The USMNT came through the group stage as winners and their prize is a match against Costa Rica with a trip to the Gold Cup semi-finals on the line. Along the way the team certainly did win three games – the scoreboard don’t lie. What the scoreboard does say is that the wins came with one dominant showing against Trinidad & Tobago and two harder fought victories against Saudi Arabia and Haiti.
Those last two wins came with goals deep in the second half. Against Haiti, the USA was held to a 1-1 draw until nearly the 80th minute. Frankly, these performances do not bode well with Costa Rica looming. That statement comes with the caveat that Los Ticos didn’t exactly impress in their group matches. Miguel Herrera’s team did advance but does so in somewhat unconvincing fashion.
The team was tied with Suriname at 3-3 until an injury time penalty delivered a 4-3 win. That was followed by a 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic after falling behind early and needing a goal five minutes before the end of regulation to secure the victory. In the final group match against Mexico, Costa Rica managed a 0-0 draw in a result they gladly took after ceding 70% of the possession in the match to El Tri.
As the home side, the Stars and Stripes come in as favorites and at least on paper that distinction is warranted. Malik Tillman is having an excellent tournament and the attacker will need to continue those solid performances facing Costa Rica. It seems like Matt Freese, the mistake against Haiti notwithstanding, is holding onto the no. 1 spot and the backline has been solid. There is one big question that will be asked though.
Yet again the USMNT will play its greatest hit over the past few years – where will the goals come from? Tillman has been scoring and Patrick Agyemeng has a pair of goals and seems like will be the starting no. 9 in the tournament. With El Piojo likely setting up Costa Rica to repeat what they did against Mexico and let the Americans try to break them down, the team will have to find a way to get through the organized defensive block Los Ticos will feature.
That is a hard task with any first choice lineup the USA could field. This group will have its work cut out for it in order to advance to the semis. In the end, the Americans will come into the game with more questions than answers. The game will be in the hands of Mauricio Pochettino’s team and this match will be one where the they can address issues that have emerged in the group. If the team does go forward, those problems will need to be solved and doing that now will be a major boost for the team.
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