U.S. men’s soccer team crushed by Colombia, 5-1, in first warmup game for Copa América

LANDOVER, Md. — There are days when fans of the U.S. men’s soccer team watch their favorite players shine for clubs that matter in Europe, and dream of the day when they come together and lift their country.

Then there are days like Saturday, when they came together and fell thoroughly flat.

Colombia took an early 2-0 lead on the Americans with two easy goals, from Jhon Arias in the sixth minute and Rafael Santos Borré in the 19th, and mostly cruised from there to a 5-1 rout.

Tim Weah scored the Americans’ goal with their one true highlight play of the day in the 58th. But Colombia stayed on the gas pedal, and charged on to goals from Richard Ríos in the 77th, Jorge Carrascal in the 85th, and Luis Sinisterra in the 88th.

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It didn’t take long for Colombia to assert its superiority. Its opening goal needed only a patient buildup, a slip by Antonee Robinson, a slow reaction by Tim Ream, and a slammed finish from close range by Arias.

The second goal was just as bad: a short corner kick, a cross that the U.S. failed to clear, and a second chance where Jefferson Lerma overpowered defensive midfielder Johnny Cardoso and right back Joe Scally — the latter of whom is under a microscope with usual right back Sergiño Dest out injured.

Lerma’s header went to Borré, who was wide-open even amid the traffic, and he flung himself up for a bicycle-kick finish.

The U.S. was able to conjure up a few half-chances in the first half, but only produced one shot on target. In the middle of the period, many of the Colombian fans in the crowd of 55,494 started chanting “USA, Colombia es tu papa!” — Colombia is your father — and they would chant it many more times in the game.

There wasn’t much of a case to argue with them.

U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter withdrew star attacker Christian Pulisic for Haji Wright at halftime, a surprising move but one that the TV broadcast revealed was pre-planned. More surprisingly, the U.S. attack didn’t falter much without Pulisic on the field.

That paid off with Weah’s goal, a 10-pass move that saw seven U.S. players touch the ball. Weah did some impressive work in the buildup, turning and hitting a cross-field pass to Folarin Balogun that launched a give-and-go for the finish.

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Alas, the good vibes didn’t last too long: Luis Díaz, a star of England’s Liverpool, beat Matt Turner three minutes later but hit the post and the ball stayed out by inches.

Berhalter made double substitutions in the 62nd and 71st minutes. In the first set, centerback Cameron Carter-Vickers replaced Ream, and attacking midfielder Malik Tillman replaced Gio Reyna. In the second, central midfielder Yunus Musah replaced Weston McKennie, and striker Ricardo Pepi replaced Balogun.

Ríos’ goal was, like the rest of his team’s, too easy. Sinisterra created it with some fancy footwork on the right wing, then set up the finish with a cutting pass to an open teammate.

Berhalter made his last substitution in the 83rd, sending in Luca de la Torre for Cardoso. Two minutes later, Weah gave the ball away in his own half, and Colombia put it in the net within five seconds.

Sinisterra capped off the scoring, as the Cafeteros once again cut up the U.S. defense and went right down the middle of it with a quick buildup.

This was the U.S. men’s team’s heaviest defeat since 2016, when they lost twice by 4-0 margins: against Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the Copa América Centenario semifinals, then at Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying a few months later.

It’s the first time they’ve given up five goals since the 2009 Gold Cup final against Mexico.

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The Americans haven’t beaten a truly major opposing nation, even in a friendly, since winning at the Netherlands and Germany on a European trip in June of 2015. And the hosts didn’t take those games nearly as seriously as the visitors, resting stars after the club season with no major tournament that summer.

Will the streak end at the Copa América this summer? The U.S. will play Uruguay, led by veteran stars Luis Suárez, Darwin Nuñez, and Federico Valverde, in the group stage; then could face Colombia or even-more-star-studded-Brazil in the knockout rounds.

The U.S. will face Brazil on Wednesday in Orlando in the teams’ last Copa warmup game (7 p.m., TNT, truTV, Telemundo, Universo, Max, Peacock). The five-time World Cup champions are expected to have Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, and 17-year-old phenom Endrick in their attack.

It’s another coincidence that Colombia and Brazil are the teams the U.S. has the longest losing streaks against by number of games played: eight games against Colombia dating to 2005, and 11 games against Brazil dating to 1998.