U.S. Men’s National Team v. Costa Rica, East Hartford, Connecticut, 7.16.13

The U.S. men’s national team beat Costa Rica for their record eighth straight victory. And unlike recent outings against Cuba, Belize, and Guatemala, this was not primarily an opportunity for U.S. attackers to pad their stats. It was an evenly matched affair between two teams that, going into last Tuesday’s match, had an all-time head-to-head record of 12-12-6. The game was decided by a single goal, and the Yanks easily could’ve lost it.

It turned, heartbreakingly for the Ticos, in the 82^nd minute. Costa Rica midfielder Celso Borges hit a good corner kick to the back of the six that found MLS standout Alvaro Saborio, whose header was saved spectacularly by Sean Johnson. (After watching the replay a half a dozen times, I still can’t tell if Saborio’s shot was going in or if it would’ve hit the crossbar.) The rebound was headed clear and eventually fell to Joe Corona, who, his head coach on the sideline imploring him to look up field, hit a good ball down the U.S. right sideline to Landon Donovan. Donovan, calm and fluid, looked over his back shoulder and then over his front, let the ball bounce once at his feet, and knifed a flawless pass into space between two backtracking Costa Rica defenders. Brek Shea sprinted onto the pass, settled it with a soft touch, and struck a partially deflected low shot over Costa Rica’s goalkeeper and into the goal. In the space of twenty seconds, Costa Rica had gone from nearly winning the game to losing it.

Shea had come into the game as a substitute in the 77^th minute. It’s fair to say that after his poor performance against Cuba a few days prior, most coaches would not have sent him on against Costa Rica. But Jurgen Klinsmann gave Shea another shot, just as he’s given guys like Chris Wondolowski, DaMarcus Beasley, and Stuart Holden multiple chances to succeed.

While it’s too early to judge Klinsmann’s time as head coach of the U.S. men’s national team, he’s done exceptionally well so far. The current historic winning streak started with an upset of his native Germany and was followed by three critical World Cup qualifying wins over Jamaica, Panama, and Honduras. Not only that, Klinsmann’s record against rival Mexico is 1-0-2, including the U.S.’s first-ever victory in Mexico.

Klinsmann is a departure from the obsessively focused, outwardly humorless, crypto militaristic kind of coach Americans are used to, regardless of sport, from Bobby Knight to Tom Coughlin to Bob Bradley. Klinsmann smiles a lot in interviews and can seem at times goofy. He’s fluent in five languages. He flies helicopters. On the sidelines, he often looks like an aging Brooklyn hipster on his way to a Spoon show, as he did against Costa Rica, sporting khakis, sneakers, and a tasteful long-sleeved shirt with a throwback centennial U.S. logo on it. He gives guys like Shea second chances and seems genuinely happy if they succeed.

But a core of Teutonic ruthlessness runs through Klinsmann. Clearly displeased with Donovan’s extended vacation from soccer, he left him off the roster from the last round of qualifiers and is making Donovan prove himself with a young B-team squad in the unglamorous Gold Cup. Klinsmann has for all intents and purposes cut long-time U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra, though Bocanegra is not injured and the U.S. has an inexperienced, shallow center-back pool. When asked about Clint Dempsey’s impressive accomplishments in the English Premier league, Klinsmann said of his star attacker, “He hasn’t done shit.” In short, Klinsmann is one of Germany’s best-ever strikers, and nothing any U.S. player does on the field is going to impress him much.

When the final group-stage Gold Cup roster was announced, it struck me as more of a C-team than a B-team. I’d expected MLS players like Graham Zusi, Omar Gonzalez, and Eddie Johnson to be included. (As I understand it now, Klinsmann agreed not to call MLS players for the group stage if they’d been on the roster for the recent round of qualifiers.) Now that the group stage is complete, however, I’ve grown to really like this team, and I even think it would give the A-team a run for its money, especially if the Gold Cup squad got to keep DaMarcus Beasley. Donovan and Beasley have played very well in the Gold Cup, Chris Wondolowski has scored five goals in three group games, Stuart Holden and Mix Diskerud have looked strong (if inconsistent) in the midfield, and Jose Torres has also looked very good on the ball. Corona has been strong too, especially working with Donovan in the final third. I like the center back pairing of Michael Orozco and Clarence Goodson, and the latter was perhaps man of the match against Costa Rica.

So I give Klinsmann a lot of credit for choosing this roster. It’s certainly made for an exciting tournament for U.S. fans, with a 3-0 record, 11 goals scored and only 2 conceded. On Wednesday, Klinsmann tweaked the Gold Cup roster slightly for the knockout stage, calling in Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, Alan Gordon, and Eddie Johnson. Out are Oguchi Onyewu and Herculez Gomez (both due to injury), along with Corey Ashe and Jack McInerney, neither of whom played in the group games or in the Guatemala friendly.

I was a little surprised that two center backs were called in, given the general effectiveness of Goodson and Orozco and the relatively poor outside-back defensive play of Edgar Castillo and Tony Beltran. But how can you question Klinsmann’s judgment at this point? He’s done a wonderful job of creating a healthy competition for roster positions and playing time, of calling in an exciting Gold Cup team, and of getting good results.