Colombia Defeats US Men’s National Team 4-2 In Friendly

Colombia defeated the United States Men’s National Team 4-2 in an international friendly soccer match at Raymond James Stadium on Thursday night.

USMNT falls 4-2 in friendly against Colombia

A win or tie for the United States would have been a serious morale booster for a team that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Nevertheless, Colombia thoroughly outplayed the U.S. in front of a crowd of 38,631 at Raymond James Stadium on Thursday night, the largest to ever watch a United States Men’s National Team game in Tampa, Florida.

U.S. midfielder Julian Green had a good chance to score the first shot in the opening 15 minutes after he cut inside to his right foot and fired a line drive from outside the penalty area just a bit too wide of Colombia’s goal.

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But it was winger James Rodriguez who drew first blood for Columbia in the 36th minute after he swiveled back onto his left foot inside the U.S. penalty area and curled an unstoppable shot over goalkeeper Zack Steffen into the top-left corner to give Colombia a 1-0 lead at half-time.

With Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams all unavailable due to injuries, interim U.S. head coach Dave Sarachan made no changes at halftime, but his team came out more energized after the break.

The U.S. got off to a great start after the break when midfielder Kellyn Acosta volleyed home a long pass in the box from defender Antonee Robinson to level the game 1-1 in the 50th minute.

The U.S. took a 2-1 lead three minutes later when forward Timothy Weah found space on the left wing and delivered to striker Bobby Wood, who split two defenders to finish off a counter-attack.

However, the lead wouldn’t last long as right-back Santiago Arias connected on a pass to Villarreal striker Carlos Bacca three minutes later. Bacca then shot past the diving arms of keeper Steffen to square the contest to 2-2 with the hour mark approaching.

Colombia retook the lead in the 74th minute on a counter move that saw Radamel Falcao hit a shot from a Juan Quintero assist to put the South American team up 3-2.

Colombia finished the game in the 79th minute when Rodriguez found forward Miguel Borja across the box. Borja hammered a neat overhead finish into the right corner, making it 4-2.

The U.S. plays its next match on Tuesday in another friendly against Peru in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Colombia will battle Costa Rica on the same day in New Jersey.

Article by Dewayne Goforth