The St. Louis Cardinals gave up their home turf of Busch Stadium for the United States to face Uruguay in another friendly match, with the home side looking to avoid back-to-back defeats against South American opposition. We took our seats to get a closer look at the action as part of our ‘Framed’ Series.
The U.S. were hoping to put the somewhat humbling defeat at the hands of rivals Mexico from a few days ago behind them, and yet they found themselves facing what was on paper at least, a sterner test in the form of Uruguay, who are ranked fifth in the world. U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter made seven changes to the team that started against Mexico, removing some of his key players, while Uruguay were also without the likes of Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani.
Playing at a baseball stadium often takes something away from the traditional atmosphere of a classic football stadium, with the fans being further away from the action on several sides of the pitch. And truth be told the detracted atmosphere was reflected in the play; there was no mistaking this for a anything but a mid-season international friendly. The home crowd were buoyed by the improved performance of their side as the match progressed, although the same problem from the Mexico game looked like it may be their downfall yet again, with a lack of a clinical edge in front of goal.
When Brian Rodriguez broke through the U.S. defence and slammed the ball home, a palpable sense of deja vu fell across the stadium. But a huge slice of luck meant that by the final whistle honours were even. An attempted clearance deflected off Nick Lima before looping up and dropping right to Jordan Morris who was on the goal line, the attacker applying the necessary touch to ensure the ball crossed the line. Uruguay may feel disappointed, but in fairness it was probably the right result on the basis of the action.
Photography by Nick Goodwin for SoccerBible.
