The US Men's National Team -- CONCACAF Gold Cup Quaterfinals

I went to the match at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

A few observations:

1.  The US Men's team still is not a draw.  Don't blame Philadelphia.  26,000 people did come out -- they would have filled a US soccer-sized stadium.

2.  The US has roughly 320 million people.  Curacao has 161,000.  So, the U.S. something like 2,000 times the size of Curacao.

3.  The US got off to a hot start, and you thought that they would go on to score four goals.  At least.  But something crazy happened after 15 minutes.  The US slowed down its attack, dramatically, and the mighty Curacao team did not flinch when under pressure.  They were patient with the ball, and they picked spots when they used their speed.

4.  Zack Steffen, who made two great saves, was the man of the match.  Had he not made either, Curacao would have won.  He plays overseas.

5.  The US's only goal was a Chelsea-Schalke combination, with Christian Pulisic making a great cross to Weston McKennie.

6.  Only Tim Ream was playing really solidly on the back line.  He, too, plays overseas.

7.  No one else distinguished himself, and Michael Bradley at holding midfielder looked well past his prime.

If this is the best lineup the US can field, it has a million kilometers to travel before it can challenge and defeat the world's powers. The team lacked talent, creativity, zing and oomph.  It played half asleep through most of the match, failing to show energy at critical times.  This lackluster effort should suggest to coach Berhalter that he experiment with his lineups and put in some players with better motors than the guys he had in there.  And, oh, sure, Jozy Altidore was not available, but his absence was not the sole or even primary source of the team's woes.

There just was not enough there there.  The U.S. needs to do better, be crisper, be quicker, and show more decisiveness in order to improve.  Pulisic has it.  The question is, how many of the other outfield players do?