Soccer Post: Copa Ameria: USMNT vs Colombia Game Thread

[War Machine Dawg]

US starting their Copa America tonight. Jurgen Klinsmann has picked a 4-3-3 starting 11:

Guzan, Yedlin, Cameron, Brooks, Johnson, Bedoya, Bradley, Jones, Zardes, Dempsey, and Wood are your starters.

[War Machine Dawg]

Colombia goal from a corner in the 8th minute. Zapata volleys it past Guzan. Horrible D by Cameron.

[War Machine Dawg]

Handball penalty against Yedlin in the 41st minute. Colombia nails the penalty shot. 2-0 Colombia. Damn, we're getting hammered.

[War Machine Dawg]

2-0 Colombia leads at the half.

That was a damn harsh penalty against Yedlin. It definitely hit his hand, but he had his back turned and wasn't even looking at the ball.

[War Machine Dawg]

Darlington Nagbe and Christian Pulisic subbing on in the 65th minute for the US. Jermain Jones & Bobby Wood off. Can't believe Klinsmann waited so long.

[War Machine Dawg]

Colombia down to 10 momentarily with an injury. Substitution forthcoming. Or not, player coming back on now. We'll see how long he can go.

[War Machine Dawg]

Spoke to soon. Sub is happening. James Rodriguez off, Celis on. US needs to score bad. Just 18 minutes plus injury time left.

[War Machine Dawg]

Final US sub: Zusi in, Bedoya off. About 5 minutes plus injury time left. Desperately need a goal in case goal differential comes into play.

[War Machine Dawg]

And Colombia has used their final sub. Still 2-0, about 2 minutes + stoppage to go.

[War Machine Dawg]

US corner in the 90th minute. C'mon, score, dammit!

[War Machine Dawg]

No goal, headed away. US throw. 3 minutes of stoppage time.

[War Machine Dawg]

Scary counter by Colombia, Zusi fouls to stop it.

[War Machine Dawg]

2-0 Colombia FT

Damn. This lineup of old guys blows. And Klinsmann sucks.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Colombia is a lot more talented than us. We played well, but my biggest complaint going back to the last World Cup is that we simply don't have the talent to make things happen on the opponent's 1/3 of the pitch unless we're on the counter

[War Machine Dawg]

Colombia is a lot more talented than us. We played well, but my biggest complaint going back to the last World Cup is that we simply don't have the talent to make things happen on the opponent's 1/3 of the pitch unless we're on the counter

We aren't fast enough. We have GOT to get younger and faster. I appreciate everything the current group has done, but most of them need to make way for the upcoming talent. Pulisic needs to be playing no fewer than 70 minutes. Same for Nagbe.

You're right about our struggles on the attacking end, though. We've gotta develop some guys who are threats on that end. That's one reason I was disappointed Jordan Morris chose the Sounders over Werder Bremen, although he's probably getting a lot more first team minutes with Seattle. Hopefully he'll do well and move to Europe in 1-2 years where the competition is better.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

We aren't fast enough. We have GOT to get younger and faster. I appreciate everything the current group has done, but most of them need to make way for the upcoming talent. Pulisic needs to be playing no fewer than 70 minutes. Same for Nagbe.

You're right about our struggles on the attacking end, though. We've gotta develop some guys who are threats on that end. That's one reason I was disappointed Jordan Morris chose the Sounders over Werder Bremen, although he's probably getting a lot more first team minutes with Seattle. Hopefully he'll do well and move to Europe in 1-2 years where the competition is better.

I thought Julien Green might be the answer after the WC, he looked good and scored that awesome goal but has since then seemingly vanished from all discussion.

Pulisic is talented enough to be starting, but I understand the reservation of shattering his confidence considering he's only 17. I would like to see him get more than 20 minutes though

[Dawgowar]

Our attack remains bland and unthreatening. Let the kid play and hope he doesn't turn into a conceited turd like Landycakes did. Fact is we can rule CONCACAF but these South American teams will always make it look like men against boys when they play us.

[War Machine Dawg]

I thought Julien Green might be the answer after the WC, he looked good and scored that awesome goal but has since then seemingly vanished from all discussion.

Pulisic is talented enough to be starting, but I understand the reservation of shattering his confidence considering he's only 17. I would like to see him get more than 20 minutes though

Yeah, Green needs to leave Bayern for a club where he'll get first team minutes. He can't even crack Bayern's bench most of the time right now. He's got talent, but he's not going to develop sitting in the stands. But he's got to make that decision for himself. He's still young, so time is on his side.

I definitely understand the reservation to put too much on Pulisic, but he's been playing a bunch of minutes and doing well with Dortmund. No reason to think international play would be any tougher than club level. Put him out there and let him go. At the very least, sub him on at halftime every night so he gets a full 45.

There's no reason for Nagbe to not start and play the full 90. We're a completely different team on the attack when he's on the pitch. Release the Nagbe, dammit!

[War Machine Dawg]

Our attack remains bland and unthreatening. Let the kid play and hope he doesn't turn into a conceited turd like Landycakes did. Fact is we can rule CONCACAF but these South American teams will always make it look like men against boys when they play us.

Yeah, Argentina and Brazil will always be the dominant force in this hemisphere. But we could be in that 3-5 group pretty consistently. It's just going to take time to get there. Soccer is still growing and developing here. We need more parents pushing their kids into the sport early, especially in the Deep South where there are so many elite but raw athletes. And I think it's very slowly happening as the concussion issue with football continues to be discussed. Not to mention the purely physical toll all those hits take on the human body over time. Go look at your average NFL player at 50. They look 70 and have trouble walking. Quality of life after football ain't all that.

[Dawgowar]

Yeah, Argentina and Brazil will always be the dominant force in this hemisphere. But we could be in that 3-5 group pretty consistently. It's just going to take time to get there. Soccer is still growing and developing here. We need more parents pushing their kids into the sport early, especially in the Deep South where there are so many elite but raw athletes. And I think it's very slowly happening as the concussion issue with football continues to be discussed. Not to mention the purely physical toll all those hits take on the human body over time. Go look at your average NFL player at 50. They look 70 and have trouble walking. Quality of life after football ain't all that.

It's not in vogue (and I should be smacked for using that word I know) to say this these days, but we need more of those kids going to Europe. Get them in League one or two, the Championship, Scotland, the Dutch League and let them get some real coaching. Shit, send some defenders to Serie B - Italians know defense.

MLS needs to grow but we also need to develop these kids. MLS youth system is not going to do that as things are set up. College players remove the opportunity for kids to grow up at the teams.