USMNT vs Costa Rica: Photo Gallery

The U.S. Men’s National Team came to Orlando to play a January friendly against Costa Rica and kept its perfect record at Inter&Co Stadium intact, improving to 7-0-0 at the home of Orlando City and the Orlando Pride with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica. Hopefully Orlando was not chosen for it’s warmth, as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees with a fine mist for maximal heat dispersion. The conditions did not seem to bother the team however (or maybe it bothered Costa Rica more), as the youthful U.S. lineup picked up the win.

As is often the case for a January camp, the makeup of the Unitd States squad consisted of largely less-experienced pool players, so the game started a little on the nervy side. A little before halfway through the first half, midfielder Diego Luna took an errant arm across the face, breaking his nose. Luna running around the field with both nostrils packed may have helped galvanize the team, as he found Brian White a just moments after he returned from getting treatment and a new shirt, and the Yanks were up 1-0.

The Americans continued to grow into the match and by the second half mostly orchestrated the game, with a couple acrobatic saves by Zack Steffen as punctuation. The U.S. didn’t find the net again until late in the second half, however. Caden Clark finally broke through again in the 77th minute to relieve some nerves and ensure the victory. Patrick Agyemang’s goal in the 90th minute put an exclamation point on the match, sealing the victory.

We hope you enjoy these images from a cold, wet night of international soccer at Inter&Co Stadium.