LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — American goaltender Matt Turner kept falling onto the field, punching the ground in frustration.
Defensive blunders from Anthony Robinson and aimless defensive play from Jonny Cardoso, Tim Weah and Cameron Carter-Vickers led to a four-goal concedal and embarrassing 5-1 defeat to Colombia in Saturday’s Copa America warm-up.
“I apologize to our fans,” Turner said, “that’s not our purpose, and certainly we need to bounce back in a big way.”
The only other time the U.S. has conceded that many goals since a 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia in the 1990 World Cup was a 5-0 loss to Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final in 2009. It was the first time the U.S. has conceded four goals since a 4-0 loss to Costa Rica in a 2016 World Cup qualifier that led the U.S. Soccer Federation to fire head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
“We don’t look at this as a lesson learned, we look at this as a wake-up call. It was a really bad performance against a top team,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said. “I think after the 75th minute we showed a lack of respect for our opponent, the game of football and what we were doing.”
Colombia took the lead in the sixth minute when Robinson failed to check for nearby personnel when he attempted a sliding clearance and the ball deflected off to John Arias, and Rafael Santos Borre doubled the lead with a beautiful overhead kick in the 19th minute. The U.S. had not conceded two goals in the first 20 minutes since a World Cup qualifier in March 2016.
“We have some obvious issues that we have to address if we’re going to compete at this level,” Berhalter said. “Guys just didn’t do their jobs. It’s about your role, your responsibility, and we didn’t do it.”
Weir cut the score to 2-1 in the 58th minute, but a Cardozo turnover led to Richard Rios’ goal in the 77th minute, Weir lost the ball to Jorge Carrascal in the 85th minute and Carter-Vickers’ pass, seemingly intended for no one, found Luis Sinisterra in the 88th minute.
“We struggled a lot in the midfield,” Ware said.
Colombia extended their winning streak to seven and their unbeaten streak to 22 matches since losing 1-0 to Argentina in a World Cup qualifier on Feb. 1, 2022.
“Everybody can look in the mirror after that game, or they need to look in the mirror and understand,” Turner said. “They had a different intensity that we didn’t have.”
The United States has six losses and two draws against Colombia since 2005 and is winless in five games against South American opponents since 2019.
“Obviously, we as a coaching staff have some responsibility. We can’t put it all on the players,” Berhalter said. “I think this game will help them understand that if you don’t do what you need to do, it can hurt you quickly.”
The U.S. plays a friendly against Brazil on Wednesday in Orlando, Fla., before opening the Copa America on June 23, followed by games against Panama and Uruguay. The U.S. is one of six countries invited to this tournament of the South American championships.
Colombia will play an exhibition match against Bolivia in Denver on June 15 before moving on to the first round in a group with Paraguay, Costa Rica and Brazil, with the United States potentially facing Colombia in the quarterfinals.
In front of 55,494 Colombia supporters at Commander’s Field, many of them wearing yellow jerseys, U.S. players wore rainbow numbers on their jerseys in honor of Pride Month.
For the first time in U.S. history, all 11 starting players have played for clubs in England, Germany, Italy, Spain or France. In the 13 games in which a full roster can play since the 2022 World Cup, just six of the 143 starting lineups have been filled by Major League Soccer players, including three of the 99 games since Berhalter returned to the team.
Colombia took the lead in the sixth minute when James Rodriguez fed a sliding Robinson with his left foot and passed to Arias, who got a touch on the ball to get past Tim Ream and then fired a shot from six yards out, over the keeper’s left shoulder, past Turner and into the near post.
Colombia doubled their lead in the 19th minute. Rodriguez took a short corner kick to Arias, who crossed. Tom Ream headed it in on goal and Matheus Uribe headed the ball back in front. Five yards from goal, with his back to the goal, Santos Borré jumped, leaned back and fired an overhead kick with his right foot that bounced off Turner’s left side.
Weah, the son of Liberian President and former FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah, scored his sixth international goal.
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