The US national team's road to the 2018 World Cup got a lot tougher on Friday night, as they fell 2-0 to Costa Rica in a shocking home loss in their CONCACAF Hexagonal World Cup qualifier at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
San Jose Earthquakes striker Marco Ureña was the hero for Los Ticos, scoring an impressive goal against the run of play in the first half before doubling his tally to ice the game in the final minutes.
The result pushes Costa Rica into a tie with Mexico atop the Hex standings, and cranks up the pressure on the Yanks, who now risk being overhauled by Panama, Honduras or both in the race for the region's third and final automatic World Cup berth. The US visit Honduras on Tuesday, while Costa Rica host Mexico.
Receiving an incisive pass from teammate Bryan Ruiz, Ureña opened the scoring when he dribbled at Yanks defender Tim Ream before slotting an angled short past goalkeeper Tim Howard at the half-hour mark.
The Quakes frontrunner completed a dream performance by beating Geoff Cameron, the other US center back, as the hosts chased the game down the stretch.
Goals
30' – CRC – Marco Ureña
82' – CRC – Ureña
Next Up
USA: Tuesday, Sept. 5 – at Honduras – (4:30 pm CT | beIN SPORTS · NBC Universo)
CRC: Tuesday, Sept. 5 – vs. Mexico (9 pm CT)
