USA vs. Chile: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 International Friendly

The United States' 2015 season started a lot like the 2014 campaign finished: with a loss. 

Brek Shea and Jozy Altidore scored goals for Jurgen Klinsmann's squad, but former Liverpool forward Mark Gonzalez scored a second-half brace to secure the 3-2 win for hosts Chile on Wednesday night:

ESPN's Paul Carr put the defeat in perspective for the Yanks:

Altidore took to Twitter to offer up his thoughts on the match:

"

Not the way we wanted to start the year. Looking forward to bouncing back vs Panama in front of our amazing fans back at home! #USMNT #1N1T

— Jozy Altidore (@JozyAltidore) January 29, 2015"

With the Americans testing out their new 3-5-2 formation and Chile always aggressive moving forward, this friendly turned into an entertaining contest early on.

It took all of six minutes for Klinsmann's experimental formation to produce a goal. After a buildup down the right side, Matt Besler delivered a gorgeous ball over the top of Chile's defense to Brek Shea, who controlled it and fired a laser across goal into the side netting from a difficult angle: 

While it was a wonderful finish from Shea, who has struggled to live up to expectations, ESPN's Taylor Twellman noted the importance of his run and Besler's pass: 

USA's lead didn't last long, though, as Universidad Catolica's Roberto Gutierrez equalized with a header past Nick Rimando just four minutes later. 

After some back-and-forth and decent chances for both sides, the Americans struck back. In the 31st minute, new Tottenham man DeAndre Yedlin slipped a ball into the box to Mix Diskerud, who cleverly found an open Altidore. 

From there, the polarizing striker finished in clinical fashion: 

As ESPN Stats & Info pointed out, the goal continued his recent efficient form on the international level:

Chile appeared to equalize with another header from Gutierrez just before the halftime whistle, but an offside call kept Klinsmann's squad in front. 

There were both positive and negative takeaways from the first 45 minutes, as Goal.com's Ives Galarcep and Sports Illustrated's George Dohrmann touched on:

That shaky defense would rear its ugly head in the second half, as USA departed from the 3-5-2 and found itself under heavy pressure from Chile's relentless attack. The Americans held on for a while, but Gonzalez broke through in the 66th minute, beating Yedlin down the left wing and slotting one near-post past Rimando for the equalizer. 

Chile continued to press. Just nine minutes later, Rimando saved a long-distance shot from Marco Medel, but it fell to Gonzalez, who calmly put his team in front. 

Carr noted a concerning trend for the Americans:

The United States struggled to gain possession the rest of the way, falling to another disappointing defeat. 

Still, while it's a frustrating loss and while there are plenty of things that need fixing, there were enough positives for Klinsmann to continue the 3-5-2 experiment when his team takes on Panama in a friendly on Feb. 8. 

Nevertheless, as the second-half collapses continue to pile up, the pressure on the German coach is going to mount.