In the United States’ friendly in London last Friday, the USMNT suffered another frustrating loss, this time to James Rodriguez and Colombia by a score of 2-1. While not the result the team wanted, there are a few positives to take away from the young squad.
First and foremost, the U.S. did a fantastic job on defense, thanks to Jermaine Jones, who played at center back rather than his usual midfield position. Jones was an anchor and leader for the otherwise young defensive core of Gregory Garza, DeAndre Yedlin and John Brooks.
The attacking play of the U.S. had some promising advances, but not anything consistent. Jozy Altidore scored his 50th goal for the USMNT off of a penalty 10 minutes in, and then remained somewhat anonymous for the rest of the game. Altidore has had a serious dry spell for his Premier League club Sunderland, and his lack of consistency has shown for the U.S. as well.
Eighteen-year-old Rubio Rubin linked up well with Altidore, and almost scored a header at the beginning of the second half, and along with Julian Green and Fabian Johnson, is one of the youngest and possibly brightest future stars the U.S. has.
However, all this young talent has to produce some kind of positive result. The USMNT’s last win was against Ghana in its first match of the World Cup this past summer, and losing another lead in a friendly has been frustrating to say the least.
A loss was an expected outcome, however, with Colombia being one of the strongest teams at the World Cup, and having two of the best players in Europe in Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado, but still the U.S. could have easily hung on to a draw, and probably should’ve scored at least another goal.
Looking forward, the USMNT must remain patient, but there is still the need for results, especially with the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2015. The team needs more consistent play for 90 minutes and needs to show the ability to finish a game. This will come in time, but the U.S. needs it sooner rather than later.
