US Men's National Team (15 Viewers)

[roadkill1292]

Good point regarding best development coming during club play abroad. I guess I wonder about cohesiveness as well. How important is team chemistry and time on the pitch together? Argentina, for example... I have to think many/most of those guys have played together intermittently for many years. Are our guys at a disadvantage there as well? Or am I overvaluing/misunderstanding that as well? 

thanks for the response. 

Scooby has had a very good perspective on this subject imo; most of the major international teams play about the same number of games every year via qualifying and the big tournaments so cohesion seems to be a hit or miss thing. These teams are kind of tossed together far more haphazardly than the typical club.

edit: "Haphazardly" is an inaccurate word. Countries have to make the best teams they can out of the native personnel.  The Belgians and even the Germans imo are weak at fullback right now.

 

[The Gator]

Maybe LeBron will retire for two years and play soccer, not baseball. 

This is a doctor Detroit level of dumb path, don't take it

 

[NewlyRetired]

Their record is better, maybe not significantly better, but better. 

Is it really?  I need to look it up but off the top of my head, when you compare the two teams post 1990, I don't recall England doing much better than the US has.

The US has reached 2 Copa semi finals, England has reached one Euro semi final

The US has reached 1 WC quarter final, England has reached 2 WC quarter finals.

The only time they met, the US won the group and England came in second.

There may be a gap, but hardly even a medium sized gap considering their supposed massive advantages

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Doctor Detroit, can you please stop?  This is one of the few threads on FFA that is not destroyed by people acting like jerks.

Last night I posted an observation and you went nuts on me.  

 

[roadkill1292]

Last night I posted an observation and you went nuts on me.  

Maybe you have a gift. We have a couple of other Serie A fans in here, yours truly included, and somehow we manage to discuss it without an i-fight igniting.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

This is a doctor Detroit level of dumb path, don't take it

What's that tough guy? 

 

[AcerFC]

I havent read everything but I agree with Cappy. It's tough to expect a win against one of the best teams in the world with the greatest player who may have ever played. 

Sure you want to look better losing but boneheads like Jones, Wood and Bedoya made that task a lot harder. 

 

[dparker713]

Is it really?  I need to look it up but off the top of my head, when you compare the two teams post 1990, I don't recall England doing much better than the US has.

The US has reached 2 Copa semi finals, England has reached one Euro semi final

The US has reached 1 WC quarter final, England has reached 2 WC quarter finals.

The only time they met, the US won the group and England came in second.

There may be a gap, but hardly even a medium sized gap considering their supposed massive advantages

I mean, yeah, they won the group, but they earned their point against England on a howler.  The results aren't significantly better but would an English victory in a major tournament be truly shocking?  They're close enough to the top teams to be a legitimate threat if things fall their way.

 

[Premier]

At the risk of upsetting newly retired (  ) where would you rank MLS against the other soccer league? 10th? Lower? I'm genuinely curious. 

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Wow, this thread is a cluster####.  Lets get back to happier topics.

Before the Copa started someone asked who the must starts are for the USMNT.  Lets do that again, now that the meaningful games are over.  I'll go first.

Must starts - Zardes, Wood, Yedlin, Cameron (possibly at 6 in the future), Brooks, Fab.  Probably Germany Jones also, but I'm not sure for how much longer.

I'm really pleased to add Zardes, Wood, and Brooks to the list since prior to the tourney.  Very positive step.

Yedlin, Cam, Brooks, Fab  are probably our 1st-choice D (and probably the heart of the team) for the forseeable future, but after that there are a lot of Qs.

I think we have a real problem at GK.  IMO in-their-primes Howard/Friedel/Keller might have saved one or both of the first two goals.  Hopefully one of the younger guys steps up in the coming 18 months.

Like the QB pressure comparison above for our midfield, but just because Ryan Tannehill isn't Peyton Manning c. 2004 doesn't mean he's not still your starter.  Who you going to replace him with?

So Bradley is an auto start despite his limitations.  Ditto that for Zardes.  He's got faults, but does some things well that help the team.  I also think we've seen more than enough to say Bedoya >> Zusi, so he's going to get a lot of starts too for the time being.  None of them are world-beaters, but they can be cobbled together into something ~good as a group.  At least until someone better shows up.

Jones is tricky IMO.  He showed up huge in this tournament, but he's also old and at the very least you'd better groom a replacement for 2018.  Which is complicated by the role Jones plays and the way that Jones/Bedoya/Bradley fit together.  We don't have a like for like replacement at the same level that Jones played in the WC and the Copa and it's not clear that you can both groom a replacement and keep the same formation/style of play.  

Nagbe and Pulisic are totally different players.  Pulisic got rag dolled a couple times by the grown ### men he was playing against last night.  Maybe he grows into a true two-way player, but I suspect his ultimate role will be more attacking.  We already know that's true for Nagbe.  And we haven't been playing with those types of guys in our midfield recently.  If those guys are going to feature we'll have to switch things up.  And figuring out a style/formation for 2018 while getting minutes for any "new" guys while also qualifying won't be easy.  

Think Deuce is also tricky for exactly the same reasons as Jones.  I don't think he's an autostart if sacrificing him lets you set the entire team up better.  That's a crappy choice to have to make during qualifying though and I expect he'll continue to play.

I'm still higher on Altidore than most people, but the team looks better when Wood is in (at least with the current setup), so he's also an auto start for the time being.  But I'm not convinced he's so good yet that we might not find a replacement (including possibly a healthy and in-form Altidore).

We've seen the last of Beckerman and Wondo I think.  Besler sticks around.  But there will be probably be 5-6 spots available to new players for the WC.

Just a guess, but I won't be surprised if we muddle through some or all these questions until Spring of 2018, when we (once again) see our "best" lineup revealed just ahead of the tournament.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

At the risk of upsetting newly retired (  ) where would you rank MLS against the other soccer league? 10th? Lower? I'm genuinely curious. 

right around 9th or 10th

 

[El Floppo]

Wow.

Yeah, so I guess they were led by Kyle Beckerman. Just a shambolic performance top to bottom.

To me, from the beginning, they never had their spacing or shape right. Shows how much they relied on those three missing players for that.

Plus, they were on their heels from the opening whistle, so much so that they were incapable of playing a proactive game. They spent game reacting, and on their heels the reaction were always second best- never getting to second balls or even first balls or making any kind of runs on either side of the ball.

They missed bedoya and jones motors and understanding in the MF and they desperately missed Woods runs up top. Typically, by the second US pass Argentina had closed the players down, and with the spacing nonexistent and no proacrive runs happening, there were no combinations or triangles available to play the ball out. That left the player forced to punt it down the sideline. But with no Woods making the run there anticipating that clearance, it was giveaway after give away. And with no Woods, Dempsey... did he even get more than 3 touches?

So thats team organization, but I cant think of any individual players who even maintained their previous levels. Maybe Zardoz, Cam and Yedlin. Maybe. Everybody else were below their usual level and making so many unforced amateur mistakes, argie didnt really have to do much to make this a laugher. Bradley was just terrible on the ball. ####### wondo? #### Jk for that lineup... honestly. 

 

[Poke_4_Life]

At the risk of upsetting newly retired (  ) where would you rank MLS against the other soccer league? 10th? Lower? I'm genuinely curious. 

I will try to answer honestly.  Its below EPL, LaLiga, Bundes, Ligue1, and Serie A for sure.  At this time its also proabably behind NOS (Portugal) and Mexican league.  That's 7.  

I can't think of any others definitely better, so in a given year MLS could be as high as 6 and as low as 8.  

 

[dparker713]

At the risk of upsetting newly retired (  ) where would you rank MLS against the other soccer league? 10th? Lower? I'm genuinely curious. 

Well, there's the top 3 and Serie A. Eredivise, Liga MX.  Maybe the Championship and Bundesliga 2.  Ligue 1 is PSG and nothing.  

So for me its in a range of 7-10 or so.  

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

I will try to answer honestly.  Its below EPL, LaLiga, Bundes, Ligue1, and Serie A for sure.  At this time its also proabably behind NOS (Portugal) and Mexican league.  That's 7.  

I can't think of any others definitely better, so in a given year MLS could be as high as 6 and as low as 8.  

Arguably the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, English Championship, Bundesliga2, SerieB.  So I think it's more like 8-15.

8th in worldwide attendance though, and once it stops expanding so fast the quality might start improving.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Every team I've seen England play at the Euros has had equal or better technical skills. They have their own issues, for sure.

Over-rated clap clap clapclapclap

 

[Poke_4_Life]

At the risk of upsetting newly retired (  ) where would you rank MLS against the other soccer league? 10th? Lower? I'm genuinely curious. 

Also, this is a really tough exercise in soccer.  MLS has 'stars' that are good and paid well and then the rest of the players are almost like filler.  Similar to Serie A, with PSG and then crap teams but in MLS the team rosters are like this.  

So comparing MLS with a wide range of talent on the rosters to Eridivisie which has a ton of great young talent throughout the league is a crap shoot.  (I also forgot Eridivisie in my earlier ranking, I would put them ahead of MLS.)

 

[[icon]]

I'll say this... Zardes motor impressed me last night. 

 

[dparker713]

I think we have a real problem at GK.  IMO in-their-primes Howard/Friedel/Keller might have saved one or both of the first two goals.  Hopefully one of the younger guys steps up in the coming 18 months.

No one stops that second goal.  And as bad as Guzan looked on the first goal I'm not sure staying on his line works much better.  Lavezzi gets the ball on his feet on the 6 with plenty of room if he sits back.  It was a bad choice to come off the line, but the outcome is probably the same.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Maybe you have a gift. We have a couple of other Serie A fans in here, yours truly included, and somehow we manage to discuss it without an i-fight igniting.

Looks like anyone who posts an observation who isn't tied to that group is laughed off as a troll or called dumb. 

I honestly was not trolling, I was just mad the team was playing poorly.

 

[The Gator]

At the risk of upsetting newly retired (  ) where would you rank MLS against the other soccer league? 10th? Lower? I'm genuinely curious. 

EPL

La Liga

Bundesliga

Seria A

Primeira Liga

Ligue 1

Liga MX

Super Lig

Eredivisie

Ukrainian 

so, 11-15 imo

 

[Poke_4_Life]

Arguably the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, English Championship, Bundesliga2, SerieB.  So I think it's more like 8-15.

8th in worldwide attendance though, and once it stops expanding so fast the quality might start improving.

I disagree about Brazil, Argentina, B2 and SerieB, there are good players in all of those leagues but not a lot of good teams (River Plate and Boca Jrs are the exceptions).  Also the good players don't stay there long.  

I think Championship and Netherlands would be pretty comparable to MLS.  

 

[Poke_4_Life]

I'll say this... Zardes motor impressed me last night. 

(Trying not to fire up the MLS debate again...)

Anyone think Zardes played well enough to get an offer from a UCL team?  (Someone from the big 5 leagues, not necessarily a team qualified for UCL next year.)

The last time we had a young player show well at a tourney was Yedlin at the 2014 WC and he got an offer from Tottenham not long after.

 

[El Floppo]

No one stops that second goal.  And as bad as Guzanitlooked on the first goal I'm not sure staying on his line works much better.  Lavezzi gets the ball on his feet on the 6 with plenty of room if he sits back.  It was a bad choice to come off the line, but the outcome is probably the same.

Yeah, really Tough call. Imo, with the way the ball was floated, he needed to commit to winning It In the air and just keep coming out.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Guzan came pretty close to pushing Messi's FK onto the bar.  Literally any touch would have done it.  Howard's springs or Friedel's arms or even just a slightly quicker recognition and it's at least in play IMO.  YMMV

 

[shader]

I think we can all agree that the MLS is in the 8-13 range in terms of leagues.  That seems to be the consensus.

But the flipside of that is that the MLS has upside that many of those other leagues don't.  

I want Nashville to get an MLS team because 20 years from now, it could be a top 3-6 league.  That may be wildly optimistic, but it's possible.  

So I applaud MLS fans and their passion for the MLS.  I think that's great and it should be encouraged.  But on the flipside, you have to separate your MLS love for whats best for the USMNT.  The US team needs to get more guys playing in Europe.  Then in 15-20 years if the MLS has become a force, you can start bringing home the best talent.

But money talks.  If the MLS can continue to expand, can fill the seats with entertaining games and can sign some big money TV deals, eventually players from around the world will want to play here if the money is right.  Heck, China is proof of that.  They are pulling random stars (Alex Texeira, Jackson Martinez) just by paying big bucks, despite the fact that it's career purgatory.

 

[El Floppo]

The sad thing is many people will look at this game as the defining game for the US in the copa. The reality is they looked really good as a team on both sides of the ball for 4 straight games (not even including the run up of games where they also looked good), with a fairly consistent lineup which gives me a lot of hope moving forward.

Yeah, the caveat is that Jones and Dempsey featured heavily and cant be relied on in the future due to age. I still like Jozy and I think he and Wood could do well together. No real idea for replacing Jones sadly. 

 

[Sinn Fein]

(Trying not to fire up the MLS debate again...)

Anyone think Zardes played well enough to get an offer from a UCL team?  (Someone from the big 5 leagues, not necessarily a team qualified for UCL next year.)

The last time we had a young player show well at a tourney was Yedlin at the 2014 WC and he got an offer from Tottenham not long after.

No - he is not technically proficient enough (imo) to play for a big team.  He is also 2+ years older than Yedlin, and the likelihood of improvement is low.  He'll be 25 years old in September, which is an age where players are reaching their peak seasons - and as fast, and exciting that Zardes can be  - I don't think he has technical, nor the mental ability to succeed in a big 5 league.

 

[Evilgrin 72]

The sad thing is many people will look at this game as the defining game for the US in the copa. The reality is they looked really good as a team on both sides of the ball for 4 straight games (not even including the run up of games where they also looked good), with a fairly consistent lineup which gives me a lot of hope moving forward.

Yeah, the caveat is that Jones and Dempsey featured heavily and cant be relied on in the future due to age. I still like Jozy and I think he and Wood could do well together. No real idea for replacing Jones sadly. 

Perry Kitchen?  Is this a role Miazga could possibly play in a few years if the Cameron/Brooks CB pairing remains unassailable?  If not him, maybe Carter-Vickers? 

 

[Eephus]

I don't think the competitiveness of the national league matters as much as the quality of development programs.  Soccer is a meritocracy; the best talent will end up in the top leagues. The pool of national team players can improve even if the league remains static in terms of FFA rankings.  Money is where it matters and MLS has revenue potential that exceeds most of the national leagues ranked above the US.  They have the ability to invest in academies but that's a long game.  I don't know where this ranks in the priorities of MLS though. 

 

[Poke_4_Life]

No - he is not technically proficient enough (imo) to play for a big team.  He is also 2+ years older than Yedlin, and the likelihood of improvement is low.  He'll be 25 years old in September, which is an age where players are reaching their peak seasons - and as fast, and exciting that Zardes can be  - I don't think he has technical, nor the mental ability to succeed in a big 5 league.

But, but, but... he has a high motor and that American grit and try hard.

Actually I agree.  Just trying to lighten things up in here today.

 

[shader]

The sad thing is many people will look at this game as the defining game for the US in the copa. The reality is they looked really good as a team on both sides of the ball for 4 straight games (not even including the run up of games where they also looked good), with a fairly consistent lineup which gives me a lot of hope moving forward.

Yeah, the caveat is that Jones and Dempsey featured heavily and cant be relied on in the future due to age. I still like Jozy and I think he and Wood could do well together. No real idea for replacing Jones sadly. 

I agree.  I think USA fans should be positive about the future.  Wood, Zardes, Brooks, Yedlin, Johnson...That's a good start.

I think the USA has to get Pulisic involved pretty heavily in all friendly games in the future.  Just take the plunge.  That's hope for a solid World Cup campaign.  Again, this team isn't going to win the WC or challenge, but I think they can get out of the group stages and put in a good showing.

 

[Poke_4_Life]

Perry Kitchen?  Is this a role Miazga could possibly play in a few years if the Cameron/Brooks CB pairing remains unassailable?  If not him, maybe Carter-Vickers? 

I actually think Cameron could/should play the CDM in the near future if we can find a RCB.  I don't like breaking up the back line, but we have a logjam at CB coming and Cam can play CDM.

 

[ChiefD]

Here's the thing: the formation JK played, the players that actually played, and the players that were on the bench due to yellow cards would not have mattered last night.

The chasm in talent and ball skills and soccer knowledge is still very wide when you compare US players vs their counterparts. 

To fix US Soccer, it all starts with ball skills. The academy and club teams are really doing this now, but we have 2 generations before this really comes to fruition. Foreign kids spend hours and hours and hours working with the ball honing in on their ball skills only. And you see the difference on the professional level. American players are so clumsy on the ball that it's no wonder we can't control it for long periods of time.

We can outwork some teams, but until we fix this problem it will remain this way. And this current generation of players STILL doesn't have the ball skills necessary to compete at the elite levels.

 

[The Gator]

I don't think the competitiveness of the national league matters as much as the quality of development programs.  Soccer is a meritocracy; the best talent will end up in the top leagues. The pool of national team players can improve even if the league remains static in terms of FFA rankings.  Money is where it matters and MLS has revenue potential that exceeds most of the national leagues ranked above the US.  They have the ability to invest in academies but that's a long game.  I don't know where this ranks in the priorities of MLS though. 

Agree 100% and used that in my rankings list 

 

[Eephus]

There are a lot of positives to take away from this tournament.   It ended badly of course and it's only natural to talk about that today.  But there are some young players who have developed and the back line generally looked solid.

I'll take the half full approach for now but if the team doesn't look good in the September WC qualifiers I'm going to complain about everything.

 

[dparker713]

Guzan came pretty close to pushing Messi's FK onto the bar.  Literally any touch would have done it.  Howard's springs or Friedel's arms or even just a slightly quicker recognition and it's at least in play IMO.  YMMV

I think you're underselling Guzan as a shot stopper.  

 

[Steve Tasker]

Similar to Serie A, with PSG and then crap teams but in MLS the team rosters are like this.  

I didn't realize Paris was in Italy

 

[Sebowski]

 I love butthurt fans.  

What's this now? I was laughing at your flaming hot take that "most Americans never heard of Messi". That's some stinking ### bait right there. 

 

[Steve Tasker]

There are a lot of positives to take away from this tournament.   It ended badly of course and it's only natural to talk about that today.  But there are some young players who have developed and the back line generally looked solid.

I'll take the half full approach for now but if the team doesn't look good in the September WC qualifiers I'm going to complain about everything.

There's no doubt, IMO, that the team outperformed expectations.  They won a group with no minnows including a 4-0 throttling of a regional rival coming off a World Cup quarterfinal run.  They beat perennial World Cup fringe team Ecuador twice in a span of a few weeks.  Some of the young players looked good - Pulisic and Brooks in particular.  Perhaps even more interestingly, they ran with the same lineup repeatedly and the team performed well.  We'll see what happens in the fall but they look to be in a decent place right now, IMO.

 

[Sebowski]

We got our ### whooped. It happens. Rocky got his ### whooped a whole bunch times. But guess what? He got back up. Time to shake it off and get ready for Saturday. 3rd place would be an amazing run. There is no point in dwelling on what the greatest team in the world did to us. They were a buzzsaw last night.

As much as I want to see Nagbe and Sister Christian more, I'm hoping we go back the lineup we started 3 games in a row. Show that we are there to win the damn game. Get back on track before camp breaks.  

 

[Sinn Fein]

For me:  

Positives from COPA:  

Back line looks settled.  Brooks really came to the forefront, but I thought the entire backline, including Besler's cameo at LB, played well enough - and is a good foundation to build from.

Wood looks like a viable alternative/partner for Jozy.

Pulisic is cap-tied - not that there was really any doubt, but good to be sure, and good to have that caliber of player in the future.

Negatives from COPA

Midfield is a hot mess right now - that is why we looked so rough against Argentina - we could not control the ball, and we could not stop them from controlling the ball in the midfield.  Does not really matter why, but Bradley has regressed significantly, and JK does not seem to trust Nagbe.  Jones is a fossil, Beckerman is too slow - we need to move on from both players soon.  Bedoya is still useful as a worker bee in the midfield.  And, Zardes can have his moments - but we desperately need Bradley to regain form, or we must find someone who can control the ball in the midfield.

Goalkeeping - this has historically been a strength of US teams - not sure why we can't find the next generation.  Current Guzan is not in the same class as Howard in his prime, Friedel, Keller, Meola, and I don't even see anyone pushing Guzan

Wondo - he is not terrible, but he was a terrible fit for trying to play against Argentina.  Wondo is a poacher, who needs someone to control the midfield, and wingers to put service into the box.  We had none of that against Argentina - so not his fault, but just a terrible decision to play him.

Where do we go from here?

Our immediate goal is to qualify for Russia 2018.  At the same time, we must start getting younger players more involved.  As good as Dempsey and even Jones can be right now - they will not be effective in Russia in 2 years - we need to find their replacements soon.  For Dempsey, maybe its a Jozy/Wood partnership.  I do wonder if maybe Pulisic could be a #10 in a 4231 formation, sitting behind a Wood and/or Jozy.  Maybe Nagbe, and keep Pulisic on the wing?

Find a LB - Fab is great as a LB, but if we can find an adequate LB, then we can move Fab up to the midfield and solve an even bigger problem.

We have to make some tough decisions on Bradley - part of this is Bradley, part of this is Klinsmann.  Can Bradley play the holding midfield role effectivel, and will Klinsmann play him there?

Pressing - our pressure was ####.  Not sure if that is coaching, or quality of player.  I suspect a little of both.  If we are going to be a high pressing team, we have to learn to do it much more effectively than we have been doing against quality opponents.

 

[NewlyRetired]

At the risk of upsetting newly retired (  ) where would you rank MLS against the other soccer league? 10th? Lower? I'm genuinely curious. 

out of the roughly 400 division 1 and 2 leagues in the world, I would rank MLS some where in the 20-25 range when comparing the top teams*.

Much like rankings for countries though, it tends to be a huge jumble between 15-30 where there is very little difference in quality so if someone were to say 15th or 30th it is hard to argue.

*One problem in the comparison is that MLS teams spread their talent out where as most other leagues see the players concentrated on a few teams. 

 

[The Gator]

@NewlyRetired / @El Floppo

What do we know about Ethan Horvath?

 

[Ned]

No one stops that second goal.  And as bad as Guzanitlooked on the first goal I'm not sure staying on his line works much better.  Lavezzi gets the ball on his feet on the 6 with plenty of room if he sits back.  It was a bad choice to come off the line, but the outcome is probably the same.

Yeah, really Tough call. Imo, with the way the ball was floated, he needed to commit to winning It In the air and just keep coming out.

I felt bad for Guzan - that all happened because Dickerman was ball watching and got caught with his pants down.  Had he marked Lavezzi, he likely breaks that up without leaving Guzan on an island.

 

[The Gator]

Pressing - our pressure was ####.  Not sure if that is coaching, or quality of player.  I suspect a little of both.  If we are going to be a high pressing team, we have to learn to do it much more effectively than we have been doing against quality opponents.

Lots of good in your post.

The pressing though was painful to watch.  As much as I'm not fan of Klinny, this isn't on him. I don't feel it's the national team's coach's job to teach pressing. He might have different philosophies on how/when to do it, but it's not on him if a bunch veteran players suck at it. 

Youth development/club playing develops this imo

 

[Eephus]

I felt bad for Guzan - that all happened because Dickerman was ball watching and got caught with his pants down.  Had he marked Lavezzi, he likely breaks that up without leaving Guzan on an island.

After playing for Villa, Guzan should have anticipated defensive breakdowns

 

[NewlyRetired]

@NewlyRetired / @El Floppo

What do we know about Ethan Horvath?

I have seen him play only in youth tournaments but I really like him (as I do Zach Steffan who I think has a bigger upside).

Horvath has an advantage in that he plays in a small league right now so he sees some playing time even at his young age where as Steffan is on a Bundesliga team and may not see any time unless he gets loaned out to a smaller league for many years.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Does anyone know if Jones is suspended for the 3rd place game?  I seem to remember the initial ruling was a 2 game suspension.

If he is out, I hope JK does use the spot to give Nagbe extended minutes.  If JK is unsure of what he can give the team, I think the 3rd place game is going to be better than any friendly he could have to see what he could give with out any real down side since the game is really meaningless.

If either Chile or Colombia take this game some what seriously, it will provide the US a better game at home than almost all of the hex will (assuming we get to the hex of course).

 

[Buzzbait]

Does anyone know if Jones is suspended for the 3rd place game?  I seem to remember the initial ruling was a 2 game suspension.

He'll be back for the Sat match. It was just a one match suspension.

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/06/22/04/58/160621-mnt-usa-downed-4-0-by-argentina-in-copa-america-centenario-semifinal-in-houston

Three changes were made to the starting lineup from the 2-1 win against Ecuador, all due to the one-game suspensions for Alejandro Bedoya, Jermaine Jones and Bobby Wood. Graham Zusi, Kyle Beckerman and Chris Wondolowski all made their first starts of the tournament in place of Bedoya, Jones and Wood.