USA vs. Costa Rica: Score, Reaction from 2016 Copa America

The United States men's national soccer team needed to respond to a loss in its 2016 Copa America Centenario opener Friday—and did so in resounding fashion with a 4-0 victory over Costa Rica on Tuesday at Soldier Field in Chicago.

A jubilant crowd in the Windy City had plenty to cheer about as the Americans set the tone in the early going.  

Captain Clint Dempsey was the catalyst for all three first-half goals, beginning when he converted a penalty kick in the ninth minute to get the U.S. on the scoreboard first, via Fox Soccer:

Bleacher Report UK highlighted Dempsey's notable achievement when he opened the scoring:

Per ESPN FC, Landon Donovan is the only other player aside from Dempsey who has scored 50 or more goals for the U.S. in international competition.

Dempsey then set up Jermaine Jones on a beautiful open-field move in which he had to avert as many as three Costa Rica defenders before finding his teammate, who doubled the United States' lead:

Bobby Wood added further insurance not long before the halftime break by taking a Dempsey pass, evading traffic just outside the box and spinning around to fire a quick shot past Costa Rica goalkeeper Patrick Pemberton:

CBS Sports' Zach Harper had a fitting reaction to Wood's goal:

The visitors weren't going to go quietly, though. La Tricolor forward Celso Borges had a golden opportunity to get his side on the board in the 55th minute but sailed his shot over the crossbar.

Jones created a couple of chances as the match wore on, and although none of them resulted in goals, it was still an encouraging sign from the attacking midfielder.

Avi Creditor of SI.com was at a loss to articulate how well he believed Jones was playing:

Adding to the barrage by the hosts was a pesky play from U.S. substitute Graham Zusi, who created a turnover, dribbled his way toward the box and beat Pemberton to temporarily put his side atop Group A:

Despite the lopsided outcome in the Americans' favor, Costa Rica owned a 59 percent possession advantage, per ESPN FC. Some of that can be attributed to the U.S. adopting a more conservative strategy once its lead swelled, though to their credit, La Tricolor kept attacking.

To be fair to the Americans, their performance in the first half left the outcome well within hand. They were wise to protect a stellar goal differential and did well to climb out of the Group A cellar following a 2-0 loss to Colombia in Friday's fixture.

Fox Sports provided context for how significant the Americans' triumph was:

U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been under criticism of late ahead of what was essentially a must-win match. He stuck with the same lineup, and his players rewarded him with a big-time collective effort.

Here is a look at some of the best reactions from Tuesday's match:

Next up for the Americans is a fixture against Paraguay on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Considering the momentum the U.S. generated Tuesday and the fact Paraguay managed a mere 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in its Copa America opener Saturday, Klinsmann's clan has to feel good about its chances to pick up another three points.

Costa Rica's attack has now failed to produce a goal in two matches. It will need to light up the scoreboard in a big way against Colombia, who maintained a clean sheet against the U.S. and may even eliminate La Tricolor with a win over Paraguay.

Post-Match Reaction

Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez was rather baffled by how much his side lost by.

"This is one of the weirdest games we've ever had," said Ramirez, per Philly.com's Jonathan Tannenwald. "We were good, but soccer is all about scoring goals."

Ramirez added, per Tannenwald, "I apologize to Costa Rican fans, but I don't apologize to soccer, because this was a good game."

Dempsey was also interviewed and spoke about how his team was able to build on the fast start, courtesy of the tournament's official Twitter feed:

Klinsmann was eager to praise his players afterwards, saying, per Tannenwald, "They deserve a huge, huge compliment for tonight’s performance."

However, the coach did suggest the final score wasn't necessarily indicative of a massive improvement compared to the USA's last match.

"We didn't play as fluid as we did with Colombia but we scored the goals," Klinsmann said, per Goal USA's Thomas Floyd.