Pre-Game Hype: USMNT vs. Costa Rica
USMNT v Costa Rica
Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Time: 9pm ET
Location: Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (San Jose, Costa Rica)
TV: BeIN Sports, NBC Universo
Watch with your #AOFamily at one of 190 chapter bars!
THE HYPE
A shocking 2-1 defeat at the hands of our rivals leaves the USMNT with no points and a bitter taste in our mouths heading into Tuesday's encounter with Costa Rica in San Jose.
Jurgen Klinsmann certainly had the tactics all wrong to start the match in Columbus and the boys could have found themselves down 3-0 within the first 15 minutes if it weren’t for the crossbar and some last-gasp defending. As it were, JK made some adjustments and got us back into the game. Bobby Wood scored early in the 2nd half, and the Yanks had plenty of chances to get a winner themselves before that old guy scored a late winner for the away team. But what’s done is done. And it is time to give the boys the lift they need heading into San Jose on Tuesday.
Timmy Howard went down with a fractured right adductor longus in the first half and was forced to be substituted, so Brad Guzan is the obvious replacement for starting GK.
Here’s the full team:
GK: Brad Guzan, Ethan Horvath, Tim Howard, William Yarbrough
DEF: Matt Besler, Steve Birnbaum, John Brooks, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Timmy Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Fabian Johnson, Michael Orozco, DeAndre Yedlin
MID: Alejandro Bedoya, Michael Bradley, Lynden Gooch, Julian Green, Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan, Christian Pulisic, Caleb Stanko, Graham Zusi
FOR: Jozy Altidore, Alan Gordon, Aron Johannsson, Bobby Wood
And Costa Rica:
GK: Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Patrick Pemberton (Alajuelense), Esteban Alvarado (Trabzonspor)
DEF: Bryan Oviedo (Everton), Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps), Ronald Matarrita (New York City FC), Umaña (Alajuelense), Johnny Acosta (Herediano), Jose Salvatierra (Alajuelense), Leonardo Gonzalez (Herediano), Allan Miranda (Herediano)
MID: Celso Borges (Deportivo de La Coruña), Christian Bolaños (Vancouver Whitecaps), Rodney Wallace (Sport Recife), Johan Venegas (Montreal Impact), Randall Azofeifa (Herediano), Yeltsin Tejeda (Lausanne), David Guzman (Saprissa), Pablo Salazar (Herediano)
FOR: Bryan Ruiz (Sporting Lisbon), Joel Campbell (Sporting Lisbon), Marco Ureña (Brondby), Ariel Rodriguez (Bangkok Glass)
So, the #DosACero streak is over. I say, let’s break another streak ourselves…. The USMNT has never won a WCQ in Costa Rica (0-8-1 all-time) and Tuesday would be the time to do it. It's not quite do or die yet, but we need to get a result here. Heading into 2017 with 0 points is not a good look.
Props to those #AOAway who traveled to Costa Rica to support our team. Be loud.
We love ya!
XOXO
AO
November 15, 2016