USA 4 Costa Rica 0
Clint Dempsey 9′ (pen.) | Jermaine Jones 37′ | Bobby Wood 42′ | Graham Zusi 87 |
A great result for the host, but a terrible representation of how the match went about. Costa Rica found themselves 3-0 down at the end of the first half, goals that were against the run of play.
This is football, formation and discipline with a little bit of luck can make a whole lot of difference in the outcome.
We were back to Group A of the Copa America Centenario, and the host nation takes the field one more time. This time at Soldier Field, Chicago, and against Costa Rica.
After losing 2-0 to Colombia in the first match of the competition, United States were coming into the game with zero points and were very much aware that another loss will be mean ‘bye-bye’ to the competition. Fortunately for the United States, there won’t be a lot of traveling if they are eliminated. Any result but a loss would be ok for the host. They needed to put some points on the table.
Costa Rica was coming to the match with a point more than USA. A win would have been a major boost to their knockout qualification. Their final match is going to be against Colombia, a team that has proven to be difficult to score against.
United States stuck with the same line-up from their previous match, while Costa Rica was forced to make changes since Kendall Watson received a red card in their match against Paraguay.
A confident Costa Rican team started the match on the front foot. They were aggressive and kept the pressure on the United States.
A cross in the 7th minute plus the lack of discipline from Costa Rican defense allowed for a ‘soft’ foul in the penalty box.Granted that is was a soft foul, the referee made the right call. Clint Dempsey didn’t make any mistake with the opportunity, as slotted home the first goal of the match in the 9th minute.
25 minutes later, the sleeping defense of Costa Rica allowed for another attack in their defensive third. A curling low shot from Jermaine Jones went pass both defender and goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the goal.
Five minutes after going two up, United States scored a third. Bobby Woods with his back to goal turned with a spin a placed the ball in the bottom corner of the near post. Patrick Pemberton should have done better.
As avoidable as all three goals were, United States offense was clinical.The technique behind all the goals scored was faultless.
We could predict with confidence that USA was going to win the match by the end of the first half.
Playing great offensive football and being down 3-0 at the half was an indication of a match that was going to demand more than what Costa Rica possessed.
United States plays Paraguay next. They will go into the final match of Group A in a great position. A win will put them through to the knockout stage.
Costa Rica will be facing Colombia. They will need a win against Colombia to give them any chance of getting beyond the group stage.
Colombia plays Paraguay in the next Group A match. A win for Paraguay will allow for an interesting final day for Group A.
Current Standings (Will possibly change in a few hours)
