Football
Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondent 7y

U.S. outplayed, outcoached by Costa Rica in historic defeat - Bruce Arena

HARRISON, New Jersey - U.S. manager Bruce Arena didn't hold back in his criticism of his team, following the Americans' 2-0 defeat to Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifier.

The defeat, courtesy of two Marco Urena goals and some stellar goalkeeping from Keylor Navas, was the first away win for the Ticos in a World Cup qualifier against the U.S. since 1985.

The two home qualifying defeats this cycle for the U.S. marked the first time that's happened in a World Cup qualifying campaign since 1958.

"We obviously didn't play well tonight," said Arena. "I think on the night we didn't make any plays that mattered, and we were probably outplayed in most positions on the field and made some critical errors.

"We didn't capitalize on potential opportunities. We didn't have a good night. Give Costa Rica credit. I thought they outplayed us and outcoached us tonight."

It was a night when Arena opted to pair Darlington Nagbe with Michael Bradley in the center of midfield, while Tim Ream partnered Geoff Cameron in the center of defense. Nagbe struggled to provide much defensive help to Bradley, and the two center-backs fared even worse, looking out of sync and misplaying several situations that resulted in chances for the visitors.

Cameron's giveaway was the catalyst for Urena's second goal, but Arena defended the choice to pair Nagbe with Bradley, insisting that the bigger problems lay elsewhere.

"Darlington and Michael were not the problems in our game tonight," he said. "Our backline made some mistakes, we didn't come up with any big saves, our attacking players weren't dangerous on the night."

When asked why Cameron and Ream were so far apart in the run-up to Urena's first, Arena said: "That's a good question. We should have been a little bit better. Having said that, Tim [Ream] did a good job and Michael [Bradley] came in with him to push him wide.

"It didn't look like he got much on the shot, and Tim [Howard] perhaps lost his angle in the goal a little bit, and he was able to roll it in. If I'm not mistaken, the play developed where [Bryan] Ruiz handled the ball in the center of midfield, and the play went on and we got split there. It shouldn't happen."

It was also a frustrating night for U.S. midfielder Christian Pulisic, who missed several opportunities, and had a second half chance brilliantly saved by Navas.

"[Pulisic] had a tough game today and obviously they paid a lot of attention to him," said Arena. "You could see early in the game they always sent a second player to him. I think he got a little frustrated. They just defended very well against him."

The defeat is by no means fatal, but has served to tighten up the World Cup qualifying standings in CONCACAF. Honduras' 2-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago has brought them level on points with the U.S., with the Americans ahead on goal difference. Panama remains a point behind after losing to Mexico, who booked a spot in Russia with a 1-0 win.

"[Mexico] owe us one, don't they," Arena quipped, referring to how the U.S. bailed El Tri out during the last World Cup qualifying cycle.

But Arena didn't think his team was in any more peril than they were before Friday's defeat.

"Qualifying has been in jeopardy since last year for most teams," he said. "Right now Mexico and Costa Rica are I would think probably qualified. So it's going to be a battle amongst the remaining four teams."

He added: "We'll move on. This is how you deal in competition and sports. You don't win every game, and when you get a bad result you've got to put it past you real quick and play the next game and that's what we'll do."

Arena said he still feels as if the U.S. is in position to qualify for the World Cup. But now, he must get his team reenergized ahead of Tuesday's match against Honduras.

"We've got to put this past us real quick," he said. "We lost to a team that played better than us tonight. We're not going to be able to get this game back. It's over with. We've got to regroup and get our team ready to play on Tuesday."

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