U.S.A. ruins Costa Rica's World Cup dreams

Jonathan Bornstein scored a goal in the 95th minute to tie Costa Rica 2-2 and drop the Ticos into 4th place in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and setting them up for a 2 game playoff against Uruguay in a months time. Let me repeat that again. Jonathan Bornstein scored a goal in the 95th minute to tie Costa Rica 2-2 and drop the Ticos into 4th place in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and setting them up for a 2 game playoff against Uruguay in a months time.

The U.S. played a solid game and dominated possession but still managed to find itself down 2 goals thanks to poor finishing and a very opportunistic performance by Bryan Ruiz, who scored both Costa Rican goals. But the United States poured on the pressure and got a scrappy, rebound goal from Michael Bradley to cut the lead to 1 goal and set up the dramatic finish. The U.S. played the last 10 minutes with only 10 men after Oguchi Onyewu went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury but they continued to press forward with numbers and finally got the breakthrough when Bornstein finished off a perfect corner kick and crushed a nations World Cup dreams. It was a dramatic end to what was a very emotional, and potentially costly, day for the American players and coaches.

With the devastating news of star forward Charlie Davies serious injuries suffered in a car accident early Tuesday morning fresh in their minds, the U.S. team came out with a lot of energy but lacked the cool needed to finish off the plays. That allowed Costa Rica to take the lead with some nifty finishing by Ruiz. But the U.S. showed a great deal of fight in this game and came back to earn the tie in a game that looked lost with 20 minutes remaining. Despite the joy of winning the qualifying group, the U.S. may have lost another starter for an extended period of time as Onyewu fell awkwardly and immediately called for medical help on what appeared to be his left knee. The losses of Davies and Onyewu in the same week that they qualify for the World Cup is the ultimate case of highs and lows. Now it is up to Bob Bradley to harness the emotion that surrounds this team and build them up leading into the World Cup next summer. Good job boys. Take a much needed rest, you've deserved it.