It went down as a "shock loss" in the words of Ian Darke: USA 0, Costa Rica 1. The Yanks, led by Cambodian tourist Landon Donovan, controlled play for stretched but never solved the Tico defense. Meanwhile - stop me if you've heard this one - the defense looked out of sorts as they allowed runs in behind and spent entirely too much time running toward Tim Howard's goal.
Eventually, it proved too much as Tim Howard's point blank save on a shot created by just such an Alvaro Saborio run found its way to Rodney Wallace's head and into the back of the net. This was just Jurgen Klinsmann's second game, and despite marquee wins in Italy and Mexico, the ground under his feet has only gotten soggier since then, and even more so since the USMNT loss in San Pedro Sula, Honduras to kick off this final round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying.
Tomorrow, Saborio leads the Ticos back to the Land of the Free for the second game of the Hexagonal. Here's hoping for a better result for Jurgen Klinsmann's side this time around. We'll have lots more on this game and the next one in Mexico here at B&RU, so be sure to check out our complete coverage in our StoryStream, over on the right side of the page.