U.S. comes up short
National team surrenders 2nd-half lead to Colombia before record crowd of 38,631
TAMPA — There were flashes of a bright future, but for now, the United States men’s national team is still finding its way.
It showed Thursday night in Raymond James Stadium. The U.S. fell 4-2 to Colombia in front of an announced crowd of 38,631. It was a record crowd for a men’s national team game in Tampa and it was dominated by Colombian fans.
The bright spots were there. The United States battled back early in the second half after falling behind and spending most of the first half on its back foot in the face of a potent Colombian attack.
The mistakes were also there — particularly in transition. And Colombia punished the young Americans for them.
James Rodriguez showed why he’s a world-class player with a golazo to open the scoring in the 36th minute. He got inside the right side of the penalty area and sent a left-footed curler into the upper left corner to give Colombia a 1-0 advantage.
Colombia turned up the pressure and the U.S. was on its heels the remainder of the half. Rodriguez nearly got a brace five minutes later after he got by left back Antonee Robinson and got a shot off. The shot beat goalkeeper Zack Steffen, but centerback Matt Miazga came through with a goal-line clearance and Robinson recovered in time to avoid giving up another score.
The U.S. created some chances in the first half, but it never threatened from inside the penalty area. The Americans’ best first half chance came when Tampa native Julian Green found some space just outside the penalty area and fired a shot that barely went wide.
Santiago Arias fired a shot off the post to end the first half.