USA Vs Costa Rica 2013
July 17, 2013 by staff
USA Vs Costa Rica 2013, Brek Shea played the hero on Tuesday night, scoring his first international goal in the 82rd minute to fuel the US national team to a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica and ensured a finish atop Group C in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Shea can thank Landon Donovan and Joe Corona for putting him in position to score, as the latter started a lighting-quick US counterattack by feeding the ball up the left flank to his streaking teammate. Donovan immediately spotted Shea alone in the center of the field, and one-timed an inch-perfect pass to the substitute’s feet that allowed the Stoke City man to take a touch and find the back of the net.
Jurgen Klinsmann made four changes to the team that disposed of Cuba, 4-1, on Saturday, including a change in goal with Sean Johnson replacing Nick Rimando. Further up the field, Alejandro Bedoya, Mix Diskerud and Chris Wondolowski replaced Joe Corona, Kyle Beckerman and Herculez Gomez, respectively.
Costa Rica head coach Jorge Luis Pinto, meanwhile, went defensive with his XI, as Álvaro Saborío and leading scorer Michael Barrantes started the match on the bench and Los Ticos trotted out a five-man backline, a strategy which frustrated Mexico in World Cup qualifying.
Neither team created a clear-cut scoring opportunity in the first half, with play relegated to the flanks and chippiness between the two sides building as the break approached.
Unlike previous opponents Belize and Cuba, Costa Rica applied pressure high up the field against the Americans, forcing the US backline into hopeful balls forward that bypassed the midfield pairing of Stuart Holden and Diskerud, which had been so effective against Guatemala in the buildup to the tournament.
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