Clint Dempsey and the US play for third place at an international tournament tonight, a feat that is not small for the US program
Jon Levy and Neil W Blackmon
The US closes the Copa América the way it started it, with a match against Colombia, this time in Glendale, Arizona. The third-place match caps a tournament where we’ve seen the best of Jurgen Klinsmann’s USMNT, in wins over Costa Rica and an impressive quarterfinal victory over Ecuador. We’ve also seen the worst of Klinsmann’s USMNT, in an embarrassing 4-0 semifinal defeat to Argentina, where the US appeared to have no coherent plan or approach and were punished accordingly.
History instructs that while they are the most meaningless competitive matches in soccer, third place matches are often fun, open affairs full of attacking verve and often featuring future stars. If both teams care, it can lead to beautiful football, as happened in 2010, when Edinson Cavani scored this beautiful goal in a tremendous game won by Germany in South Africa, 3-2.
It also instructs that the more-invested team often wins, which is what happened when Holland abandoned Van Gaal’s cautious counterattack and demolished Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.
After being flummoxed and pummeled by Argentina 4-0 Tuesday night, the thinking here is that the United States will be invested and play hard. This is yet another opportunity for the US to claim a top-ten (ELO or FIFA) scalp in a competitive match under Klinsmann, and for all the great friendly accomplishments, that’s an achievement missing from Jurgen’s US resume. It’s the last chance for the US to play a meaningful competitive match outside CONCACAF prior to Russia in 2018- assuming the US qualify. And it could be an international swansong for Tim Howard, who will start in place of Brad Guzan in his first match of the tournament. The US have achieved their pre-tournament goal of the semifinal. They can finish the summer on a high note with a win and should need very little motivation.
Colombia too should come prepared.
José Pékerman has led Colombia since 2012, and Los Cafeteros have attained some exceptional results under his leadership. But the team fumbled away Group A in a lost to Costa Rica and was poor defensively against Chile in the semifinal, falling behind 2-0 before registering a single shot on goal. Even the quarterfinal, a 0-0 slog against Peru that Colombia won in penalties, was disheartening. Colombia have the Olympics and the meat of CONMEBOL qualifying ahead of them. This is a great match to set a tone.
With both sides properly motivated then, an abridged TYAC preview. After all, we did a two-parter that largely breaks the match down tactically at the beginning of the Copa. To read it, click here (US section) and here (Colombia section.) But more on each side is below, after the usuals.
Series: 19th meeting. Colombia lead, 11-3-4. Colombia has won the last two matches between the nations after the 2-0 win to open the Copa in Santa Clara three weeks ago. The United States last beat Colombia in March 2005- a 3-0 win in Fullerton, California. The most famous match between the two countries, of course, is the 1994 World Cup match, won by the Americans 2-1 in the Rose Bowl and made infamous by the tragic murder of Andrés Escobar, whose own goal contributed to Colombia’s shocking defeat and disappointing exit from a World Cup in which they were pre-tournament favorites. That match, played at the Rose Bowl in 1994, was perhaps the most tragic moment in a Colombian footballing history painted in melancholy reds and blues by tragedy; the memory of that defeat, according to Sports on Earth’s Tomas Rios, was in the corner of many Colombian minds as the team made its joyous run to the quarterfinals in Brazil 2014.
Weather: Outside, temperatures will linger around 100. Some folks will tell you “it’s a dry heat,” as if that makes it less unbearable. I can tell you having lived in both types of climates there’s really no fundamental difference between humid hot and dry hot once you hit triple digits. It’s miserable either way. Luckily, the University of Phoenix roof will be closed and the sides will enjoy climate-controlled temps in the 70s.
Will Jurgen Klinsmann field youth in the quest for third?
What to Watch For From the United States:
Lineups and ideas.
The most difficult thing about this game isn’t that the US is playing a sixth competitive game in three weeks. That’s what you hope to do when you enter these types of tournaments. It sure beats playing on three games, which was the expectation of many when the tournament started.
The most difficult thing is the line that must be towed between being competitive tonight and what comes next, which is the meat of 2018 World Cup qualifying, beginning around Labor Day. The US still have meat on the bone to get out of their current group and reach the final qualifying round HEX. But assuming the US get the points they need from an away fixture at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and home fixture against Trinidad and Tobago to qualify for the HEX, the US will have plenty of decisions to make moving forward.
Among the questions:
- How much of the old-guard will be a part of qualifying moving forward? Pairing Chris Wondolowski and Clint Dempsey was a terrible idea Tuesday night and for all the San Jose man’s professional accomplishments, you can’t ask him to play at a high-international level for the first time in his life in his mid-30s. Kyle Beckerman disappointed against Argentina, his lateral movement sapped by years of rugged play for Real Salt Lake. What role does he have? Tim Howard didn’t play until tonight and the US are closer than they’ve been in two decades to lacking answers at goalkeeper. What is his role? How much more does Clint Dempsey have in the tank? Is there a place for healthy Jozy Altidore? These are only some of the old-guard questions.
- Related, how much youth do you play moving forward? Darlington Nagbe had his moments, even in his limited appearance against Argentina. He was comfortable on the ball and did defensive work that some wonder about. Christian Pulisic gave the US its best moments of the evening in attack. Bobby Wood lost his temper twice this tournament and his team paid for it against Argentina, but he’ll be back and he has been one of the three best Americans at the Copa América. Can he sustain that success? When, if at all, does Jurgen Klinsmann begin to integrate a promising youth group- Olympics failure aside- that includes players like Jordan Morris, Rubio Rubin, Gedion Zelalem, Ethan Finlay, Bill Hamid, Wil Trapp, Matt Hedges, Dillon Serna, Matt Miazga and Paul Arriola, among others?
- What will the US look like stylistically moving forward? Is the US going to transition (back) to a counterattacking, pressure style, only with flexible, build from the back CB’s and a higher line of confrontation? Or are the US still going to be pragmatic to a fault about formations in search of a “proactive, attacking style?”
A third-place game is a tempting place to begin to answer those questions, and the nature of them probably begs for a polemic. But the goal tonight will be to perhaps take a peek at those answers—get Nagbe and Pulisic on the field, for heaven’s sake—while also trying to snatch a signature achievement of the Klinsmann era—a third place finish at a tournament that featured many of the world’s best soccer teams.
James Rodriguez is still the Colombian catalyst, but Pekerman’s side is looking for an identity beyond him.
What to Watch For From Colombia:
In a similar vein to the United States, a team trying to figure out what it wants to be.
After a symphonic opening salvo, José Pékerman’s Colombia at the Copa América have disappointed. They fumbled away the group in the final game against Costa Rica and in truth, even the quarterfinal victory over Peru was a struggle. Los Cafeteros are a long way off the possession-based, dancing and attacking side that captivated the soccer world in Brazil two summers ago.
What is odd is how happy José Pékerman and his team have been to admit that- acknowledging that they don’t feel comfortable taking the initiative in a game at present. Their dream scenario had come in the opening match against the United States: Going ahead early and then being able to sit back and break at pace. It’s worth noting at this point that this acknowledgment comes with another implicit fact that ought to be recognized: for all the US possession against Colombia, and all the Klinsmann bravado about it, the Americans were doing what Colombia were comfortable allowing them to do.
Pékerman’s best teams, however, have been possession-based teams. When he was in charge of his native Argentina he was the mentor, at junior and senior level, of Juan Roman Riquelme, one of the last if not the last epic playmaker. No one is confusing James with Riquelme, but the Real Madrid man was certainly the somewhat awkward but wonderful number ten for the Colombians in Brazil. Since that tournament, however, Colombia have struggled through the midfield, even with James remaining (at least for country) a dynamic and quality engine.
Colombia have missed the reliable midfielder Abel Aguilar in the center.
There has been a lack of central midfielders available with an all-round game. Abel Aguilar, whose career has been hit by injury, has been missed. With no like for like replacement, Colombia have transitioned to a counterattacking game, a strategy first introduced last November in a World Cup qualifier away to Chile. This is fine- there’s elite winger talent and capable attacking fullbacks and James, so the personnel to score is still ever present. But counterattacking presupposes a capable defense, and it is in this respect Colombia have struggled against higher-levels of competition. That remained a problem against Chile and was exposed against Costa Rica’s frenetic pressure.
Now, suddenly, that concern is compounded by a lack of goals. Edwin Cardona, who was supposed to use this tournament as a coming out party to demonstrate Colombia were lethal on both wings, has been subpar, and was replaced at halftime against Chile. The team have also missed Teófilo, who has been spectacular at Sporting Lisbon. Carlos Bacca received plenty of acclaim entering this Copa- he’s been poor. And while Roger Martinez and Marlos Moreno are promising young players, they haven’t delivered yet at this level.
So Colombia are a team very much like the US- searching, probing, hoping for answers, with the meat of a qualifying campaign ahead of them.
Bobby Wood has been one of the best US players at the Copa America. Can he build on that tonight and into the remainder of the World Cup cycle? (PHOTO, US SOCCER)
American Player to Watch: Bobby Wood (Hamburg)
American soccer fans may look back at this Copa America as Bobby Wood’s tournament. Okay, well not quite. We’ll probably look back on it as John Brooks’s tournament, but I’m going to make the case for Wood’s national team emergence being even more important/encouraging than JB’s.
In spite of the rotating parade of center back pairings that we’ve endured since the 2014 World Cup, that position traditionally hasn’t been a big problem for the US. John Brooks has been awesome in this tournament, but most fans could have guessed that the Brooks/Cameron combo would at least add up to “good enough.” It certainly did that and more.
But striker, that’s a different story altogether.
The USMNT have been searching for years; some would say over a decade. We’ve practically knighted a number of dudes who were supposed to challenge Jozy Altidore for his spot on the field. But Aron Jóhannsson, Terrence Boyd, Juan Agudelo, and Eddie Johnson 2.0 (Gyasi Zardes, FTW) didn’t consistently perform well for the US, or were constantly dogged by injuries, or both. So now we’re trying to qualify for a World Cup that could be the team’s fourth consecutive without getting a goal from a recognized center forward. Rob Green’s exceptional 64th minute point-blank save on Jozy Altidore (1:35 below) notwithstanding; this team has striker issues. And due to Altidore’s frequent spells of summertournamentitis, most of us still have images of Brian McBride scoring goals in our heads.
Is Bobby Wood the second coming of Brian McBride? No way. Their games’ differ starkly, and frankly, Wood’s not on McBride’s level. Not yet anyway. But Wood has already negotiated some of the career hurdles that tripped up the national team prospects I’ve listed above. He was part of highly touted US youth teams that failed to qualify for important tournaments. He wasn’t a nailed-on starter for those teams either. He’s seen his club team relegated (Union Berlin at the time). And he’s dealt with months out injured. I know those don’t seem like huge setbacks, but they’ve often been enough to discourage or derail more highly regarded American strikers over the course of the last decade. And it is reasonably fair to argue but for a knee injury, Wood would have arrived on the scene sooner. Indeed, instead of going quietly into the night (and with Wood’s formerly minimal fanfare, it damn sure would have been quietly), Bobby put his head down and earned a starting spot for this Copa America. Then he fueled the US attack with hold-up/linking play that led to goals against good teams that place a premium on defending. Oh, and he scored a nice goal too, with help from Patrick Pemberton not being Keylor Navas.
Furthermore, Bobby Wood is nearly blameless in both American losses this tournament. He was quite clearly being played out of position on a wing in the opener against Colombia, so he kind of gets a pass there. Then he missed the Argentina match, suspended for yellow card accumulation, so no blame there either. Granted, we could blame him for needlessly taking that yellow card against Ecuador that led to the suspension, but he’s a young American; I think that particular variety of bonehead move is taught in our academies. Jurgen’s fault.
So as we head into this third place match with Colombia, one that couldn’t be more different for the Yanks than last year’s Gold Cup equivalent versus Panama, Wood has the chance to really put his signature on the USMNT’s Copa America Centenario. A good game and a goal would do that. Then Bobby Wood might truly be on his way to American soccer stardom.
Or this tournament could be Wood’s version of Eric Lichaj’s 2011 Gold Cup, and we’ll never see him again. But that doesn’t seem too likely.
Roger Martinez sealed the American fate for Rio. Can he surprise the US with a spot-start tonight?
Colombian Player to Watch: Roger Martinez (Racing Club, Argentina)
There are major questions about this Colombian team’s motivation in this match, but there are no such doubts about Roger Martinez’s motivation to impress for Los Cafeteros.
The 22 year old striker is an emerging star for Colombia’s Olympic team, having just scored the goals that kept the US U23’s from going to Rio. He’s been learning from the ageless Diego Milito at Racing Club in Argentina. Those metrics, and solid play in training, will get you a spot on Colombia’s Copa America squad. Then a Carlos Bacca injury will get you a start in the tournament semifinal versus the reigning Copa América champs. But Martinez didn’t capitalize on his sparing opportunities against Chile, despite forcing Claudio Bravo to make at least one great save. In truth, Wednesday night’s semifinal always belonged to Chile, and there wasn’t much one center forward could have done to change that. Colombia did eventually bring a less-than-100-percent Bacca on to partner Martinez, but the damage (two goals Chile vs. Colombian player ejection) had already been done.
So what are Colombia and Roger Martinez left with, respectively? Well, manager José Pékerman and most the Colombian players are left with an empty feeling after falling short in a tournament they thought they could win. But Roger Martinez still has a point to make at senior national team level, and this third place game could be his proving ground. I don’t know if Martinez gets the start, but Carlos Bacca seemingly has a boatload of money and a new club team waiting for him, provided he doesn’t further injure himself in a third place game. If I’m correctly reading the tea leaves (coffee beans?), a very motivated Roger Martinez will get a lot of playing time against the US. If he can victimize John Brooks and Geoff Cameron in their current good form, he’ll go a long way to convincing the manager he’s a potent striker, not just the kid who started up top during the Chile debacle.
Prediction: USA 3 – 1 Colombia
That motivation discrepancy rears its familiar head. Even a ruthless USMNT can’t erase memories of the thrashing by Argentina, but they sure can avenge the loss in the tournament opener while simultaneously making up for the Copa ’95 team’s poor display in that tournament’s third place game (…in which Colombia got revenge for the loss to the US in the ’94 World Cup). Sorry if that was too much, sports writers love a storyline. Goals for Wood and… Pulisic!
Enjoy the match and Go USA!
Jon Levy and Neil W. Blackmon co-founded The Yanks Are Coming. Follow them on Twitter@TYAC_Jon and @nwblackmon.