The United States men’s national team dropped their friendly with Colombia by the score of 4-2 on Thursday night in Tampa. In reality, it was a thoroughly dominant performance from the visitors with a few bright spots sprinkled in for the USMNT. James Rodriguez had the moment of the night with a truly world-class strike to open the scoring in the first half, while Tim Weah’s brilliant assist on the USA’s second goal of the night was their highlight. Instead of giving you our player ratings, we what to know what you think. Below is a ratings form for you to fill out with how you rate each USMNT player’s performance. After a day/night of voting, we’ll tabulate the ratings and reveal them with the top rated player being named our site’s Man of the Match. Feel free to head down to the comments section and leave your thoughts on the match as a whole or give your detailed explanation of your ratings. Mobile-friendly link click here.<doc-sep>Watch all the highlights of goals and key plays as the USMNT faces Colombia in a friendly. The U.S. men's national team had Colombia stunned for a few minutes, but the class and quality of the South American power ultimately won out. Colombia battled back from a brief 2-1 deficit with three unanswered goals by Carlos Bacca, Radamel Falcao and Miguel Borja in a 23-minute span to beat the U.S. 4-2 in the friendly at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. A world-class James Rodriguez goal opened the scoring, but second-half answers from Kellyn Acosta and Bobby Wood three minutes apart gave the U.S. a surprising lead. It lasted for all of three minutes before Bacca pulled the visitors level in the 56th minute and seized momentum back on a night when Michael Bradley returned to the U.S. lineup and wore the captain's armband for the first time since last October's elimination from World Cup qualifying. The U.S. nearly had a disaster in the third minute, when Antonee Robinson and John Brooks failed to communicate and allowed for Bacca to cross from the end line. It fell for a wide-open Falcao in the center of the box, but the veteran striker blasted his chance over the bar, much to the USA's relief. The USA's first chance came in the ninth minute, when Robinson got forward down the left flank and slotted a pass to Julian Green. The U.S. attacker took a couple of touches to evade Wilmar Barrios and create space before sending a long-range blast towards goal, just narrowly missing the left post. The run of play favored Colombia for the majority of the first half, though the visitors didn't seriously threaten Zack Steffen in goal despite their stretching of the U.S. defense. The U.S., meanwhile, had its best chance before the half-hour mark come on a speculative long-range effort from Kenny Saief, who failed to hit the target. Falcao found himself with another open chance in the 36th minute, as Colombia began to pile on the pressure in the final third, but his attempt to fire on goal was blocked by John Brooks. Colombia got its opener moments later, though. Off an extended period of possession in and around the U.S. box, James found himself with the ball just inside the right-hand side of the 18, evaded a defender and curled a left-footed beauty around a helpless Steffen and into the far upper 90 to give Colombia a 1-0 lead. James nearly had a second in the 41st minute, only for a sliding Matt Miazga to block his close-range chance on the goal line. Colombia could've had more in the first half but went into the break with just the 1-0 lead. The visitors were left to rue their wastefulness in the 50th minute when Acosta completed a long run through the box and volleyed home a flicked-on cross from Robinson to make it 1-1. The U.S. shockingly went ahead moments later. Green and Tim Weah did the heavy lifting, with the former winning the ball and springing the latter for a run down the left. Weah split a pair of defenders with a pinpoint cross, while Wood split another pair of defenders to tuck in the go-ahead strike in the 53rd minute. The lead didn't last very long. Bacca sprung free in the box to take a cross from Santiago Arias three minutes later, and he fired in a low shot to pull Colombia back on level terms at 2-2. Colombia took the lead back by going ahead in the 74th minute. Falcao delivered the strike, with it coming at the end of a counter that started with a hopeful ball forward. Bacca beat Robinson to the ball, and he back-heeled for Juan Quintero, who fed Falcao for the first-time finish. The lead grew to 4-2 in the 79th minute through Borja, a substitute whose flying scissor kick landed just out of Steffen's reach by the far post. It very nearly became 5-2 moments after that, but Quintero rattled the post with a powerful blast from 25 yards. Here were the lineups for both sides: Here were the rosters for both teams: USA GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge), Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew) DEFENDERS: John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Swansea City), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Matt Miazga (Nantes), Antonee Robinson (Wigan Athletic), Ben Sweat (New York City FC), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle) MIDFIELDERS: Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Jonathan Amon (Nordsjaelland), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Marky Delgado (Toronto FC), Julian Green (Greuther Fürth), Fafa Picault (Philadelphia Union), Kenny Saief (Anderlecht), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew), Tim Weah (PSG) FORWARDS: Andrija Novakovich (Fortuna Sittard), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen), Bobby Wood (Hannover 96) COLOMBIA GOALKEEPERS: Álvaro Montero (Tolima), David Ospina (Napoli) DEFENDERS: Felipe Aguilar (Atlético Nacional), Santiago Arias (Atlético Madrid), Cristian Borja (Toluca), Deiver Machado (Atlético Nacional) Jeison Murillo (Valencia), Óscar Murillo (Pachuca), Helibelton Palacios (Atlético Nacional), Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham) MIDFIELDERS: Wílmar Barrios (Boca Juniors), Edwin Cardona (Boca Juniors), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus), Didier Moreno (Deportivo La Coruña), Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate), Juan Daniel Roa (Indendiente Santa Fe), James Rodríguez (Bayern Munich), Mateus Uribe (Club América), Sebastián Villa (Boca Juniors) FORWARDS: Carlos Bacca (Villarreal), Miguel Borja (Palmeiras), Yimmi Chará (Atlético Mineiro), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Cucho Hernández (Huesca)<doc-sep>Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images Colombia earned a 4-2 friendly win over the United States men's national team on Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Bayern Munich midfielder James Rodriguez got Colombia on the board with a goal in the 36th minute, and the South Americans rarely looked back from there en route to a comprehensive victory. AS Monaco striker Radamel Falcao scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 74th minute. Poor Defending Puts Damper on Encouraging Performance Despite this only being a friendly, Colombia used several senior players responsible for a round-of-16 run at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The United States was clearly an underdog, especially since it couldn't count on much of a home-field advantage. Interim coach Dave Sarachan used a number of young players who will be pivotal for the USMNT's future, and the pair of Kellyn Acosta and Bobby Wood provided some excitement with their goals early in the second half. The night wasn't a complete loss for the U.S., but the team's woeful defending couldn't be ignored. In particular, Colombia moved down the right side of the pitch and exploited U.S. left back Antonee Robinson. Video Play Button Videos you might like James' opener also highlighted how the United States' lack of communication and pressure made life easy for Colombia's attackers. The 27-year-old had far too much time to measure up his left-footed curler into the far post. Falcao's goal was also the result of a bad mistake by Robinson. He allowed James' lofted ball to fall to Carlos Bacca. From there, Colombia was deadly on the counterattack. Sarachan mixed experience with youth in terms of his back line, which makes the defense's collective performance more worrying. John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin had 34 and 54 national-team caps, respectively, entering Thursday. Zack Steffen Further Cements His Place as No. 1 Goalkeeper Zack Steffen is the biggest reason the United States was only down a goal at halftime. The Columbus Crew SC goalkeeper stepped up on numerous occasions to deny Colombia a potential goal. Thursday's friendly was the 23-year-old's sixth appearance for the national team. Crew SC's official Twitter account noted that ties the record for national-team caps for a goalkeeper in his first season. For the most part, the U.S. has been blessed at goalkeeper. Between Kasey Keller, Brad Guzan and Tim Howard, the position has been among the USMNT's most stable for nearly two decades. Steffen is seemingly the next in line. One question surrounding Steffen is when he makes the jump to Europe. Columbus declined a transfer offer in July from Bristol City in the EFL Championship. MLSSoccer.com's Charles Boehm noted shortly thereafter his "limited number of USMNT caps to date would preclude him from automatically receiving a work permit" to play in England. The more Steffen plays for the United States, the easier it becomes for him to go abroad. Leaving MLS to test himself at a higher level will help him lock down the first-choice goalkeeper job. Stage Appears Set for Gregg Berhalter This friendly carried some emotional significance for American fans since Wednesday represented the one-year anniversary of the United States failing to qualify for the World Cup in Russia. Bruce Arena resigned as coach three days after the 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago, and U.S. Soccer named Sarachan as his interim replacement on Oct. 24, 2017. Nearly a year later, his status remains unchanged. That may not be the case much longer. Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl reported on FS1 before the match that Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter is leading the race to become the permanent replacement for Arena: For some, hiring the 45-year-old would be an underwhelming conclusion to a lengthy coaching search. Berhalter has enjoyed a successful run with Columbus, though. The team reached the playoffs in three of the past four seasons—including an MLS Cup run in 2015—and is in position to qualify for the postseason again in 2018. Just as important, Berhalter would bring a defined style of play to the national team. Under his watch, Crew SC have emphasized possession and attacking soccer, and that would presumably be the case for the USMNT. While that may not be the best approach against the best teams in the world at the World Cup, it would be appropriate for CONCACAF qualifying, when opponents are often happy to cede possession to the U.S. At the very least, hiring a coach is a step in the right direction as the United States positions itself for 2022 World Cup qualification. What's Next? The USMNT will return to action Tuesday for a friendly with Peru in East Hartford, Connecticut. Colombia will remain in the U.S. for its next match, a friendly with Costa Rica in Harrison, New Jersey, on Tuesday.<doc-sep>
The United States men's national team lost 4-2 to a talented, experienced Colombia team on Thursday night in Tampa, Florida, in an international friendly. The young American squad was without its three most important young players due to injury but managed to go toe-to-toe with Los Cafeteros for much of the match. With Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams all out injured, the U.S. was able to overcome a 1-0 deficit to go up 2-1 before the visitors poured it on in the final 35 minutes. Here's how it went down: In a frantic match from the beginning, neither team could create much of anything until a little magic from James Rodriguez dazzled the fans. Thirty-six minutes in, he pulled off one of his best goals with this nasty upper-90 golazo: But the U.S. would answer and valiantly. Kellyn Acosta was able to race into the box and connect on a cross to make it 1-1 early in the second half: And before fans could enjoy the replay of the goal, it was 2-1 to the U.S. A fantastic counterattack, one in which the U.S. lost possession and got it back, saw Tim Weah deliver an absolutely world-class assist to Bobby Wood to make it 2-1: Then, it was all Colombia. Carlos Bacca leveled the score three minutes later, and just under 20 minutes after that Radamel Falcao scored with a fine finish inside the box. The result was then cemented in the 79th minute with this crazy overhead kick goal from Miguel Borja: In the end, the scoreline means little. This was another opportunity for the young players in this squad to get more experience against one of the most talented teams in the Western Hemisphere, and the U.S. showed some fine moments, especially early in the second half. Colombia just showed more, dominating possession and outshooting the U.S. 17-5 in the process. The U.S. returns to action on Tuesday against Peru in Hartford, Conn., in another international friendly. Live updates If the live blog doesn't load, click here.