The USMNT U23 team sparked a lot of emotions in their 1-1 draw to Colombia in the first leg of their Olympic Qualifier. On one hand, a 1-1 draw was a great result in Colombia. On the other hand, the United States gave up a stupid penalty and hit the post so it could’ve been 2-0. On another hand (if you have three hands), Colombia completely dominated the attacking so maybe the USMNT didn’t even deserve the draw.
If you had offered Andy Herzog and the USMNT a 1-1 draw in Colombia, they would have gladly taken that. But after five minutes, it looked as if the United States had a chance to do even better.
Luis Gil gave the United States the lead and a crucial away goal in the 5th minute and while Colombia dominated early on, the scoreboard favored the US. After that, Colombia went back to dominating but somehow couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. Colombia led possession with 76% and wasn’t planning on letting up in the Colombian heat.
The second half was more of the same with Colombia dominating. It seemed inevitable that Colombia would score, but not in this kind of way.
A Kellyn Acosta penalty proved to be enough for Colombia to score the equalizer for Colombia in the 67th minute.
Another look at Kellyn Acosta’s foul and Juan Quintero’s penalty for Colombia. #RoadToRio https://t.co/AJ3dwFC40V
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 25, 2016
While Colombia dominated the game, the USMNT had one last chance but Jordan Morris’ possible golazo struck the post and things ended 1-1.
So even though Colombia outpassed the USMNT 689-231 today (yeah), the United States still has the advantage with the away goal. Many expected that when the United States played their game in Colombia, the goal would be to survive. They survived but really are going to have the feeling they could have had more. For the return leg in Dallas on Tuesday, the USMNT U23’s will need to improve because they won’t be able to keep this up for another 90 minutes.
