Did Jozy Altidore’s second=half ejection doom the USMNT against Switzerland?
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Switzerland played the United States Men’s National Team to a 1-1 draw in a friendly on Tuesday.
The United States seemed poised for an impressive upset at the end of an evenly fought first half thanks to a penalty kick by Brek Shea at the 45′ mark:
But the hopes of maintaining that lead diminished in the middle of the second half after Jozy Altidore was shown the red card and ejected at 63′ after an illegal tackle, followed by a very loud cursing-out of the yellow-carding official.
With all of the energy seemingly taken out of the USMNT after Altidore’s ejection, Switzerland was quick to pounce and kept the ball deep in USMNT territory for the better part of the next fifteen minutes until 79′, when Stocker helped Switzerland avoid the upset with a big goal.
While Altidore surely is not to blame for the entire mess that befell the team in the final minutes of the match, what kind of influence DID his departure have on the USMNT?
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