Argentina Served the US a Cold Dose of Reality
Last night, the USMNT taste tested chef Messi's world famous humble pie. The Argentinians put on a ball control clinic and smoked the US 4-nil in a game that could've been worse. American fans were cautiously optimistic that there might be a soccer miracle against the South American giants, but Messi and co. were quick to crush US hopes of an upset, scoring just 2 minutes into the game. Argentina kept their foot on the USMNT's throats as Messi broke the U.S. like a wild horse with a spectacular free kick 15 minutes before the half time whistle. There's no shame in losing to Argentina, but the game looked like men against boys. Argentina didn't relent in the second half as Gonzalo Higuain buried 2 ginos to extend the scoreline. The South American's controlled the tempo and dominated possession 68% to the US's lowly 32%. Argentina Keeper Sergio Romero probably didn't even shower after the game as his defense denied the Americans a single shot on target.
The USMNT needed a near flawless performance, and major contributions from their big guns, to have a chance at stymieing the Argentinian machine, but captain Michael Bradley looked lost (as he has all Copa) as his distribution severely lacked accuracy and purpose, and Clint Dempsey was never really able to get involved in the game. Missing suspended Jermaine Jones, Bobby Wood, and Alejandro Bedoya definitely hurt the US, who had been using the same lineup in the previous four games. It would have been refreshing to see fan favorites, and promising prospects, Darlington Nagbe and Christian Pulisic get the start, or even just come on as subs earlier, but Klinsmann decided to go with MLS lifers Chris Wondolowski, Graham Zusi, and Kyle Beckerman instead.
The USMNT had a tremendous run to the semi-finals of a major tournament, and picked up some impressive wins along the way, but the Argentina game proved that the US has some work to do to compete with the international big boys. Oh, and Argentina is a ruthless predator.
