The US came back from down 0-2 in this game to salvage a 2-2 tie at home against Costa Rica. There is plenty to say on the subject, so I'm breaking it down into 2 parts. This first part, is essentially everything that was running through my head once the final whistle sounded.
What. An. Ending!
The US didn't always make it look pretty, but they never stopped pushing to get back in the game. They missed a ton of giftwrapped chances early on, and then went down 2 goals by halftime, but not once did they let their heads hang and accept their first home loss in qualifying since 2001.
Not only did the US never give up, but in the 2nd half we finally saw shades of the US team we have been hoping to see all qualifying long. A team that methodically worked the ball up the field, only attacking into the box once they had worked enough players up to have 2 lines of attack: 1 line in the box, and another at the 18 as backup. Too many times the US puts everyone on the same level, then the ball squirts out to the 18, and no one is there to ty and clean up.
Man of the match is unquestionably Jozy Altidore. Wearing a Charlie Davies shirt, Altidore was a man possessed. Twice I saw him try and succeed in stealing a ball away from 3 opponents passing it back and forth. He created a golden chance for Conor Casey that Casey horribly botched in the 9th minute, drew 3 fouls just outside the 18, and had 2 quality chances on net (although he missed one and the other was saved). He was carrying the US offense for stretches at a time, taking the long balls, possessing, and making the right play. If he was playing to honor his friend in the hospital, he definitely made Davies proud.
I remember remarking during the game how Bradley always leaves his subs very late, and how sometimes you need to make the change earlier to shake things up. Sure enough, Bradley makes changes in the 62nd, 68th, and 78th minutes, and the first 2 changes have direct bearing on the 2 goals that were scored. Torres and Rogers injected a real shot of energy into the sagging US team, and without their play, this is at best a 2-1 loss for the Americans.
When a team misses as many good chances as the US did in the first 60 minutes of the game, it's either a sign that nothing is going to go right all game, or the karma is building up enough that eventually something is going to break your way. Last night it was the latter, as Bradley's shot was one of the lowest quality shots the US put on net. But that shot is the one that bounced off the sliding keeper and worked its way into the net to bring the game back to 2-1 in the 71st minute. And yes, it was unquestionably a lucky bounce, but it was the culmination of both a lot of outstanding chances the US created all game long, and of about 5-10 minutes of sustained American attack.
After this goal, the game fell into a mix of sloppy American attacks, and any effort possible by the Costa Ricans to waste time. In fact, they were so brazen about it, the their coach and an assistant were sent off for berating the 4th official, endangering what at the time looked to be their availability for Costa Rica's first 1 or 2 world cup games.
Also, the best US defender in years, Oguchi Onyewu went down in the last 10-12 minutes with what was later diagnosed as a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. Unfortunately for the US, this came after they had already subbed 3 times, so the Americans were forced to play with just 10 men for the rest of the game.
The second goal should never have happened. Given 5 minutes of stoppage time, the US started pressing about 2 minutes in. About 3 minutes in, the US lost the ball and Costa Rica dribbled it down into the US end with a 3 on 3 situation (and a man up overall). A situation many teams turn into the final whistle. And Costa Rica was thinking those thoughts, when all of a sudden Torres comes in and picks the Costa Rican player's pocket deep in his own end. The US brings it up the field and eventually secures a corner kick with over 4 and a half minutes gone in stoppage time. As soon as the ball is cleared by Costa Rica, it's game over. Do or die situation. Then, this happened:
Jonathan Bornstein runs in from the 18 onto a brilliant Torres corner kick, and stuffs it into the net with essentially no time left on the clock. With that header, the US won CONCACAF (thanks to Mexico tying Trinidad and Tobago) and Costa Rica is dumped from automatic berth in South Africa to a home and home playoff with Uruguay for a spot. Instead, Honduras, thanks to a 1-0 win over El Salvador, moves on, and the country torn apart by political strife hopefully has at least one day to unite and celebrate their first berth in the World Cup since 1982.
What a game, what an ending.
An interesting side note: the Costa Rican coach on the bench who looks crushed in the video above? He's the strength and conditioning coach, as once the head coach and assistant coaches were sent off, it was left to him to try and maintain order on the sideline and communicate with the players on the field.
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