World Cup Qualifiers

Same here, except I only watched the first half and then I thought "I don't need this crap." It had already been a long day for my fantasy football team and my favorite pointy football team.

 

Was Berhalter expecting a Gold Cup match on US soil? I understand rotating players through the three matches, but that was ridiculous. Thankfully (like Joe), I didn’t watch.

Here’s to something better on Wednesday (it can’t really get any worse, can it?).

 

I’m going to say I have no idea what to expect tonight.

 

@HatterDon, Oh no you don’t HD, your TV better be on ESPN2 at 6PM San Antonio time, suffer like the rest of us.

Let’s see what lineup GB puts out there. Obviously if Antonee & Weston aren’t able to play, I would expect another drab performance. Instead of riding the hot hand and starting most of the Jamaica lineup, then subbing to save legs, GB went oppo w/7 new starters and they put in the worst
performance since T&T. The Ticos are still rolling out their old guys, and will look to slow it down, let’s see what happens.

Panama travels to Canada, a draw would probably be the best result for us.

El Salvador hosts Mexico, ES has been good at home, maybe they can do us a favor.

 

I'm not sure what to expect from Costa Rica. They were totally dominated last week in Honduras - at least stat-wise - in an eventual nil-nil draw. They had 33% possession, only completed 65% of their passes, and managed 4 shots (to 24 by Honduras) with only 1 on target. Then they flipped the script on Sunday at home to El Salvador. Hopefully they play as poorly on the road tonight as they did last week.

I am a little more confident than some of you sound. Getting Adams, Aaronson, Robinson (both of them), Dest, and Pepi back in the lineup is huge. Throw in McKennie (if healthy) and Weah and that's a solid team.

 

It was messy at times, but youth prevailed over experience and a vital 3 points was earned. Craziest stat, the oldest player in the starting eleven for the US was Zach Steffen at 26, the Ticos youngest was 27.

We need Pulisic & Reyna going forward, but their absence made others step up. Sergino Dest w/a golazo to tie it up. Let’s not forget he’s 20 years old, and not only is he the most skilled player we have, but to see him leading the crowd in cheers after coming off, and his excitement in the post match interview showed the kid is all in.

Adams’ had the presence of a Captain, in total command.

Moment that defined the match and teams in their current state; calamitous giveaway gave Bryan Ruiz a breakaway just inside the halfway line. 10 years ago, Bryan takes advantage and buries it. At his age, he could only manage to get to the top of the 18 before he was caught and turned the ball back over.

Canada buried Panama after giving up an early goal themselves 4-1. So Mexico at 14, US at 11, and Canada at 10 in top 3.

 

Rolling the MLS Eastern conference by some obscene point differential with New England.

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soc...lifying-usa-mexico/12qrbxicglam81cz088ioc5ivl

El Tri week!!! Pulisic called back in, but anymore then 20 minutes would be negligent by GB. If you aren’t a John Brooks fan, you will be now, as he grabbed a mirror and took 100% accountability for his omission (ironically he played well in CL match where his team beat Aronson’s). With Dest and Reyna both out, who plays (Joe Scally anyone?).

 

I think Scally deserved the call up, but I'm not sure that he'll be playing much, if at all. My best guess for Friday night will be
Aaronson Pepi Arriola
Musah Adams McKennie
Robinson Robinson Zimmerman Yedlin
Turner
The central defense (including GK) is only a guess and I may have the left/right switched for the mid/fwds

Pulisic to appear as a super sub if the situation warrants.

My confidence has waned from the start of the qualification cycle. Perhaps I was overconfident back then, but the US is still struggling with the same issues - who is going to lead the front line for the next couple of years, linking up through the midfield, playing scared on the road (hello Panama). I am always excited though to watch USA v Mexico.

 

HD, Pulisic has played a total of 18 minutes since the last window. I’m sure Chelscum is holding their breathes, and hoping that he plays sparingly, and gets the benefit of better fitness/sharpness for when he returns to the Undead.

Haven’t been paying attention, but I guess FIFA is looking to cash in..’er ‘help smaller nations’ by increasing the World Cup to 48 countries. This would increase Concacaf entries to 6. In other words this could be one of the last US-El Tri showdowns w/this amount of pressure.

 

I've spent half my day so far watching old USA vs Mexico highlights on youtube - Gooch's stare down, Miazga's squat down, Bradley's long range chip at Azteca, World Cup 2002 round of 16...

I'm getting pumped!

 

Zach Steffen will reportedly be between the sticks tonight. Not going to lie, his positioning scares me.

EDiT: Well done Cincinnati!!!! 2-0 victory over El Tri in front of what looked and sounded like an 90/10 pro US crowd. The Dos a Cero chant after Westin’s goal was awesome. Only negative was Miles getting a second yellow and will miss Jamaica (as will McKennie on card accumulation).

PS: 4 Stars for the classic kits!!!

PSS: Watched replay (including post match celebration) Someone had a huge Fulham flag. Antonee Robinson ran over and gave him his jersey..awesome!!

 

I honestly wasn’t keen on our chances in this one. The Mexicans should have been primed and motivated to exact revenge for the summer finals’ defeats in the Gold Cup & Nations League tournaments. And we’re still tinkering, to a great extent, with our young roster.
Well now.
El Tri didn’t play like the injured predator they should have been playing like, but they played well enough in the first half to generate the superior scoring chances.
Except they didn’t score.
I had to retire at halftime, and was pleasantly surprised to see the result and, more importantly, how it was obtained. Stu Holden hit the nail on the head for Pulisic’s opener, that while two other US attackers stood flat footed in the box, #10 kept moving, probing and ultimately getting on the end of Tim Weah’s well worked and delivered cross. I’ve been skeptical of all the hype and speculation that Pulisic is, or soon will be, the greatest soccer player America has ever produced. Last night reduced a lot of that doubt. His goal reminded me a lot of the way one Clinton Drew Dempsey used to attack the goal with such verocity and contempt for the multiple enemy players trying to stop him, i.e., “this is MY ball, I’m getting to it before any of y’all punks and slamming it into your goal.” Pulisic just has to stay healthy.
McKennie has carried his Juventus resurgence over to his international form. We’re gonna need him to be the “good” Weston for the rest of the WCQ qualifying cycle. The best thing about this one? Clean. Sheet. When I went to bed, I figured they would score eventually. But Walker Zimmerman, Zach Steffen and the rest of the Yank Minuteman kept a veteran, more talented Mexico attack off of the scoreboard. Zimmerman probably had his best match in a US shirt.
And our boy Antonee put in a decent shift too. He looked more aggressive and confident on the attack, going directly at and even beating defenders on the dribble. He really took the initiative, and I loved it.
The bottom line? The Kids Are Alright. If they can figure out how to win CONCACAF road matches, they’ll be better than alright. They’ll be on the road to Qatar. I’m more optimistic after last night that the youngsta’s will deliver atonement for the sins of 2018.

 

Don took the words out of my mouth and said them so much better than I would have except one minor thing, Tim Weah was my man of the match. Right now I would have him starting ahead of Reyna when he gets back.

 

@BarryWhite Coin flip for me between Westin/Weah. By far Weah’s best match in the USMNT jersey, and it couldn’t come at a better time!

Elsewhere Canada puts a fork (almost) in the Ticos. Pesky Panama was down 2-0 at Honduras in the 75th, but scored 3 times in 10 minutes to stay in the mix.

 

Let’s hope the celebration ended that night, and the team got back to work at training the next day. The Boyz in Kingston will be thinking 3 pts, and we can’t go in playing slow and emotionally flat. It’s on Paramount+ again . Will be curious on what we do in terms of Miles/Westin being out.

Canada taking a page out of our playbook and taking El Tri into harsh weather. Temp in Edmonton game time should be around 25-30 degrees. Not sure what the best result would be for us.

Panama hosting El Salavador in what should be a win for the hosts. If they do get the 3 points, they’ll be on 14 pts and thinking automatic qualification.