Copa America: USMNT falls to Colombia in opening match
By Phil Naegely
The USMNT fell to Colombia 2-0 in the opening Copa America Centenario match on Friday night at Levi’s Stadium.
It wasn’t the worst game the USMNT has ever played, but it was far from the national team’s best on Friday at Levi’s Stadium. They opened up their Copa America Centenario match with a 2-0 loss to Colombia.
Colombia now sits at the top of the table until at least their next group stage match next week. The USMNT now must regroup and work out their issues that were evident against the CONMEBOL side. Colombia is a talented team and rank higher in the FIFA rankings, but they definitely weren’t at their best either on Friday. They benefited from taking advantage of the chances they did have and almost made it 3-0, but the crossbar helped out the hosts on the play.
Jurgen Klinsmann has some issues to address before they take on Costa Rica on Tuesday. Michael Bradley turned the ball over often and put the USMNT in some dangerous situations that led to Colombia finding the attacking third. While the USMNT captain needs to improve, disconnect between him and his fellow midfielders and the forwards caused the Colombian defense to be able to press high without consequences on Friday.
There’s still a shot the USMNT is able to make it out of the group stage. However, they need to find a way to get at least one point in their second group stage match. If they don’t, then the national team can pack up their bags for their final group stage match knowing they won’t be one of the two Group A teams advancing to the knock out round unless a miracle happens.
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