Thanks to an all-around disappointing display, there will be no Olympics for the US Under-23 national team for the second time in a row.
Other than goalkeeper Ethan Horvath, every player on the field experienced struggles of one kind or another and it added up to a 2-1 home defeat against a far more composed Colombia side. The defending was sloppy, the passing poor and the team showed very little in the way of cool when they did reach the attacking third.
Starting XI
Ethan Horvath (7) - If there is one US player who came out of this tie smelling like a rose, it's Horvath. He made four saves, including a pair of big stops inside the opening 20 minutes, and can't be faulted on either goal.
Desevio Payne (4) - It was a roller coaster showing from Payne, who struggled badly during the opening half-hour. He played better in the middle third of the game, including a huge area interception near the hour. In the end, though, he was among the guilty on both Colombia goals.
Matt Miazga (3.5) - The Chelsea man suffered through another stinker, which ended a minute early due to a last-man red card. After badly misplaying a restart serve in the early going, Miazga then looked a real mess on Colombia's opening goal.
Tim Parker (6) - For most of the night, Parker was again easily the most confident US defender. He made a couple of huge stops early in the second half, but even he was exposed on the Colombia winner when put in a thankless position.
Kellyn Acosta (4.5) -The FC Dallas man switched sides for this one, but didn't fare much better. Acosta bailed out Miazga with a big early block, but then helped him facilitate the team's first leak. He was also caught upfield too often.
Wil Trapp (3.5) -The Columbus midfielder was uncharacteristically poor on the ball for the second game in a row. Trapp was repeatedly caught in possession or sloppy with passes out of the back to put the team in trouble.
Matt Polster (4.5) - Polster was a bit better than his defensive midfield partner, but also struggled to guide the team forward.
Emerson Hyndman (5) - The Fulham midfielder helped earn the US goal with a dangerous ball in, but he lacked sharpness with his usually reliable passes for most of the game.
Mario Rodriguez (5) - Though he won several free kicks, it was not a very assured performance from Rodriguez. He was often found flailing about when a cooler head might have resulted in pressure on the Colombia goal.
Paul Arriola (5) - The Tijuana winger failed to open up the Colombia back line when given a handful of chances to do so, and was removed at halftime.
Jordan Morris (4.5) - Not that he was offered much in the way of set-up help, but this was one of the more empty Red, White & Blue showings for Morris. His movement and touch needed to be better to give his side a chance.
Coach
Andi Herzog (4) - The head coach promised much more of an effort to control the game, but it didn't happen. The team often looked frantic, and nothing tightened up when the Colombia own goal gave them a lifeline with no defensive margin for error. One also has to wonder about his selections, most notably in starting a clearly rusty Miazga in both games.
Subs
Jerome Kiesewetter (5.5) - For the second straight game, Kiesewetter failed to offer enough against tiring defenders.
Khiry Shelton (5) - The strike sub was never really put into a position to succeed, but he also didn't use his size advantage to win battles.
Luis Gil (3) - Even if the second yellow card was unfair, Gil lost his cool when the team needed him to spark a rally.
