The US national team opened their Copa America Centenario odyssey with an oddly muted showing in a 2-0 defeat to Colombia on Friday night.
The home side noticeably lacked spark throughout and their attacking play suffered with lethargy. While they were generally together defensively, a corner kick set play and a spot kick had their doom spelled out by halftime.
Brad Guzan (6.5) - The netminder, who had no real chance on either goal, made a handful of comfy saves and one helpful rush out of his area.
DeAndre Yedlin (5) - His late first half penalty foul tells much of Yedlin's story from this one, as he was unable to have much impact moving forward.
Geoff Cameron (6.5) - The Stoke handyman made a couple of excellent early plays in the US box before losing the scorer on Colombia's corner kick opener. Cameron then went back to being the team's strongest defender on the day.
John Anthony Brooks (5) - The Hertha Berlin center back failed to have his usual impact with long passes and he got away with a tardy step-up which led to Carlos Bacca ringing the woodwork late.
Fabian Johnson (5) - The 'Gladbach ace was nearly invisible going forward and had a couple of hiccups at the back.
Michael Bradley (5) - Though he offered a few nice restart serves, Bradley never really got his run-of-play passing game going. He also committed a couple of uncharacteristic giveaways in the US end.
Jermaine Jones (5.5) - Much like the team's effort as a whole, Jones was neither especially bad nor terribly effective.
Alejandro Bedoya (5) - The Nantes attacker was linking nearly every US advance in the early going, but faded. Bedoya also took an unnecessary yellow card and squandered a decent volley chance.
Gyasi Zardes (5.5) - The Galaxy man gained his team some yardage on the ball and pitched in with a few defensive stops at the US end. Like the rest of the team, though, he has to be more aggressive.
Bobby Wood (5.5) - Wood started well enough and took part in some of the better US rushes, but drifted out of the game for stretches until being removed midway through the second frame.
Clint Dempsey (6.5) - Probably the most game USMNT player, Dempsey narrowly missed a first half equalizer when he buzzed the frame 10 minutes before halftime. After the break, the man they call "Deuce" had a header cleared off the line and a free kick pushed out of the top corner in quick succession.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (5) - Setting aside the two dead ball goals allowed, the game was quite even. However, the US lacked aggressiveness across midfield. Oddly, there was almost no effort to press Colombia into turnovers, even with the hosts down two in the second half. And once again, Johnson was wasted on the back line.
Subs:
Darlington Nagbe (6) - The Timbers midfielder helped the team apply late pressure without making any key plays.
Christian Pulisic (5.5) - The youngster was largely unable to find the ball, and thus, chances to make an impact.
Graham Zusi (-) - A mere cameo.
