On Wednesday night the U.S. National Team played Costa Rica at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Costa Rica was 30 seconds from clinching a spot in the 2010 World Cup, but before time could expire Jonathan Bornstein drove a header home to tie the game 2-2, to secure Honduras a spot instead.
The match began with the U.S. dictating the pace of play. They found themselves on goal numerous times in the opening 15 minutes, but just could not get the ball on goal. In the 12th minute Connor Casey missed a golden opportunity to put the Americans ahead as Jozy Altidore found him wide open in front of goal with just the keeper to beat. Casey chocked big time and sent the ball high and wide of goal.
In the 20th minute Costa Rican forward Bryan Ruiz scored the games first goal. Ruiz blew by Onyewu after receiving the ball inside the box before beating a helpless Tim Howard. Ruiz would then score his second goal in 3 minutes to make the score 2-0, in the 23rd minute. He let loose a left footed rocket from the top of the 18 yard box into the upper left corner of the net. The U.S. defense again was broken down by the crafty Ruiz.
The U.S. again would miss a sure goal when Landon Donovan found himself behind the Costa Rican defense in the 37th minute. Donovan found himself one-on-one against the Costa Rican goalkeeper, but his shot sailed into the stands. Donovan didn’t even get the ball on goal but to make it worse all he had to do was look to the back-post and he would have found a wide open Casey.
The U.S. should have had at least four goals in the first half. They Absolutely dominated Costa Rica but went into halftime down two goals.
In the second half Costa Rica tried to preserve their two goal lead by dropping most of the team back and clogging the middle of the field. The Tico’s had their fare share of chances on goal but the U.S. still controlled the game, applying constant pressure to the Costa Rican back line. In the 64th minute Coach Bradley began to use his bench and in the next 16 minutes he used his three available substitutions.
In the 72nd minute Bradley got the fans back into the game when he outworked the Costa Rican defense for his 7th international goal. Second half substitution Robbie Rodgers sent a ball to the near post around the six yard box to Bradley, who flicked the ball to Donovan. Donovan settled the ball beautifully to his right foot and got a shot on goal that was deflected by Costa Rican keeper K Navas. Bradley pounced on the rebound and slid as he hit his shot off the keeper and into the back of the net.
With all three subs on the field, the U.S. was forced to play with 10 men for the last 15 minutes of the match when Unyewu went down with a torn tendon in his left knee. This is not good news for U.S. soccer as it will prove very difficult to replace the big physical defender.
The U.S. would break the hearts of Costa Rica when Johnathan Bornstein found himself wide open on a corner kick before heading it past the diving defenders. The corner was taken in the 5th minute of extra time culminating an excellent overall match.
To give up a goal this late in the match was heartbreaking for Costa Rica because now they are forced to play in a one game playoff to earn a berth to South Africa.
Overall, the U.S. looked strong at times. Other than the two breakdowns from the U.S. defence in the first half the back four had a very strong match. In the midfield Bradley and Donovan dominated up and down the pitch. Up top, Altidore was a machine from whistle to whistle. Altidore could have very well had a hat trick by himself on any other given night.
