USMNT Rebounds From Early Disaster, Beats Costa Rica in World Cup Qualifier
What started off as a calamitous night for the U.S. men's national team wound up as a celebratory one.
The U.S. conceded a first-minute goal to Costa Rica, but battled back for a 2–1 World Cup qualifying win in Columbus, Ohio, on a sensational goal from Sergiño Dest and an own goal forced by Tim Weah to stop the bleeding after Sunday night's dispiriting defeat in Panama. Wednesday's victory fortified the U.S.'s place in the all-important top three of the Concacaf World Cup qualifying Octagonal. Mexico's victory later on in El Salvador keeps El Tri on top of the table with 14 points, with the U.S. three points back and in second place. Canada is next with 10 points, followed by Panama with eight. The top three teams in the table automatically qualify for the 2022 World Cup, while the fourth-place team goes into an intercontinental playoff.
After heavily rotating his squad in Panama City, U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter reverted to as close to a first-choice lineup as he could given who is in camp, although he did make a significant change in goal by starting Zack Steffen over Matt Turner, who had performed well in the previous five games.
"Zack's a big part of this program. We think it's the right time to get him involved," Berhalter told ESPN prior to the match.
Elsewhere, Weston McKennie recovered from the minor muscle injury that kept him out vs. Panama to join Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah in the midfield, while Chris Richards stepped into central defense to pair with Miles Robinson. Up top, Paul Arriola was set to start for a third straight match on the wing, but a right groin injury in the pre-match warmup ruled him out and brought Weah into the lineup. That proved vital given how active and influential the Lille winger wound up being.
All of the good vibes and energy the U.S. may have been bringing into the match disappeared quickly, though the questions regarding the goalkeeper change become more pronounced. The visitors scored a minute into the match through Keysher Fuller, who bounced home his shot after a cross from Ronald Matarrita. The U.S. tried to argue that forward Jonathan Moya was in an offside position and interfered with Steffen's sight line, but it was to no avail. Dest, who was racing after Matarrita down the left flank, kept Moya onside the whole time.
The sequence followed a moment when Steffen had to race off his line to head away a ball that took an in-between hop and wasn't dealt with properly by Robinson, but that failed clearance ultimately led to the goal-scoring chance, making for an overall catastrophe of an opening minute for the hosts.
The U.S. did well to regain a foothold in the game after that point, and in the 13th minute Weah created a dangerous moment for the U.S. when he surged down the right and tried to pick out Dest with a cross, only for Costa Rican defending to end the threat.
Ten minutes later, left back Antonee Robinson fired in a dangerous cross for Ricardo Pepi, who was unable to properly direct his header at the near post.
The goal the U.S. was seeking came a couple of minutes later. After the U.S. built beautifully out of its own end, it looked like the sequence would wind up being fruitless, but Musah recycled the ball on the right side and picked out Dest, who took a couple of touches to set himself up and then unleashed an 18-yard, left-footed rocket into the upper left-hand corner of the goal to make it 1-1. The goal snapped an eight-game streak of the U.S. failing to score in the first half, and it did so in style. Making the goal even more impressive was the fact that the laces on Dest's left cleat were untied.
Costa Rica looked to respond and had a penalty shout go unheard in the 37th minute. After a sliding block by Musah inadvertently played Moya in on the U.S. goal, Richards came in with a sliding challenge of his own and appeared to clear out the forward without getting the ball, but the referee let play continue without blowing for the penalty, and Steffen pounced to collect possession. Regardless, there's no VAR available in Concacaf World Cup qualifying, so whatever the initial call on the field was was going to stick.
Costa Rica was delivered a further blow at halftime, with star goalkeeper Keylor Navas forced out with an injury. He was replaced by Leonel Moreira for the final 45 minutes.
Moreira passed his first test in the 55th minute, when Brenden Aaronson got free in the Costa Rica box, turned and fired on goal, only for the backup keeper to make the save.
The U.S. nearly coughed up another goal to Costa Rica a minute later. Miles Robinson's lazy backpass didn't quite make it to Richards, with veteran Bryan Ruiz pouncing and taking off for the U.S. goal. Robinson caught Ruiz from behind and took the ball off him with a clean tackle, though, before Ruiz could test Steffen.
The U.S. was the side that wound up taking the lead in the 66th minute. With Fuller unable to play a ball cleanly, Weah wound up being played into the U.S. box by Dest down the right, and he fired in from a tight angle—with the help of the ball coming off the post and Moreira before spinning back and trickling over the line. Just as the opening goal brought questions as to whether Turner would've saved what Steffen could not, it's fair to wonder whether Navas would've closed down at the near post better than Moreira did for Costa Rica.
The two players who created the goals for the U.S. wound up coming off soon after, with DeAndre Yedlin replacing Dest and Matthew Hoppe coming on for Weah for the final 18 minutes.
Five minutes later, Berhalter went to the bench again, bringing in Gianluca Busio for Musah, who impressed on the night but appeared to cramp up after playing his third match in a seven-day span.
Costa Rica's final dart throw from the bench, meanwhile, was an elderly one. Between Alvaro Saborio (39), Kendall Waston (33) and Christian Bolaños (37), Los Ticos sent 109 years of substitutes onto the field going in search of the equalizer.
Save for a dangerous free kick opportunity in the final minutes, though, Costa Rica couldn't make it 2–2, and the U.S. walked away with the three points. Next up for the U.S. is a game that's been circled for some time, a home date vs. Mexico in Cincinnati next month.
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