Colombia demolishes USMNT in Copa América tune-up. It's 'a wake-up call.'

LANDOVER, Md. — Before a training session earlier this week, a handful of U.S. men's soccer players spoke about not just wanting to hold their own at this summer's Copa América tournament, which is the most prestigious event they'll play prior to the next World Cup. They talked about entering the tournament with the goal of winning it.

If Saturday's 5-1 dud against Colombia is any indication, however, the Americans still have a long way to go.

In its most lopsided defeat since the Jürgen Klinsmann era, the U.S. men's national team appeared both sloppy and out of sync at Commanders Field on Saturday − particularly in the closing five minutes, when Colombia scored back-to-back goals on a pair of cheap giveaways.

There were individual mistakes galore for the United States. Poor movement. Tepid passing out of the back. And a general lethargy that left coach Gregg Berhalter lamenting that his team showed "a lack of respect for our opponent, the game of soccer."

"We're not framing it as a lesson learned. We're actually framing it as a wake-up call," Berhalter said. "A really poor performance against a top team. If you give a team like that the opportunities that we gave them, you're never going to win."

Five different players scored for Colombia, including Rafael Santos Borré, whose overhead kick in the 19th minute put the visitors up 2-0 and would go down as the highlight of the game. It was the Americans' worst defeat since November 2016, when they were blown out by Costa Rica, 4-0, in a World Cup qualifying match.

Fortunately for the U.S., the stakes were not quite as high this time. Saturday's game was only a friendly, the first of two tune-up games that it will play before its Copa América opener against Bolivia on June 23.

That, of course, doesn't make such a scoreline any easier to stomach.

"We were nowhere near the level that we need to play at if we want to win games, coming into Copa América," said Christian Pulisic, who captained the team Saturday night. "Absolutely, yeah, for sure it's better that it happened now. But we can't be anywhere near playing like that and expect to win games."

While the quality of the U.S. men's soccer team has risen, with more national team players carving out roles and holding their own with top teams in Europe, there's been a lingering notion that the team is still incapable of beating some of the world's soccer powerhouses. Saturday did little to discount that idea.

The individual mistakes started just five minutes into the game, when left back Antonee Robinson lunged for a ball that was heading out of bounds and inadvertantly knocked it into the path of Jhon Arias, who took one touch before rifling it into the roof of the net. About 15 minutes later, an unmarked Borré had plenty of space and time to complete the spectacular overhead kick after the U.S. failed to deal with a Colombian corner, making it 2-0.

It was around this time when the chants began to rain down from the predominantly yellow-clad crowd at Commanders Field: "U-S-A, Colombia es tu papa!"

While Timothy Weah deposited a nice give-and-go to halve Colombia's lead early in the second half, it proved to be only a blip. Substitute Richard Ríos banged home an easy cutback in the 77th minute. Weah unsuccessfully attempted to nutmeg Jorge Carrascal, who then scored in the 85th. And then Luis Sinisterra turned a woeful U.S. turnover in the center of the field into a simple goal at keeper Matt Turner's near post in the 88th.

"For us, it's just about respecting the game," Turner said. "I think we're a good team, no doubt about that. We had some bright moments within the game − fought back, 2-1 down, really pushing forward. But then it's just a bit of a naivete, respecting the game, respecting what the opponent brings. We really just opened up and allowed them to do exactly what they were planning on doing to us."

Pulisic also cited that openness as one of the most frustrating parts of the Americans' performance.

When asked if he felt like the U.S. was on the same level as Colombia, he quipped: "Did you see the game? Clearly not."

"Does that mean we don't have good enough players? No," Pulisic said. "But the way we played today, as a team, individual performances as well − (we were) nowhere near as good as they were today."

Given the context of the summer and years ahead, Saturday's game will likely be cause for concern in U.S. soccer circles, if not alarm. The United States is hosting or co-hosting Copa América, the 2026 men's World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics − a stretch that will bring some of the most prestigious events and top-caliber players into the country. U.S. soccer officials have expressed hope that this stretch, particularly the World Cup, can ignite the sport's popularity and fuel a long-term boon.

The hope, as part of that long-term goal, was that Saturday night's game − and a second friendly against world power Brazil in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday − would help the U.S. build confidence and momentum. Instead, if nothing changes, it could prove to have the opposite effect.

"We shouldn't be having results like that. ... But at the end of the day, it's the first of a long summer," Turner said. "So ideally we use this experience as a wake-up call and we can rally together and give the fans what they deserve.

"There's a way to lose, and that is definitely not the way."

Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media @Tom_Schad.