The U.S. was shut out at Home Depot Center on Friday night. (YoTuT/Wikimedia Commons)

The U.S. started out strong, but faltered

In the beginning of the match, the attacking flair that Jürgen Klinsmann has preached looked to be a reality. Brek Shea dominated the left flank with skill and excellent runs. Jozy Altidore posted up and was a target for Landon Donovan, Shea and José Torres. But after a good start, the U.S. sass out of sorts.

Donovan missed an absolutely easy chance by inches in the first half. Literally inches. That was the Yanks' best chance of the evening, and they never got that close again. The other chances the U.S. had were either snuffed out by poor final balls or offside calls. Throughout most of the first half, they had great possession. But once they reached the final third, nothing went right.

The U.S. should have had its way with a B-level Costa Rica team with the better plays on the pitch and dominating in Costa Rica's third. That wasn't the case. More will need to be seen from the squad as they play Belgium in Brussels on Tuesday.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Shea

Like the U.S. team, the young Shea started hot and then was mostly ineffective. Shea was a havoc on the left wing in the beginning of the match, but took poor touches and made some poor passes later. Shea's only effective start-to-finish outing was against Mexico last month as a sub. He has yet to turn in a solid, thorough starting performance for the senior team.

However, conclusions should not yet be made about Shea's future. He has had a great year in MLS (albeit a lower competition level than international play), and is still 21, so he still has plenty of time to develop and become a valuable player for U.S. Soccer.

It wouldn't be a U.S. game without a refereeing controversy

The non-call of the night featured 18-year-old forward Juan Agudelo set up in the box during the second half and being denied a goal scoring opportunity. The defender challenged Agudelo before the ball arrived, but there was no call.

Costa Rica committed numerous fouls, but it took until the end of the first half before the first yellow was shown. There were five yellow cards given, three of which to the United State, even though the U.S. the less physically reckless team.

The team has a long way to go to compete with Mexico in CONCACAF

If the U.S. played a full strength Costa Rica squad, then the caveat could be "the U.S. didn't have their entire first-choice team." Though there is truth in that -- Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley did not play -- the U.S. was far more talented on Friday. They had the best players and fell flat. The friendly next week against Belgium, and the one, maybe two, friendlies scheduled in October will need to feature a stronger, efficient U.S. team in the opponents' box. Otherwise, the Klinsmann era will have a rockier beginning than it has already had.

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