the scoring opened the scoring with a goal from around the world in the 36th minute. The Americans took the lead, entirely against the race, with consecutive strikes from Kellyn Acosta and Bobby Wood shortly after half-time. But Carlos Bacca equalized almost immediately before Radamel Falcao, Colombia's all-time leading scorer, found the winner with about 15 minutes to play. Miguel Borja will add a fourth five minutes later to put the game out of reach of the hosts.

Here are three quick thoughts on the match:

1. James Rodriguez is ridiculous

It's hard to call a guy who's led a World Cup in goals and plays for Bayern Munich on loan from Real Madrid, he's underrated, but Rodriguez could actually adapt it. After winning the Golden Boot in Brazil 2014, the upward trajectory of 27 years seemed impossible to stop. But his stock fell sharply at Real, where he often had trouble finding play time.

An injury on the eve of the 2018 World Cup allowed Rodriguez not to be at his best in Russia. But he's one of Bayern's most successful players this season and his curling beauty on Thursday reminded him of what he was capable of when he was fit and fit:

2. Americans invade defensively

The United States will always miss matches with injured midfielder, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie, who, along with attacking star Christian Pulisic, have withdrawn from training for this match and next week against Peru after having been appointed.

Partly because of these absences, Interim US coach Dave Sarachan opted for a more aggressive game plan, with four strikers dedicated in striker Wood, wingers Tim Weah and Kenny Saief and Julian Green in the central role of Pulisic. it did not work.

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Americans have created little future; they were botched on the rare occasions when they had the ball, with the visitors holding 62% possession of the ball at the end of the round. The change of formation would always leave the United States vulnerable on the defensive side, but Colombia expertly separated the local team, wave after occasion, number of counter-attacks opposing many of them to the young person. left by Antonee Robinson.

The defenders fought both as a unit and individually. Falcao got the upper hand on John Brooks early to set the tone. As incredible as Rodriguez's shot may be, Brooks also leaves him too much space to pick the corner of the net for Zack Steffen. He was not alone. "Many individual mistakes created their chances and we were punished," Sarachan said after the match.

The United States has allowed 17 shots in total and seven goals, more than last month's games against Brazil and Mexico combined.

3. USMNT must rebound against Peru

Until Thursday, this incredible young American team – even after the recall of veterans Michael Bradley and Brad Guzan, the average age of the team remained below 24, as was the case in the last seven American games – has exceeded its weight.

September's 2-0 loss to Brazil was pretty respectable (even if you felt like it was 5-0 if Neymar and Co. had wanted it). The United States has defeated the blood enemy, Mexico. French champions draw.

This game has exposed the Americans for what they are: a very inexperienced group that still has a long way to go not only to beat the best teams on the planet, but also for the types of teams that are just outside from the world elite, like Colombia.

That's not to say that there were no positives. Kellyn Acosta started with Adams and McKennie and made the most of it despite the early veins. Wood scored and held the ball well. Weah on Wood's pass was almost as pretty as Rodriguez's:

That must be good for the confidence of Weah, 18, who can not stand since he stopped playing match rally on matchday at Paris Saint-Germain lately. Green had his second strong game in a row. In addition, this team has already demonstrated resilience. After the Brazil match, the Yanks got the Mexican result a few days later.

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