Reaction to US-Colombia

The first thing I should mention is that I despise it when the team I root for gives up a goal in the dying embers of a game. This will have a twinge of sting to it.

Now, I did feel that Rubin was my Man of the Match, simply because of his excellent movement and good play with our so-called #1 striker Altidore. He did score today... but that was a penalty kick. Rubin had so many more chances to finish because of his good play, but that's the only thing that's holding him back from stardom. Yes, every player has an off night (and Rubin did not), but if he wants to unseat Altidore from his starting spot, he has to finish those chances. He is 18 years old, so I won't be too disappointed in him, but those goals could have been his ticket to bigger and better things in January.

Now, for everyone else. I thought Yedlin did OK today, but not too great on the ball. That will need to improve before he goes to Spurs. Conversely, I thought Garza did an excellent job today, especially in spotting the Colombia corner trick and neutralizing it.

Let me talk about their first goal. As a defender (or any player), you're taught in youth soccer (or should have been) that if you raise your hand, you need a sub. Why did the defenders raise their hand? It's an offside goal, but they should have kept playing anyway. Second goal was the last-minute goal, and that needs to be eliminated from the US game immediately. Also, in the second half, the US let Colombia have the ball for pretty much the entire half. I'll end with one positive thought, though. Lee Nguyen is a creative player and should get more call-ups.