USMNT: Valuable Lessons Learned in Loss to Colombia

In its most high-profile friendly since the World Cup, the United States men's national team lost to Colombia 2-1 on Friday night in London, England.

Throughout most of the match, the USMNT was thoroughly dominated and despite claiming an early goal, Colombia marched back in the second half to score twice to claim the victory.

Here are three valuable lessons the U.S. learned from the loss.

The USMNT Has a Long Way to Go

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U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has publicly stated that his goal is to get the USMNT to the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup.

But Friday's match against No. 3-ranked Colombia proved that the U.S. is a long way from becoming a top-four team.

Despite a bright start in which the U.S. did create a few attacking chances, Colombia seized control of the game midway through the first half and didn't look back. The game was reminiscent of the team's effort against Belgium in the 2014 World Cup round of 16, where it was able to hold on for long periods of time but rarely assert itself.

On Friday against Colombia, the U.S. struggled to hold possession and its technical quality, or lack thereof, was starkly revealed. The game simply involved too much last-ditch defending and proved only, once again, that Klinsmann's team can keep games against top teams close but not hold the initiative for any length of time.

Despite a heroic effort from center backs John Anthony Brooks and Jermaine Jones, and some solid saves from Brad Guzan, the U.S. was simply outclassed.

Speaking of Technical Quality

Several of the American's youngsters made life difficult for the team on Friday night with their lack of technical quality.

DeAndre Yedlin, despite being very active, hurt the U.S. on multiple occasions with poor touches and bad giveaways. In just the first minute of the game, a poor clearance by Yedlin gave Colombia possession in the defensive third and in the 20th minute, he gave the ball away right in front of his own net on a play which could have easily resulted in a goal.

He also coughed up possession several times in the match with poor touches and had another particularly poor giveaway in the 49th minute when his bad pass resulted in a breakaway for Colombia.

Rubio Rubin, for his part, displayed some savvy in creating the situation which led to the team's only goal and also helped out the attack with a couple of nice passes in the attacking third to start counterattacks.

However, Rubin also missed two of the best chances of the night, heading wide on two separate outstanding crosses—the first one from Kyle Beckerman and the second from Alejandro Bedoya.

Finally, Bobby Wood, who missed several golden opportunities against Ecuador in last month's October friendly, once again blew a gorgeous chance. In the 81st minute, a fantastic combination between Lee Nguyen and Alfredo Morales put Wood in behind the Colombian defense, but Wood's open shot was saved. The miss from Wood will once again call into question his call-up, seeing that his recent appearances for the team have been poor and that he hasn't scored a league goal for his club since May 2013.

Fabian Johnson Was Terrible

Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press

Fabian Johnson, thought of by many as the country's best player, struggled mightily on Friday night. In the first half, a bad touch by Johnson on a Colombian counterattack off a U.S. corner should have easily led to a goal. Then, in the 33rd minute, Johnson gave the ball away again leading to a Colombian attack which resulted in a shot off the post.

In the second half, Colombia finally took advantage of Johnson's mistakes. In the 60th minute, he failed to track his runner and Colombia found the equalizer. Then, in the 87th minute, it was Johnson's mark who scored the late winner.

Johnson has also struggled for consistent playing time this year in the Bundesliga with his new club Borussia Monchengladbach, starting only three of their 11 games so far.

Perhaps this was just a singular poor effort—a bad night—on Johnson's part. However, considering how many U.S. players seem to be having a post-World Cup hangover, his performance was worrying.

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