USA vs. Costa Rica Match Diary and Player Ratings

Hey: What if we play our GOOD players?

Everyone remembers the Trinidad & Tobago match from last cycle, but it was the home loss to Costa Rica that put us in trouble. I was at that match; there was a sense of “we’ll get it done” until we just…didn’t. Costa Rica scored late in the first half and late in the second, and suddenly our qualification prospects looked shaky. And now it’s four years later, and our prospects are still shaky.

This game will be another test of my “we only play hard when we’re in trouble” theory. Let’s remember that soccer is 50 percent running, and running sucks. As soon as you start, your body starts yelling “stop this immediately!” I’ve never had the “runner’s high”, only what I’d call the “runner’s hangover”, because it involves a lot of vomiting and wishing I was dead. My point is: You need to be very motivated to make yourself run. And when we’re at the top of the table, I think the motivation just isn’t there.

Tonight’s lineup:

Aaronson | Pepi | Weah

McKennie | Adams | Musah

A. Robinson | Richards | M. Robinson | Dest

Steffen

This is better. Berhalter rotated so much against Panama that there were only two or three guys you’d consider “first choice”. This looks more like our team (given who’s available). Both Robinsons start for maximum confusion, and Arriola is ahead of schedule, having gotten injured during warm-up. Poor guy.

Here’s kickoff from Indigenous People, Ohio (I’m all for Indigenous People’s Day but I’m also for cheap jokes that fall into my lap)…

1’ - GOAL COSTA RICA! Welp! We’re one minute in, we’ve got an injury, we’ve conceded a goal…we’re in Ohio. All sorts of bad stuff. What was Steffen doing there? I guess he was unsighted because the ball just sort of bounced by him.

2’ - I love complaining about CONCACAF refs as much as the next person — honestly, far more than the next person — but there was no offside there. Dest was keeping everybody on.

8’ - They just said that Bryan Ruiz is playing for Costa Rica, but that can’t possibly be right. They must have meant “Bryan Ruiz, Jr” — there’s no way it’s the same guy who played for Fulham ten years ago.¹

13’ - A nice move leads to a corner kick. It’s yet to be determined how we’ll respond to the early goal, but Costa Rica have responded by putting eight guys in the penalty box.

22’ - Pepi gets a header but can’t put it on frame. Honestly, except for the fact that things are going terribly, things are going pretty well.

24’ - GOAL USA!!! Dest with a left-footed rocket — now THAT’S a guy who plays in the Champions League! There are basically two ways to break down a team that’s packing it in: 1) A moment of brilliance, or 2) Some stupid penalty call. Outstanding by Dest to summon the first.

36’ - Chaos leads to a chance for Costa Rica! But we got away with it — a last-minute tackle from Richards covered up a mistake by Musah. That was a MAJOR tackle, and the replay shows that the tackle was…interesting.

37’ - It’s weird not having VAR; if there was VAR, Debate Club would have commenced and I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance they would have given the penalty. But it’s nice to have the absence of VAR work in our favor this time.

Half time: 1-1. That was about the worst start possible that didn’t involve a stadium collapse, but we recovered well. We honestly looked pretty good except for conceding that weird goal and being sloppy in the final third.

53’ - Musah’s not afraid to turn in tight spaces. I really feel that Adams/McKennie/Musah is an outstanding midfield; a perfect balance of skill sets.

55’ - HOLY SHIT! Awful giveaway by Miles Robinson, but luckily the breakaway falls to Old Man Ruiz! And let me tell you two things about Bryan Ruiz: 1) He wasn’t exactly swift during his heyday in the ‘80s; 2) He is all left foot. His left foot is deadly; his left foot is napalm and thunderbolts. But his right foot is only there for compositional balance.

62’ - Ruiz is down, perhaps dead of old age. By the way: He’s five years younger than me.

65’ - GOAL USA!!! Tim Weah shoots it…directly THROUGH some guy who’s not Keylor Navas! The replay shows it was the old post > ‘keeper > post > ‘keeper > backspin goal, but hell: Give it to Weah. He and Dest did well to capitalize on a bad mistake from the Ticos.

67’ - We’re looking to end this one: Weah is saved from an angle, and Dest gets dragged down in the box! But we can’t land the knockout blow!

80’ - Suddenly I know what that yellow spot in McKennie’s hair is about: It’s so that I can tell him apart from Busio from a distance. Good thinking, Weston.

84’ - Okay, now Costa Rica is bringing on Alvaro Saborio, but obviously they mean Alvaro Saborio III or something, because the guy who played for DC United back in the day retired when I was still in college (I think).

90’ - Slightly nervy finish here. We look fairly in-control but I really wish we had gotten the third goal.

FULL TIME: 2-1 USA. Honestly, that was a pretty good performance; we deserved the three points. And we earned six points from the cycle, which is our second “earned the minimum that can be considered ‘good’” cycle out of two.

Ratings:

Berhalter: 6. This was the right lineup. Of course, we all knew that, because the team that played against Panama was obviously not the right lineup.

Steffen: 3. It wasn’t just his statuesque performance on the goal; he was shaky with the ball at his feet. FWIW, I’m not really on board with the “he used to play in Columbus, so he should start this game” logic.

A. Robinson: 6. I’m glad to see him cementing his spot with the national team, because I can tell you: He’s playing well for Fulham.

Richards: 6.5. Good first game in a qualifier! If they had called that tackle in the 36th minute a penalty, I’d probably be giving him a “4” and slam his immaturity, but…they didn’t!

M. Robinson: 5. He almost gave away two points with that sloppy ball to Ruiz. Though, if you have to give the ball away, give it to the guy in the Rascal scooter.

Dest: 7.5. Let’s address that rabona he played in the middle of the field: No to that. But I guess when you have an attacking left back who plays for Barcelona and scores laser beam goals with his weaker foot, that comes with the territory.

McKennie: 6. Not his sharpest match, but really good energy. He was probably motivated to make up for the previous cycle.

Adams: 5.5. Also not his best, but good work rate.

Musah: 7. Played a very Christian Pulisic-type game in that he did well to turn and dribble in tight spaces.

Aaronson: 6. I think it’s safe to say he’s our third-best winger (behind Pulisic and Reyna). His set piece service could have been better.

Weah: 6.5. Much better from him tonight; he was consistently dangerous and deserved the goal. In some leagues, they count it as an assist if you force an own goal; he deserved at least that.

Pepi: 5.5. Didn’t score but contributed to the attack. He also defended well on corners; you see, you’re supposed to head the ball away from the goal.

Hoppe: 6. If you get a call, and someone says “do you want to leave Mallorca and come to Ohio?” and you say “yes”, then you deserve to at least get on the field.

Yedlin: 5.5. Solid; helped ice the game. Who is our second-best right back? It might still be Yedlin.

Busio: 6. I hear he’s playing well; I need to start watching Serie A. I just need to figure out which responsibility I’m going to neglect to make time.

Zimmerman, Zardes: NR.

1. It is. He’s 51 now.