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The United States finally scored in London, but they couldn't beat Colombia in a friendly on Friday afternoon. Jozy Altidore buried an early penalty, but Los Cafeteros were dominant and picked up goals from Carlos Bacca and Teofilo Guiterrez to get the winner.
It was a friendly with an interesting lineup, so it may or may not be a match that tells you all that much about the Nats and where they are at the moment. That said, there are a few takeaways to muse upon:
DeAndre Yedlin still has a ways to go
Yedlin got the start at right-back among a great deal of hype over his World Cup, his 2014 season, and his move to Tottenham. The young defender showcased his blinding speed and desire to be forward, but really had a poor match overall. He was criminal in possession and made a long series of unforced errors that had the Yanks chasing the ball constantly. We saw some of what makes him so dangerous, but a lot more of why he's so raw. It makes you wonder how much playing time he can expect to receive once he arrives in London.
Rubio Rubin looks real good
On the flip side, the young attacker from FC Utrecht made a big splash in his senior national team debut. The striker saw two clear chances but headed just wide on both. Nevertheless, he had ideas in the final third and looked incisive and threatening throughout. At just 18, he's got all the time in the world to progress. We may be seeing a heck of a lot more of him in the near future.
Lee Nguyen is ready for this
New England Revolution fans got their wish in the 78th minute when Lee Nguyen replaced Mix Diskerud in midfield. It took just three minutes to see whether or not the confidence and scrappiness he's been playing with would translate to the national team, because it was only three minutes later that we would see this:
What the Vine doesn't show you is that it was Nguyen who kicked off that counter-attack in the first place by coming forward and playing a lateral ball to Damarcus Beasley, before floating into wide-open space in the attacking third.
Lee also had a delightful little chip to Bobby Wood later in the match. The U.S. had few clear chances, and Lee was behind close to half of them in just 12 minutes of play.
The Yanks' next action is against Ireland on Tuesday the 18th, but they'll be without Nguyen and Jermaine Jones, at least, who will return to New England sometime this weekend.