‘Everybody could look in the mirror’: Colombia humiliate USMNT in Copa warm-up
Colombia score three times in an 11-minute spanUS open Copa América campaign on 23 June
Matt Turner kept falling to the field, the American goalkeeper punching the ground in frustration.
A defensive lapse by Antonee Robinson and aimless defensive play by Johnny Cardoso, Tim Weah and Cameron Carter-Vickers led to four goals in an embarrassing 5-1 defeat to Colombia in a Copa América warmup match on Saturday.
“I’m going to apologize to the fans,” Turner said. “That’s not what we’re about. And, yeah, we need to bounce back in a big way.”
It was the Americans’ first four-goal loss since a 4-0 defeat in a 2016 World Cup qualifier at Costa Rica that caused US Soccer to fire coach Jürgen Klinsmann. It’s the first time since 2009 the USMNT have conceded five goals in a single match on home soil.
“From the 75th minute on, it was I think a lack of respect for our opponent [and] the game of soccer, what we were doing,” coach Gregg Berhalter said postgame. “We’re not framing it a lesson learned, we’ll frame it as a wake-up call.”
Jhon Arias put Colombia ahead in the sixth minute after the ball deflected to him when Robinson tried a sliding clearance without checking who was near. Rafael Santos Borré doubled the lead with a spectacular overhead kick in the 19th. The US had not given up two goals in the first 20 minutes since a March 2016 World Cup qualifier.
Weah cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 58th, but Cardoso’s turnover led to Richard Ríos’ goal in the 77th, Weah’s giveaway to Jorge Carrascal’s in the 85th and Carter-Vickers’ pass that didn’t appear aimed at anyone to Luis Sinisterra’s in the 88th.
“There were some positive chunks of the game,” Berhalter said. “But, again, what I’m looking at right now, 5-1? It’s not good enough, that’s for sure.”
