FanNation - The Republic of Sport

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 07:44 AM ET  06.02 by Keeper- we want Diego

I don't know about the Costa Rica score there, Chaco. The US got a wake-up call against El Salvador, and I don't think that they will make the same mistake again. There is no excuse for the US to give up 2 goals to anyone in CONCACAF in a match. I don't care if it ends scoreless, just don't led them score.

Lets not be too ambitious here. Costa Rica has almost always gotten at least two goals against the US at home in qualifying and the Ticos should still be considered favorites to win.

Despite this, I do think that this time the US may actually have a decent shot at getting at least a draw. All the Tico forwards except Ruiz are terribly out of form and Ruiz always seems to underperform at the Saprissa. The real problem is at center forward where none of the choices look very good. The two guys (Furtado and Saborio) who???ve have been starting in that position spent the later part of this past season on the bench for their respective clubs and while Ruiz can play there, he is strongest playing as a withdrawn forward as he does with great success in Belgium (though perhaps not for long as he???s currently the target of several Dutch and Italian clubs). The Tico???s have gotten so desperate up front that they???ve actually called up over-the-hill former Fire and Crew forward Andy Herron. This despite the fact that Herron almost single handedly cost his club the domestic title last week by incredibly wasting four wide open chances in front of the goal. Herron wasn???t even a consistent regular on the national team in his prime (which is why he ended up in the MLS rather than Europe).

Other keys to the game include:

* How each team deals with their respective injury problems at right back. Both are down to their third or fourth choice at that position. The US could really take advantage of this if Beasley is in form or if Bradley plays Donovan out on the left as they did against T&T. For its part, Costa Rica has the option of either moving Ruiz out to the left or giving a rare start to Bola??os, who is tearing up the Norwegian league this season.

* Whether Mastroeni and Bradley can stop Costa Rican playmaker Walter Centeno. Though well into his 30???s, Centeno has been red hot lately for both club and country. If given space, he can create enough opportunities that even this mediocre crop of forwards should be able to put in at least one or two.

Viajero read my mind on the Centeno-Bradley matchup. That will be key.

I was really disappointed. I'm not making excuses. After seeing those goals several times, I'm not blaming the pitch at all. I don't think the pitch had anything to do with those goals. I was extremely disappointed in Mastroeni. Torres was supposed to play higher but he was seen having to run back to cover Mastroeni.

Also, the full-backs looked awful. Mexico and US always has problems playing away. Mexico and US seem to play differently away from home against inferior opponents. That's nothing new. That's why the hexagonal is always exciting.

Not a big fan of Galarcep, but he wrote a good analysis of last night's game.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=652582&sec=us&root=u s&cc=5901

I agree with Chaco. Costa Rica so thoroughly outplayed the US that I don???t think its as simple as blaming the turf. Besides, I recently read an interview with Carlos Johnson (of the Red Bulls) in which he said that he actually prefers the turf at Saprissa to the one at Giants Stadium.

But one thing that does come to mind from reading all your comments is that I start to wonder if part of the problem is that the US doesn???t have enough respect for teams like Costa Rica. The US tactical setup last night was almost suicidal. You do not come in to San Jose and try to play like you are at home. The only way to get a result here is to do what the Salvadorians and even the Mexicans do when they come down here. You pack the defense with a double wall of four defenders and four midfielders so that Costa Rica has no space going forward. The Ticos tend to get frustrated and end up leaving space at the back for the counter.

While undoubtedly the US and Mexico are tops in the Concacaf, they are really not all that superior to Costa Rica and Honduras. I think this misapprehension that the best of the Central Americans are somehow significantly inferior comes from tournaments like the Gold Cup and the results of friendlies. But keep in mind that those last are almost always played in the US. It???s only in qualifying that you get a truer measure of the relative strength of the national teams. In qualifying, Costa Rica has more then held its own against the big two so far this decade. The Ticos ran away with the hexagonal for the 2002 WC and came in a very close third four years later.

Perhaps the US will start getting better results down here when they start approaching the game as if was against Mexico in the Azteca. If you insist on blaming the turf or some superstitious nonsense about Saprissa stadium, rather than respect the quality of the Costa Rican team and prepare a strategy to specifically counter the Ticos strengths, then you are going to keep getting trounced every time. The Mexicans (both clubs and national team) have learned this lesson, and while they still tend to lose down here more often than not, they do much better than the US does.