The United States and Colombia played out a scoreless draw in front of 8,823 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night. The United States stayed with their tactical experimentation from Saturday night’s 2-2 draw with Poland, though with a more attacking bent in Chester. The result wasn’t the offensive output the US might have expected. Stuart Holden took the USA’s first shot on goal in the 53rd minute.
“In the first-half I think we were slow playing the ball and really couldn’t get good movement forward,” US National Team coach Bob Bradley told ESPN’s Julie Foudy. “The flow was better in the second-half. I think we were more mobile. Our passes moved forward and took us somewhere. That didn’t happen in the first-half.”
FC Dallas’s Brek Shea got his first National Team appearance, starting for the US. Aston Villa defender Eric Lichaj also got his first cap, coming on with three other US substitutes to start the second-half. Lichaj’s Villa teammate Brad Guzan picked up the shutout.
-- GAME REPORT --
Match: United States vs. Colombia
Date: October 12, 2010
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: PPL Park – Chester, Pa.
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Attendance: 8,823
Weather: Clear, 65 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 0 0
COL 0 0 0
Lineups:
USA : 18-Brad Guzan; 2-Jonathan Spector (13-Eric Lichaj, 46), 5-Oguchi Onyewu (capt.) (16-Michael Parkhurst, 46), 21-Clarence Goodson, 14-Heath Pearce; 19-Maurice Edu (9-Eddie Johnson, 46), 15-Jermaine Jones, 4-Michael Bradley; 11-Stuart Holden (22-Benny Feilhaber, 59), 17-Jozy Altidore, 23-Brek Shea (8-Clint Dempsey, 46)
Subs not used: 1-Tim Howard, 7-Alejandro Bedoya
Head Coach: Bob Bradley
COL: 22-Faryd Mondragon; 18-Juan Camilo Zuniga, 2-Aquivaldo Mosquera, 3-Mario Yepes (capt.), 6-Juan David Valencia; 8-Victor Ibarbo (4-Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, 63), 15-Jhon Viarfara (19-Jhon Valencia, 63), 21-John Restrepo, 20-Adrian Ramos (11-Teofilo Gutierrez, 73); 10-Giovanni Moreno (7-Pablo Armero, 81), 9-Falcao Garcia (17-Darwin Quintero, 56)
Subs not used: 1-David Opsina, 12-Breiner Castillo, 14-Luis Amaranto Perea
Head Coach: Hernán Darío Gómez
Stats Summary: USA / COL
Shots: 4 / 4
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Saves: 2 / 2
Corner Kicks: 2 / 1
Fouls: 14 / 15
Offside: 2 / 5
Misconduct Summary:
COL – Adrian Ramos (caution) 72nd minute
USA – Jermaine Jones (caution) 75
USA – Jozy Altidore (caution) 90
COL – John Restrepo (caution) 91+
Officials:
Referee: Roberto Garcia (MEX)
AR1: Joel Rangel (MEX)
AR2: Marcos Quintero (MEX)
4th: Brian Dunn (USA)
This was rather disappointing. I have no idea what Coach Bradley was thinking when he put three central midfielders at midfield. Why would you even THINK of trying that?! This really took Brek Shea and Stu Holden out of the play as Jones, Edu and Bradley couldn’t get the hang of wide positions and kept losing the ball.
I kinda feel Shea was robbed of a chance to impress at the national team level because of this ridiculous formation. Coach owes him another chance BIG TIME!
This game was also another example of an “off day” for Jozy Altidore.
The game was sloppy on both sides of the ball. Both Colombia and the US could not connect a pass, often times dwindling the play to a midfield drawl.
I think you have to give Bradley some credit for trying something new, and giving Shea and Lichaj a chance. Was that the best formation for the type of player that Shea is? I don’t think so.
I think the problem with the way the US played was due to the team not committing to the formation. You saw Bradley and Jones playing too close to each other in the midfield, and even Holden and Altidore would drift into the midfield creating more clutter instead of staying put and up top to spread out the field.
I think the players that stood out for me were Heath Pearce, Stu Holden and Eric Lichaj. These three created opportunities for other team mates or moved the pace of the ball upfield.
If we can get these three to help dig out the US out of their ho-hum attacking, then I feel we could see the beginning of a great counter-attack soccer. All we need are the forwards to step up.