Juergen Klinsmann has long talked of the Copa America Centenario as a measuring stick for his national team, a way to see how the U.S. stacks up against some of the world’s top soccer nations.
And based on its performance Friday the U.S. still has some growing to do, with first-half goals by Cristian Zapata and James Rodriguez lifting Colombia to a 2-0 victory before an announced Levi’s Stadium crowd of 67,439.
The game was the opener of the Centenario, the 100th-anniversary edition of the South American championships, a 16-team, 23-day tournament that is being played in the U.