The US talked a good game before facing Argentina, but once they fell behind, they played afraid.
Kyle Bonn
The United States came into their Copa America semifinal against Argentina with a strong mindset, a belief they could complete a task many thought impossible.
They spoke plenty in the lead-up to the match about how they weren’t afraid, they were ready, and they were going to play their game on their field in front of their fans.
The suspended Alejandro Bedoya wrote that he told Geoff Cameron after watching Argentina beat Venezuela, “You know what? This team’s beatable. We can do this.”
Captain Michael Bradley told media before the game, “I think you guys are probably worrying about Messi more than we are.”
All that chatter, all that confidence, all that downplaying of the task at hand…fast forward 24 hours, and the 4-0 loss in Houston appeared anything but a contest. In the end, the team played exactly how they ensured they weren’t – scared.
Jurgen Klinsmann deserves plenty of criticism for what went wrong. The US appeared to lack a coherent plan and the manager’s lineup choices, even with critical suspensions, warrant a second and third guess. But none of those criticisms absolve the players from blame. The loss was a collective exercise in failure.
It started before the opening whistle. Manager Jurgen Klinsmann said the team would “go for it” against Argentina. A nice idea in theory; his lineup said otherwise. With the 4-3-3 and a modified 4-4-2 flourishing this tournament, Klinsmann reverted to his fall-back formation, a static, defensive and negative 4-4-2 suggesting the United States would do anything but “go for it.” He started Kyle Beckerman in a 2-man midfield and Chris Wondolowski up top, two players who have little use beyond their purely niche roles. As a result, Beckerman was torn to pieces and Wondo was yanked at halftime after making no impact, save a horrific giveaway that set up a necessary professional foul, and moments later, a Messi free kick piece of magic.
The players echoed their manager on the field. Michael Bradley said he wasn’t worried about Lionel Messi, then fifteen minutes into the game he committed a turnover that led to a Messi chance sixty yards downfield. A bit later, he did this:
https://vine.co/v/5B6uwqvXTYx
And this:
The Michael Bradley Turnover Machine just keeps on trucking. Beautiful layoff. #USAvARG pic.twitter.com/AI2uJjjNWd
— TheSoccerObserver (@SoccerObserver) June 22, 2016
That’s all from just one player. There was more. John Brooks, tremendous all tournament, triple-pumped on a free-kick in his own half before tapping it straight to Messi like a deer in the headlights.
Graham Zusi attempted to chase a ball down on the edge and ended up wrapped around the corner flag.
DeAndre Yedlin said after the game, “I don’t think they caught us off guard, I just don’t think we were as prepared for it as we should have been.” Whether Yedlin meant the team wasn’t tactically, mentally, or physically prepared, that’s a serious indicator that overconfidence got the best of this team. With the squad presuming its cohesiveness and togetherness would provide an even match for Argentina’s far superior technical abilities, they went out and were shell-shocked.
After an eye-opening first 10 minutes which made their deficiencies apparent, one by one the players slowly realized the massive gap in talent, and began to play scared.
The United States talked plenty about how they weren’t afraid of this stacked Argentina team, when maybe in the end they needed to understand better the fine balance between respecting an opponent and investing in a plan to beat them and simply playing afraid.
Teams have won against countries much better than them; admitting the opposition is better does not equate to admitting defeat. The US allowed self-belief to become overconfidence, with players that spoke as if they believed they were on equal footing with Argentina coming into the match. Once they realized this wasn’t the case, they lost control of their emotions and the game.
“I think our players could feel that they are, probably in every position on the field, just better than we are,” Klinsmann said after the game.
A perfect summary of a forgettable match.
Kyle Bonn has written frequently for The Yanks Are Coming. His work has been featured on a variety of websites, including NBC Sports. Follow him on Twitter @the_bonnfire.