It was supposed to be the United States’ easiest game of the summer — but Steve Sampson’s men lost 2-1.
Ignore, if you can, the score of the U.S. national team’s latest game.
Forget, if it is possible, that the Americans had eight players from last summer’s World Cup squad and that the starting 11 averaged 42 caps per man, while visiting Costa Rica had a grand total of 28 caps in its starting lineup.
Discount, somehow, the lopsided number of shots, 21-7, the U.S. took, tripling Costa Rica’s total.
Look past the result, a 2-1 Costa Rican win in front of 7,415 fans in an international friendly at steamy Tampa Stadium on May 28, and you can’t deny the U.S. played a better game.
From interim U.S. head coach Steve Sampson to the players to the fans to the press, the consensus looked favorably on the Americans.
Costa Rica settled for a victory, its first in five matches and more than five years against the U.S.
“I was very proud with the way we played today from the standpoint that we played attacking soccer,” said Sampson, now 0-2-0 since taking over from Bora Milutinovic April 14. “We tried to get forward. We tried to get chances. I think it was a very entertaining match, to say the least. We created a lot of chances. We just didn’t finish our chances. We had eight or nine very good chances that we didn’t finish. This is what we must improve upon.”
But in addition to its two goals, Costa Rica also squandered chances, including a shot against the post in the first half. And it was unlucky not to get a penalty kick when Cobi Jones pulled down Farlan Ilama in the fifth minute.
Also, the visiting team was without its core. On the same day, Costa Rica’s top two clubs — Alajuela and Saprissa — were playing to a 0-0 tie in the first-leg of the league championship series. That’s where the nation’s top players were playing.
“We really wanted to win this game for Steve,” said U.S. captain Paul Caligiuri, whose fifth international goal tied the game. “I think the players like his methods and style. He’s put us through some hard, quality work. We respect him as a coach. What we can do to help his cause is win.”
Killed on counters
The U.S. was twice victimized by quick counterattacks by the Costa Ricans that left goalkeeper Brad Friedel with little chance.
Alex Madrigal intercepted a U.S. pass with a powerful header that found Llama unmarked 12 yards to the left of the U.S. goal and Ilama cracked a low shot past Friedel in the 20th minute.
The goal served as redemption for Ilama, who had whiffed on an attempt from point-blank range 10 minutes earlier. He also clanged a shot off the post in the last minute of the first half when he went in alone on Friedel after defender Mike Lapper fell down.
Costa Rica backed up deep into its own half after the break and the United States’ constant pressure paid off when Caligiuri blasted a 15-yard shot through a crowd and into the net. He received the ball after goalkeeper Desiderio Calvo punched out a ball that John Kerr headed from a long Jones throw-in.
The Costa Ricans looked happy with a tie while Sampson pulled defender Jeff Agoos for forward Jovan Kirovski.
But another quick counter in then 87th minute saw 19-year-old Jafeth Soto collect a long pass from midfielder Carlos Alute and then outrun a fatigued Thomas Dooley before striking a low drive past Friedel.
“When you try to play attacking soccer, you take some risks defensively,” Sampson said. “I’m going to continue to play that way and try to shore up our defensive end. But when you play at home, you gotta play to win. A tie today for us was unacceptable.”
Soto, a standout during the U-20 World Cup in April, when he hit the gamewinner in a 2-1 win over Germany, was making his third full international appearance.
Absent from the U.S. defense were Alexi Lalas, still in Italy fighting for First Division survival with Padova, and Marcelo Balboa, who’s next game will be his 100th cap. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller — recalled after a three-year absence — was on the bench for the U.S. but did not see action.
Roy Wegerle, a former player for the Tampa Bay Rowdies and at the University of South Florida in Tampa, misfired on several opportunities during the day, and he did it again on the final U.S. shot, 20-yarder that sailed over the crossbar.
In the closing seconds of the first half, Wegerle had the ball at his feet near the penalty spot on a cross from Jones with only Calvo between him and the net, but he tapped a soft shot to the keeper.
“When you make mistakes as we did in this match,” Wegerle said, “you can’t dwell on it. We have to resharpen the defense and convert on offense and we’ll be all right.”
Of all the U.S. starters, only two have been seeing consistent playing time with clubs: Jeff Agoos with SV Wehen, a German Third Division team that is headed for the Fourth Division; and Chris Henderson, with FSV Frankfurt, the worst team in the German Second Division.
“The lesson we learned today is when you play forward and you play to win,” Sampson said, “then you have to keep your defensive shape. You can’t afford the speed of Costa Rica to be isolated one against one. And Thomas Dooley, Brian Bliss and Paul Caligiuri too often in the last 15 minutes got isolated one on one.”
The U.S. will have ample opportunity to work on its problems, as it plays Nigeria, Mexico and Colombia in June’s U.S. Cup, and Chile, Bolivia and Argentina in the first round of the Copa America in July.
By Soccer America correspondent David Brackman