United States 0-Venezuela 3
After a rough start to their week the United States Men’s National Team were hoping for a little bit of break and perhaps a big win in Cincinnati. Instead what they received was a throttling. In their final warm-up prior to the Gold Cup the U.S. were soundly defeated 3-0 by Venezuela.
Salomon Rondon scored twice (16′ and 36′) scored twice while Jefferson Savarino added a goal in the 30th minute for Venezuela. Savarino, who plays for Real Salt Lake, in particular had an excellent match working together seamlessly with Rondon to create havoc in the attacking third. The win does give them a little bit of an edge heading into Copa America group play on Friday. Venezuela will take on Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia in Group A at this year’s tournament.
As for the United States this result follows another poor result against Jamaica on Wednesday, a 1-0 loss. While the U.S. did lead in possession (50-47) they failed to put together any sort of attacking chances of note. Their inability to get out of their own defensive and build any sort of meaningful possession should be scary for supporters who believed that under Gregg Berhalter that the team’s consistency issues in the midfield would be resolved. Evidently, they are not.
The U.S. will begin CONCACAF Gold Cup play next week when they face Guyana on Tuesday, June 18th at Allianz Field in Minneapolis.
On hand to cover the match was Prost Photographer Craig Hunter. You can check out his full gallery of FC Cincinnati photos on SmugMug and give him your thoughts on Twitter.
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