Full time! USA 0-2 Costa Rica
It’s over for the States and, truth be told, they never truly threatened. While tonight’s defeat is not fatal, it makes their match against Honduras next week all the more important. Many questions will now be asked - of the venue, of the tactics and indeed the US performance. Much credit should go to Costa Rica and Navas, in particular. That’s it from me. Good night and thanks for following.
Updated
90min: Drama! Clint Dempsey elbows a Costa Rican defender and is lucky to see yellow.
Deuce. #USAvCRC pic.twitter.com/hCpS5EMKbA
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) September 2, 2017
Updated
87min: Another sub by the States. Paul Arriola is on for the somewhat disappointing Christian Pulisic. Hard to the the US getting anything from this game.
83min: The US youngster Jordan Morris is on for Graham Zusi.
Goal! USA 0 Costa Rica 2 (Urena 82)
Now it’s Urena 2-0 Arena. Urena gets his second of the night after breaking clear and powering the ball past Howard. It looks like curtains for the States.
Dagger.. #USAvCRC pic.twitter.com/hRbKsLBjHR
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) September 2, 2017
Updated
81min: Navas comes up big again for Costa Rica as he denies Altidore.
79min: It’s all getting a little tasty as US frustration mounts. Altidore is booked and will now miss the next World Cup qualifier.
77min: This pretty much sums up the US mood right now. More changes are expected, firstly from Costa Rica. Johan Venegas is on for Bryan Oviedo.
🤔 #USAvCRC pic.twitter.com/zmYscU8Rkv
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) September 2, 2017
70min: Double substitution for Costa Rica. Michael Umaña replaces Christian Bolaños and José Salvatierra is on for Cristian Gamboa.
Meanwhile, Honduras are 2-0 up against Trinidad and Tobago. As things stand, they are level on points with the US in their Concacaf qualifying group. Eek!
Updated
66min: Spectacular save by Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas after Christian Pulisic latches onto a deflected Clint Dempsey free-kick.
This is unbelievable from Keylor Navas. (📹:@UnivisionSports) pic.twitter.com/6qHOeR7bzl
— LuisMiguelEchegaray (@lmechegaray) September 2, 2017
Updated
65min: At last - here comes Dempsey, on for Jorge Villafana. There’s a real buzz in the crowd now.
63min: “I’m shocked,” says ESPN’s Taylor Twellman. “It’s the 63rd minute and Clint Dempsey is still not in this game.” Come on Bruce...
59min: So what exactly is Bruce Arena waiting for? Time to bring on some subs, surely. It’s not clicking right now for the States.
55min: Close for the US! Bobby Wood hits a menacing ball across the goal but a stretching Jozy Altidore cannot make contact.
54min: The whistle-happy referee is not too popular right now.
This referee, John Pitti of Panama, is CONCACAF'ing both teams in this game.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) September 2, 2017
47 min: Close! Tim Ream nearly atones for his error on the Costa Rica opener with a header from a corner but it goes over the bar.
46min: Peep! The US begin the second half in their search to rescue something from this game.
Clint Dempsey is warming up with vigor now. Will he save the States - and enter the record books? It’s all set up for the veteran.
Save us Clint 🙏
— Arielle Castillo (@ariellec) September 1, 2017
A worrying statistic for the States.
#USMNT has one win in 37 World Cup qualifiers when trailing at halftime (1-31-5). #USAvCRC
— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) September 1, 2017
The win was Oct. 2013 in Panama.
Half-time: USA 0-1 Costa Rica
A disappointing opening half for the States comes to an end. The visitors deserved their goal and have made life very difficult for Arena’s men, especially at the back. Arena tells ESPN: “We were very poor in our passing.”
43min: Clint Dempsey, so my Twitter timeline tells me, has been told to warm up by Bruce Arena. Looks like we’ll be seeing Deuce in the second half.
37min: Thus far it’s Urena 1 Arena 0 (don’t boo). But USA come close through Pulisic, not once but twice. Costa Rica will be holding on until half-time.
Goal! USA 0 Costa Rica 1 (Urena 29)
Disaster for the USA. Against the run of play, Marco Urena goes wide and tucks it under Tim Howard and inside the back post. Plenty of blame going around. How will the States respond?
At least Urena’s MLS club, the San Jose Earthquakes, are happy.
GOOOOAAAAALLLLL MARCO!!! HE GIVES @FEDEFUTBOL_CR A 1-0 LEAD! 😱#USAvCRC | #ForwardAsOne pic.twitter.com/7k7GDaGrkr
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) September 1, 2017
Updated
23min: Drama! Penalty shout! Jozy Altidore goes down in the box after seemingly being pulled down but it’s not given. Bruce Arena is irate on the sidelines.
Pen? #USAvCRC pic.twitter.com/f31uFrNUSp
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) September 1, 2017
Updated
20min: Was that the first shot on goal? Michael Bradley lets loose from deep but it goes well wide.
Richard McGahey emails in: “Lots of possession but last ball is off either not precise or hit too hard etc.” He’s not wrong.
17min: Guzman can certainly consider himself lucky to still be on the field, considering all his reckless challenges thus far.
Guzman with the yellow card (kicked Pulisic twice). Earlier foul was at least yellow. CRC lucky to not be down a man. #USAvCRC #USMNT pic.twitter.com/Rat5OySCNy
— Chad Smith (@PlayFor90) September 1, 2017
14min: Guzman is booked for bringing down Pulisic, who looks dangerous with his pace.
Updated
9min: As you can see that tackle on Nagbe was pretty nasty. And by his Portland Timbers team-mate no less.
Darlington Nagbe taking some studs to the leg from his Portland Timbers teammate David Guzman #rctid #USMNT #USAvCRC pic.twitter.com/ucI6qceh1u
— GolazoJuice (@GolazoJuice) September 1, 2017
4min: A cagey opening here as both sides try to figure each other out. Nagbe is hit with a late challenge on his lower leg but he’s OK. No booking, which is a surprise.
Updated
1min: Peep! We’re underway as Costa Rica get us started. Did you watch the first half of Malta v England? Oh you did! Well let’s hope this opening 45 is waaaaay better than that borefest.
Here’s a nifty tifo
If We Can Make It Here, We Can Make It Anywhere. pic.twitter.com/cjRhGIBO0y
— ah-🌹 (@Christian_Araos) September 1, 2017
We’re just moments away from kick-off. ESPN commentators are noting the number of Costa Rica fans in the stands. The players are coming out to a huge roar...
All eyes are on wunderkind Christian Pulisic tonight - so much so that ESPN’s streaming service is offering a ‘Pulisic cam’, focusing on the teenage sensation (as well as other star players, such as Dempsey). No pressure then!
More from those funsters Lalas and Holden
Prediction time ⏰.@stuholden and @AlexiLalas check in from @RedBullArena! #Get3 pic.twitter.com/g4LPKpmb2G
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) September 1, 2017
Tonight's starting XIs
USA: Howard; Zusi, Cameron, Ream, Villafana; Nagbe, Bradley, Pulisic, Johnson; Wood, Altidore.
Costa Rica: Navas; Gamboa, Waston, Acosta, Calvo, Oviedo; Bolanos, Guzman, Borges, Ruiz; Urena.
Of note for the US’s next match against Honduras:
Altidore, Bradley, Cameron, Arriola, Bedoya, & Besler, are all on caution watch and will serve a one-match suspension w/next yellow. #usmnt
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) September 1, 2017
The match tonight is on ESPN and Univision Deportes, giving Fox Sports broadcasters Alexi Lalas and Stuart Holden the chance to let their hair down.
My Fox Sports colleagues are off the clock tonight and heading to the USA game @AlexiLalas @stuholden pic.twitter.com/5zf6a6g8jV
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) September 1, 2017
Unaware victim of a photo bomb. #Lalas22 @alexilalas pic.twitter.com/9eMaGLTK9c
— Stuart Holden (@stuholden) September 1, 2017
Preamble
Hello, and welcome to tonight’s World Cup qualifier and the first “meaningful match” for the United States men’s national team in the New York area in their 104-year history. A not-wholly partisan crowd - a sell-out no less - is expected at Red Bull Arena which is mainly why the United States Soccer Federation has avoided the cosmopolitan region for World Cup qualifiers and the like. “We think we’ll have a very pro-US crowd. Will it be 100%? The answer is no,” Sunil Gulati, the US Soccer president, told Sports Illustrated early this week. Bruce Arena, the US head coach, even bristled of the venue: “It was done without my input. It was already established.”
As well as the chance for the US to take another important step on the road to Russia 2018 - following a poor start to their Hex campaign under the little-lamented Jürgen Klinsmann - this match gives Clint Dempsey the chance to become his country’s all-time leading scorer. ‘Deuce’ is currently tied with Landon Donovan on 57 goals. Dempsey, notably, tied Donovan’s mark in a 2-0 win over tonight’s opponents Costa Rica in the Gold Cup semi-finals earlier this summer.
So what’s at stake for Arena’s men? Put simply, victory against Costa Rica and against Honduras next week will put the US on the cusp of a place at Russia 2018. On the flip side, a draw or - dare we say it - defeat tonight would severely dampen the positive mood around the squad before they go on their travels for the second match of their double-header on Tuesday. With Panama lurking, the US will happily take four points from these two games but they’ll want to take any pressure off with a handsome win against Los Ticos.
Bob will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Graham Parker on Clint Dempsey’s career for the US:
Clint Dempsey’s star turn against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup semi-final did more than win his team the game and help the striker match the US goalscoring record — it may have extended his meaningful international career by another season.
There was a danger that by the time the Russia World Cup came around, Dempsey would represent the kind of selection headache for Bruce Arena that Landon Donovan became for Jürgen Klinsmann in 2014 — no longer a player a coach could build a team around, and potentially as much of a distraction as an asset on the sidelines.
Klinsmann needlessly expended a lot of personal capital in leaving Donovan at home, and the pragmatic Arena is likely to take the trusted quantity of Dempsey to the World Cup. But perhaps until this Saturday’s game there was still a hint that sentiment would be playing a part as much as technical value. It didn’t help that the rapid emergence of Christian Pulisic as the star playmaker for the team, had crowded the area of the field where Dempsey thrives.
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