The United States was incredibly lifeless and deserved to lose the CONCACAF Cup to Mexico on Saturday.
Can it turn around and get back on the pitch on Tuesday against Costa Rica and play up to the level of success it is always assumed to show?
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Americans are going to be favorites in this match, but they probably aren't going to be as favored by as much as they would have been had they looked stronger against Mexico. They were embarrassed in that match for our money, losing out to a team which played without its best player in Giovani Dos Santos and the final part of extra time without its captain and its second choice for captain.
As of Sunday night, there still are no odds posted for this fixture. The biggest reason for that is that everyone is going to try to get a bit of a feel for what Jurgen Klinsmann is going to do with this lineup. He only has so many youngsters available on this squad he can readily call upon, but using men like Damarcus Beasley, who surely won't be around in 2018 for the World Cup is probably useless.
KEY INJURIES
The Americans won't have Alejando Bedoya once again in this match, which will thin out an already suspect midfield. Aside from that though, the U.S. got out of the match against Mexico without any further injury concerns, though it remains to be seen what this team will look like when it kicks off at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We have to sit together and discuss things: who we're counting on, how we want to build towards the next couple games, and there's not much time. That will be a lot of conversations coming up the next couple days." – U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann being coy about his plans for this match against Costa Rica.
RECENT FORM
The Yanks haven't played well at all of late. Not only did they lose out on a bid to the Confederations Cup against Mexico in extra time, but they also were slammed by Brazil in September 401 at Gillette Stadium. All of a sudden, the United States has losses in four of its last five matches, though two of those four losses came in extra time or penalties.
Costa Rica hasn't played all that well either. The team was beaten 1-0 by South Africa at home in a shocking defeat in a friendly last week, and that came on the heels of losing 1-0 to Brazil and 1-0 to Mexico. In fact, the Ticos only have one victory in normal time in a calendar year, that coming against Uruguay on September 8 at home.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
This particular Costa Rican side isn't a great one. Oscar Ramirez didn't call upon Bryan Ruiz, his best striker for these friendly matches, and the lack of offense at the top of the form showed against South Africa in a lifeless defeat.
However, Cristian Gamboa does a great job at the back for Costa Rica, and if it can figure out how to get some possession in this match, the Stars and Stripes could be in some trouble yet again.
Klinsmann is under fire for sure, and the argument could be made that another setback here against Costa Rica could see him dismissed before qualifying for the World Cup begins next month.
We're not just sold that he is going to make the right decisions in this match. If men like Jozy Altidore and Beasley aren't in the Starting XI, we'll actually feel better about the Americans. If they are though, we think this is setting up to be a very disappointing day once again for the U.S. Men's National Team.
United States 1, Costa Rica 1
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