USA vs. Costa Rica: 3 Points Gained, but Were Any Questions Answered?

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at Internationaled.org

Published: March 23, 2013

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The USA gained a priceless three points Friday night against Costa Rica in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying in absurd and unprecedented conditions. The result may calm Klinsmann's critics, but can hardly dispel any real doubts about the team's performances.

The first half saw about all the football that was to be played in Commerce City, Colo., as a thickening blanket of snow made passing and dribbling—two important tactics in the modern game of football—a virtual impossibility as the night wore on.

With the win, the USA moves into second place in the CONCACAF table, but the victory does little to shed light on the team's progress or potential following a disastrous opening to the Hexagonal stage in Honduras.

How can you judge a football team from a snowball fight?

Yes, the U.S. came out the better team and made the best of the conditions early on. In particular the central midfield three of Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley were connecting passes smartly and outfoxing their Costa Rican counterparts. It was no surprise to see Dempsey create and then finish off the move that marked the night's only strike.

The USA should have had a penalty just before the half when Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas completely missed his punch on a hopeful ball into the box and Dempsey was there to pounce before being tripped by Roy Miller.

From there, the conditions increasingly turned the game into a farcical exchange of hopeful long balls bouncing from end to end, with little to no coherent build-up play to be found. I don't know if anyone keeps close statistics on passes completed in CONCACAF qualifiers, but they wouldn't have made for flattering reading on the night.

I'm also not sure what exactly was going through the referee's mind when he decided on an abandon-the-match-but-wait-maybe-ask-the-players-instead strategy after 55 minutes of play. Because the players are the ones...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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