By NAYELLI BERMÚDEZ
The United States Men’s National Team and the Costa Rica National Team run to Sean Johnson’s goal as the Ticos try to score their first goal. (NAYELLI BERMUDEZ / La Plaza Photo)
Under the leadership of coach Gregg Berhalter, the United States won this Saturday against Costa Rica 1-0 in their first friendly match of 2020. Both sides used the contest to try out new players for the coming season.
Before the game, Costa Rican fans had fun by singing, dancing and drinking. A Costa Rican news station, Repretel, captured all of the festivities on their broadcast. (NAYELLI BERMUDEZ / La Plaza Photo)
The USA starting lineup included Sean Johnson (1), Reggie Cannon (2), captain Aaron Long (3), Walker Zimmerman (5), Jackson Yueill (6), Paul Arriola (7), Brenden Aaronson (8), Jesús Ferreira (10), Sam Vines (13), Sebastian Lletget (17), and Ulysses Llanez (19). Aaronson, Ferreira, Vinez and Llanez are all playing for the first time on the field.
The Costa Rica starting lineup included Esteban Alvarado (1), Giancarlo González (3), Keysher Fuller (4), Keyner Brown (6), Johan Venegas (7), Ariel Lassiter (11), Ulises Segura (12), Yeltsin Tejeda (17), David Guzmán (20), Marco Ureña (21) and Rónald Matarrita (22).
The USA and Costa Rica teams are entering the stadium to start the game. (NAYELLI BERMUDEZ / La Plaza Photo)
The first fifteen minutes of the game consisted of an aggressive approach from the United States Men’s National Team. Costa Rica’s goalkeeper, Esteban Alvarado had a close save during this time. Alvarado had four saves throughout the course of the game, one of which resulted in injury. Then at the 24 minute mark, the 1,972 fans in the stadium cheered for the late basketball star Kobe Bryant.The first half ended with a score of 0-0.
At the 50 minute mark, Ulysses Llanez scored a penalty kick. After playing defense for the rest of the game, the United States took the win. The United States had a total of 24 fouls, 11 corner kicks and two saves. Costa Rica had 13 fouls, 3 corner kicks and 4 saves.
Lea este artículo en español aquí: https://laplaza.press/2020/02/12/estados-unidos-le-gana-a-costa-rica-en-el-primer-partido-de-la-nueva-decada
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