The United States National Team played their first friendly of 2015 in a match against the Copa America hosts Chile in Rancagua. The team is starting their preparation for this summer's Gold Cup tournament being held in the United States as well as the start of World Cup Qualification for Russia 2018.
It didn't take long for the goals to come. In the sixth minute after a buildup down the right side, Matt Besler delivered a gorgeous ball over the top of Chile's defense to Brek Shea, who controlled it and fired a laser volley into the side netting from a difficult angle. USA's lead didn't last long, though, as Roberto Gutierrez equalized with a header past Nick Rimando just four minutes later.
The Americans then struck back in the 31st minute, as DeAndre Yedlin slipped a ball into the box to Mix Diskerud, who cleverly found an open Jozy Altidore to finish the shot in and get the lead back at 2-1 as halftime approached. Chile appeared to equalize with another header from Gutierrez just before halftime, but an offside call kept the Americans in front.
In the second half, the Americans continue to hold on for the remainder of the match, but Chile were able to stage a comeback. Mark Gonzalez broke through in the 66th minute, beating Yedlin down the left wing and slotting one near-post past Rimando for the equalizer. Just nine minutes later, Rimando saved a long-distance shot from Marco Medel, but it fell to Gonzalez to score from the rebound and calmly put the hosts in front.
The United States struggled to gain possession the rest of the way, falling to another disappointing defeat, with their third straight loss. Jurgen Klinsmann will be looking to continue the 3-5-2 experiment when his team takes on Panama in a friendly on Feb. 8 at the StubHub Center in a rematch of the 2013 Gold Cup.