The USMNT picked up their first loss since the return of Bruce Arena as head coach, losing 2-0 to Costa Rica at Red Bull Arena. Marcos Urena scored in the 30th and 82nd minutes with Keylor Navas keeping the clean sheet. The USMNT now shifts focus to Honduras on Tuesday (5:30pm ET – beIN Sport).
“Our back line made some mistakes,” Arena said in his postgame press conference. “We didn’t come up with any big saves. Our attacking players weren’t dangerous on the night.” Arena wasn’t ready to commit on immediate changes for Honduras, but said “clearly walking away tonight without any points is very disappointing.”
One change that will have to happen is with the forwards. Starting forward Jozy Altidore picked up a yellow card that will cause him to miss the Honduras game due to accumulation.
— GAME REPORT —
Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Costa Rica
Date: September 1, 2017
Competition: 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying – Final Round
Venue: Red Bull Arena; Harrison, New Jersey
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. ET
Attendance: 26,500 (so)
Weather: 66 degrees; partly cloudy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 0 0
CRC 1 1 2
CRC – Marco Ureña (Bryan Ruiz) 30th minute
CRC – Marco Ureña (David Guzman) 82
Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard, 2-Jorge Villafaña (8-Clint Dempsey, 65), 4-Michael Bradley (capt.), 6-Darlington Nagbe, 9-Bobby Wood, 10-Christian Pulisic (21-Paul Arriola, 87), 14-Tim Ream, 17-Jozy Altidore, 19-Graham Zusi (18-Jordan Morris, 84), 20-Geoff Cameron, 23-Fabian Johnson
Subs not used: 12-Brad Guzan, 22-Nick Rimando, 3-Omar González, 5-Matt Besler, 7-DaMarcus Beasley, 11-Alejandro Bedoya, 13-Dax McCarty, 15-Eric Lichaj, 16-Kellyn Acosta
Head coach: Bruce Arena
CRC : 1-Keylor Navas; 2-Johnny Acosta, 5-Celso Borges, 7-Cristian Bolaños (4-Michael Umaña, 71), 8-Bryan Oviedo (11-Johan Venegas, 78), 10-Bryan Ruiz (capt.), 15-Francisco Calvo, 16-Cristian Gamboa (6-José Salvatierra, 71), 19-Kendall Waston, 20-David Guzman, 21-Marco Ureña
Subs not used: 18-Patrick Pemberton, 23-Leonel Moreira, 3-Kenner Gutierrez, 9-José Ortiz, 12-David Ramirez, 13-Rodney Wallace, 14-Randall Azofeifa, 17-Yeltsin Tejeda, 22-Daniel Colindres
Head coach: Óscar Ramírez
Stats Summary: USA / CRC
Shots: 14 / 9
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Saves: 0 / 2
Corner Kicks: 3 / 2
Fouls: 10 / 18
Offside: 3 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
CRC – David Guzman (caution) 13th minute
CRC – Francisco Calvo (caution) 67
USA – Jozy Altidore (caution) 80
USA – Clint Dempsey (caution) 90+1
Officials:
Referee: John Pitti (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Victoria (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Ronald Bruna (PAN)
Fourth Official: José Kellys (PAN)
