Despite dominating play for most of the second half, the U.S. national team allowed a goal in the 87th minute and fell 2-1 to Costa Rica on Sunday at Tampa Stadium.
Nineteen-year-old Jafeth Soto raced past a defender to drill a low shot past goalkeeper Brad Friedel. The goal came 14 minutes after the U.S. team tied the score on captain Paul Caligiuri's fifth career international goal.Soto took a pass from Carlos Ulate about 35 yards from the goal and raced past Thomas Dooley. Friedel came out to his right to reduce the angle but Soto scored inside the far post.
"The guys were playing to win the game," U.S. interim coach Steve Sampson said. "When you play to win, sometimes you leave gaps in the back."
The U.S. team, which outshot Costa Rica 21-7, fell behind on Ilama's goal in the 20th minute.
Caligiuri, a midfielder who played every minute of every game for the U.S. World Cup team last year, scored his goal by picking up a loose ball that bounced off several players following a throw-in from the right corner and slamming it into the center of the goal.