Gold Cup: USA Stumbles Past El Salvador; Costa Rica Next

OK, so the scrimmage part of this biennial tournament is outta the way for one side of its bracket.

Being real, neither winner distinguished itself.

Costa Rica need a Panamanian own goal to find a back door to the semi-finals in a 1-0 victory that should've seen paying customers line up for a refund.

In the other pairing, Clint Dempsey provided a dazzling moment and two of America's backs actually found something they could do right.

Toss in brutal officiating, and the result was a performance that no one could better appreciate than Philadelphia's sports community.

Here, then, are pertinent moments in the USA's 2-0 defeat of those minnows from El Salvador that is still inexcusable:

The USA's entire starting XI in this one was well-rested, as none of them playing in the Nicaraguan walkover. The question, however, is if this fomented rust or bad chemistry.

Whatever the case, dudes had best pick it up by this Sat 22 Jul. Los Ticos are no joke, especially on defense. That's their strength, and frankly, Costa Rica's back four has been much steadier than their American counterparts who simply haven't been on the same page yet in this event.

The Americans have cruised against this tourney's minnows and looked alarming in the process. The last time they faced Costa Rica, it was a Hex match where a 4-0 drubbing precluded Jürgen Klinsmann's eventual sacking.

So's their accountability.