Klinsmann: Bitter defeat for the US

Taking advantage of defensive mistakes, Costa Rica routed the USA men 4-0 Tuesday night to drop them to 0-2 for the first time in the final round North and Central American and Caribbean region qualifying.

Johan Venegas gave Costa Rica the lead two minutes before half-time, and Jurgen Klinsmann’s side capitulated late on as Christian Bolanos scored in the 69th minute and on-loan Arsenal forward Joel Campbell bagged a three-minute brace to complete the rout.

“There’s no doubt about it”, said USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who called it “the defeat that hurts most” of his five-year tenure. Mexico’s 2-1 win over its top rival on Friday began the Americans’ descent as they run the risk of not advancing to a World Cup for the first time since 1986.

He also was criticized in March 2013 after the Americans opened the hex with a 2-1 loss at Honduras.

“I think we have a group of guys who have experience, who’ve been in situations like this before, who understand it’s not always flawless”, he said.

“It doesn’t matter about the system”.

In the second half, Costa Rica were more than willing to sit back and absorb some pressure and try and hit the United States on the counter. Against Mexico, the US showed some promise in the second half but lost the game thanks to a odd tactical decision to start the game and a late mental lapse in the final moments. “They were too flay, not enough alertness there, not enough tempo”.

“The message is very simple”, Klinsmann said after the loss. Conceivably, it could cost him his job, despite his assertion that he is still the right man for the position.

“There’s going to need to be some urgency”, USA captain Michael Bradley said after Tuesday night’s 4-0 wipeout. “We will think about what happened and talk with Jurgen and evaluate the situation”.

Cherundolo, 37, was a great player for the U.S. His relative youth should not be looked at as a negative, either. As per the prediction, today’s match may be ended with the result of the Costa Rica 2-2 United States. This is also the first time since 2001 the Americans have lost consecutive qualifying matches. He was taking a goal kick when he pulled up lame.

Play improved again at this year’s Copa America, where victories over Paraguay and Ecuador advanced the U.S.to the semifinals – and a 4-0 loss to Lionel Messi and Argentina. An identical scoreline here, in reverse, could have put him back on the hotseat.

However, if Klinsmann remains, and a scenario such as collecting one point in their next two matches arises, firing the German in a panic move after those matches would surely sabotage the team’s ultimate efforts. However, Klinsmann clearly has much to work on. Perhaps more tellingly, it was without Geoff Cameron, who would surely have provided a more stable defensive presence than the apparently terrified duo of John Brooks and Omar Gonzalez.

Costa Rica does not get the respect it deserves in CONCACAF.

Brad Guzan will replace Howard against Costa Rica. Costa Rica is the favorite against the US team tomorrow night and Guzan will nearly surely have to make multiple big-time saves if the USA wants to walk out of Costa Rica with a win or even a tie. What adds to his woes is that there is now a four-month break for everyone involved to stew on what transpired in San Jose and whether the moment has arrived to halt Klinsmann’s project.