U.S. improves, but just not enough
1-0 loss to Colombia follows solid defensive, offensive showing in tournament
GLENDALE, ARIZ. — The U.S. men’s national soccer team finished the Copa America Centenario on Saturday the same way it started the tournament more than three weeks ago: losing to Colombia.
But if the result didn’t change, just about everything else did. Where the U.S. appeared passive and overwhelmed in the Centenario opener, in Saturday’s thirdplace game, it played aggressively and with passion. Where Colombia dominated for long swaths of the first game, on Saturday, it was the U.S. that controlled the tempo.
And for coach Jurgen Klinsmann, that marks progress, but not success, for a team that will end its tournament with consecutive losses in which it did not score a goal.
“For us as a team, it’s been a very positive period,” Klinsmann said before Saturday’s game. “As often as you can, you want to play these teams in order to prove yourself, to learn.
“The last couple of weeks, what we did, including the preparation games, have been very, very impressive.”
Carlos Bacca gave Colombia the only goal it would need in the 31st minute, getting just enough of his foot on a pass from Santiago Arias to deflect it past U.S. keeper Tim Howard. The sequence started with a chip by James Rodriguez from outside the penalty area that found Arias on the right edge of the 6-yard box. Arias then outfought U.S. midfielder Alejandro Bedoya to head the ball toward the far post, where Bacca found it and knocked it home.
The U.S. had several chances to answer, outshooting Colombia and getting its best opportunity in the 61st minute, when a left-footed shot from Bobby Wood struck the far post. Minutes earlier, Clint Dempsey had bent a free kick toward the upper corner, only to have Colombian keeper David Ospina make a leaping stab with his right hand to redirect the ball away.
But Saturday’s disappointing result could not erase the fact the tournament marked a huge step forward for the U.S., which won three of its first four games, finished atop its group and upset 13th-ranked Ecuador to reach the semifinals of a major competition for the first time since 2009.
And though the Americans were shut out in its past two games, dropping to .500 with three losses and three wins for the tournament, even that’s a little misleading. The losses came against Argentina and Colombia, teams ranked among the world’s top three.
“We’ve done well,” Howard said before making his first appearance of the tournament Saturday. “I think we’ve taken a step Final forward.
“Everyone will have to deem this tournament a success.”
Successful in that the U.S. discovered a solid center-back tandem in Geoff Cameron and John Brooks, who anchored a defense that played 302 consecutive scoreless minutes in the tournament. Successful in that it found a dangerous attacking threat in Wood, who cleared space for Dempsey, allowing him to score three goals and assist on three others.
And successful in that the U.S. showed it has the organizational and marketing muscle to put on major events.
“The tournament has proven that the United States is ready to host another World Cup,” Klinsmann said before Saturday’s game. “The infrastructure is second to none in the U.S.”
Historic, too. Even before Saturday’s third-place game, the Centenario had drawn more than 1.38 million fans, a record for the world’s oldest international soccer competition. And despite prices of more than $100 a ticket — and as much as $5,200 on the secondary market — by the time the tournament ends with tonight’s ChileArgentina final, the average attendance of more than 46,000 for the Centenario’s 32 games will top five of the past nine World Cups and the past six European Championships.