If there was a grittier performance than this one anywhere in the world on Friday, you’ll have a hard time finding it.

The U.S. U23 team somehow managed to weather squall after destructive attacking squall from Colombia’s fleet of danger men and managed to escape a sweltering Barranquilla with a 1-1 draw in its first leg Olympic qualifying playoff. In terms of best case scenarios, this was about as good as the U.S. could’ve hoped for away from home. Colombia controlled every facet of this game down to its marrow, and the U.S. kept them from scoring once from the run of play.

As a result, the U.S. is one step closer to reaching its first Olympic Games since 2008.

An early first-half goal from Queretaro midfielder Luis Gil set the tone, and the U.S. was only undone once in the second half on a penalty thanks to a foul from Kellyn Acosta. The game finished level despite everything, and now next week’s second leg in Frisco, Texas looks significantly cheerier from an American perspective.

Take a look at some of the numbers and you’ll be just as mystified as to how the U.S. escaped alive. Colombia out-shot the U.S. 25-6, out-crossed the U.S. 34-8, out-passed the U.S. 689-231, out-possessed the U.S. 75-25, boasted an 87-57 percent edge in passing accuracy and forced the U.S. to make a staggering 25 clearances. For nearly the entire second half the U.S. was out-classed in almost every venue.

And yet the result came anyway. The U.S. got an away goal tiebreaker and takes a deadlocked series back to home soil. In many ways, this was the exact result the U.S. hoped to get, even if the road getting there was paved largely by Colombia’s unbelievable profligacy in the box.

The U.S. was mostly led - and ultimately saved - by its devastatingly effective midfield trio of Gil, Wil Trapp and Emerson Hyndman. The three-headed central midfield hydra provided the U.S. with nearly all of its closed space in the defensive third and stoked the coals for just about every meaningful foray forward. Trapp folded in as the primary holding midfielder, while Hyndman filled more of a No. 8 role and Gil did his best to tuck under Jordan Morris up top.

It was not a perfect set-up. It was largely overrun possessionally, left the U.S. hopelessly narrow and removed a ton of foot speed that largely stayed on the bench.

But it did help create the U.S.’s only goal and one of its only two moments of real danger all afternoon.

The U.S. goal came early in the first half off a picture perfect quick-fire build that only touched four sets of cleats and never left the turf. The trajectory traveled from keeper Ethan Horvath - who had to leave for Cody Cropper before half due to a vicious collision - to Trapp to Gil to Mario Rodriguez and back to Gil, who was not tracked and finished coolly in the bottom corner despite a deflection.

Morris, who looked gassed for most of the second half, provided the only other gasp-worthy moment later on in the second half when he pinged the crossbar with an almost unbelievable outside-footed shot from 20 yards. Four minutes later, Colombia earned a penalty when Acosta pulled on an arm in the box, and midfield maestro Juan Fernando Quintero finished past Cropper to make it 1-1.

And that’s where it stayed. Despite everything.

The U.S. was committed defensively, and despite a shaky afternoon on the wings from both Eric Miller and Acosta, the spine held. That was thanks in part to Colombia’s utter inability to finish its blizzard of chances, but give the central defensive combination of Matt Miazga and Tim Parker its due. The two were mostly dialed in and proved to be an almost unbeatable combination aerially. With Trapp and Hyndman providing cover and the U.S. packing 10 and sometimes all 11 men behind the ball for much of the second half, there was little for the Colombians to do but take speculative cracks and pray.

The neutralization of Quintero might’ve been the Andi Herzog’s crew’s greatest accomplishment. Quintero was very clearly the best player on the field for the duration, but he operated almost exclusively outside a 20 yard-ring from Horvath and then Cropper, who was shaky but held his ground (and almost saved the penalty). As Quintero got more desperate he stepped deeper into the final third, but the sledding was strewn with land mines. Quite simply there was nowhere to go.

There will be no poems penned about the Americans’ performance on Friday. It was stilted, jarring and at times watch-through-your-fingers tense as the team peeled back from Colombia’s half. But that was always the direction this game was headed. Colombia owned more skill and flank speed, and despite the fact that Herzog could’ve certainly gone faster with his team selection, it’s hard to argue with the results. The U.S. back line held, and it has given itself a fighting chance in the second leg.

On the road and in near 100-degree temperatures with a mostly MLS lineup still getting its preseason legs worked out, you can’t ask for much more than that.

Now, the U.S. has to capitalize. It does not need a goal in the second leg, and technically it can ride out a 0-0 draw and move on. But expecting Colombia to not come out guns blazing in Frisco would be folly, and the U.S. will undoubtedly be seeking a knockout hammer blow to finish the tie. If they get it, credit the Americans for taking care of business against a decidedly tricky foe.