July 4, 2007 10:14 PM

Beckerman, Gomez start for U.S. national team

Colombia's Mario Yepes, right, tries to keep the ball away from Herculez Gomez, of the United States, during a Group C game at the Copa America on Thursday in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. (FERNANDO VERGARA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Rapids midfielder Kyle Beckerman played the full 90 minutes and teammate Herculez Gomez played the first half as the United States finished the Copa America with a 1-0 loss to Colombia on Thursday in Venezuela.

Beckerman appeared to have scored a goal in the 84th minute, but the play was ruled offside.

Off a corner kick, the ball bounced into the area for Americans Bobby Boswell and Charlie Davies, who each tried to take a shot from near the penalty spot. It was Boswell who finally connected, but his effort bounced to the right post, where Beckerman hammered it into the net from five yards out. The referee’s assistant’s flag, however, went up immediately as Beckerman was clearly behind the Colombian back line.

Gomez had a shot go wide in the fifth minute, one of the most dangerous chances for either side in the first half.

Brad Guzan made several key saves, including one on a penalty, in his first Copa America appearance but couldn’t get to Jaime Castrillon’s 14th-minute header.

It was the first time the United States lost three in a row since 2001. Both teams were eliminated from South America’s soccer championship the day before, when Brazil beat Ecuador, but the match nevertheless took on urgency at the finish.

Colombia goalkeeper Robinson Zapata was given a second yellow card and sent off for wasting time in the 84th minute when he fiddled with his shoe after the Beckerman non-goal. As his teammates pleaded with Venezuelan referee Manuel Andarcia to no avail, Zapata took off his goalkeeper’s jersey and striker Hugo Rodallega stepped into the net because Colombia had used all three of its substitutions.

The disorganized U.S. attack didn’t capitalize, however, and the Colombians even managed to send some counterattacks Guzan’s way during the rest of regulation and the four minutes of added time.

Castrillon’s goal came off a long, perfectly placed pass from Camilo Zuniga on the right wing. Castrillon stepped past his defender and headed it smartly past Guzan into the far side of the net.

In the 34th, Guzan drew a penalty when he took down Rodallega in the box while going for a loose ball. He redeemed himself on the kick by correctly anticipating Rodallega’s shot and making a save that kept the score 1-0.

Kasey Keller started the first two matches in goal for the United States, a 4-1 loss to Argentina and a 3-1 loss to Paraguay.

The United States sent a mostly inexperienced squad to the tournament after winning the Gold Cup. The United States left many of the best players from that team off this roster, and only six members of the 22-man roster had more than 10 international appearances when the Americans left for Venezuela.

“We are here to give these guys this experience,” said Keller, a member of the past two U.S. World Cup teams. “Unfortunately, sometimes you have to make mistakes to learn. Hopefully now as we go forward in this tournament and into future games, we have learned from this experience and will be better for it.”

The U.S. team’s inexperience became an issue Wednesday, when a high-ranking CONMEBOL official criticized the Americans for not bringing their top squad. Brazil, too, is without superstars, but the five-time World Cup champions made it into the knockout stages with its 1-0 win over Ecuador.

Bob Bradley was 10-0-1 in his first 11 games as U.S. coach before the Copa. The United States’ next international game is a friendly with Sweden in Goteborg.

United States 0 0—0
Colombia 1 0—1
First half—1, Colombia, Castrillon 2, 14th minute. Second half—None. Yellow Cards—Moor, US, 2nd; Kljestan, US, 32nd; Perea, Col, 42nd; Mapp, US, 55th; Zapata, Col, 71st; Valoyes, Col, 78th; Zapata, Col, 87th. Red Card—Zapata, Col, 87th. Referee—Manuel Andarcia, Venezuela. Linesmen—Placido Chuello, Venezuela; Luis Avila, Peru. A—35,000.

United States
Brad Guzan; Drew Moor, Bobby Boswell, Dan Califf, Heath Pearce; Sacha Kljestan, Kyle Beckerman, Ricardo Clark, Justin Mapp (Charlie Davies, 64th); Eddie Johnson (Lee Nguyen, 72nd), Herculez Gomez (Eddie Gaven, 46th)
Colombia
Robinson Zapata; Camilo Zuniga, Luis Perea, Mario Yepez, Javier Arizala; Jaime Castrillon, Jorge Banguero, John Viafara (Vladimir Mar D in, 55th), Macnelly Torres (David Ferreira, 85th); Cesar Valoyes (Andres Chitiva, 78th), Hugo Rodallega

U.S. midfielder Kyle Beckerman, right, drops Colombia's Jhon Viafara. (ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

(Sources: The Associated Press, ussoccer.com)

Posted by George Tanner at 10:14 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack