THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
The US Men’s Soccer team is likely to advance to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year, despite having mixed fortunes in the latest round of qualification matches. There are still three games left to play but the USMNT sits in second position in the table of eight teams that sees the top three go through automatically, and the fourth-place team enter a playoff.
On Sunday they travelled to Canada to face the unbeaten Canucks in a match that would see the winner top the table and look a certain bet for qualification. Canada have not qualified for a World Cup since 1986, and off the back of their women’s side winning gold at last years Olympics, is enjoying a real resurgence. However, the United States looked strong in qualification and their young side entered the game with a point to prove. Sadly this confidence was undone as early as the seventh minute when Cyle Larin shot across the USA goalkeeper Matt Turner for the lead, one which would last as long as the 96th minute of play when Canada's Kamal Miller found space in the middle as the USA were pushing for an equaliser.
At this point the US were down to ten men, they had used all their substitutions before central defender Chris Richards went off with a foot injury. Miller found Samuel Adekugbe who went on a mazy run before clinically striking home from the edge of the box.
This was the USMNT's second loss to Canada in four games, a change from the previous 19 years when they had not suffered defeat at all to their neighbours from the north. The game was held in tough conditions with a harsh wind and coach Gregg Berhalter was surprisingly upbeat despite the loss, “I think it was an entire team effort that was outstanding. We asked them to be dominant, we asked them to embrace the conditions, embrace the physicality of the opponent, and I think we did that and more. And it's hard for me to remember a performance away from home this dominant without getting a result. So, the result hurts, the performance doesn’t. I’m proud of the guys, proud of the way they competed.”
The statistics from the game did back up Berhalter's praise but also showed that it was finishing that let the side down. They outshot their opponent 13 to 8, but only 3 of those were on target to Canada’s 4. They also won the corner kick count 4 to 1.
The United States had a chance to redeem themselves quickly though as the double header in this round gave them a home game against bottom of the table Honduras on Wednesday night. In Minnesota’s harsh 5-degree temperature it was the USA who settled into the game quickest, and it was their turn to score early in the game, “When we scheduled this game in the game in this location, you have to go by average temperatures, and it was the best guess. We wanted to minimise travel. A cold spell came through and its something we can’t control,” Berhalter said post game after two Honduras players could not continue the game due to early onset hypothermia, and goalkeeper Matt Turner was in some discomfort.
The first goal, on seven minutes, was scored by the USMNT's Weston McKennie, a towering header from a deep free kick by Kellyn Acosta. This settled any nerves down amongst the team and the nearly 20,000 fans in the frigid stands. Walker Zimmerman added a second eight minutes before half time, showing some decent skill in rolling his marker and slotting the ball in from close range after another long free kick from Acosta had not been cleared. With the game sealed against a Honduras team that has only scored five goals in this qualification round, it was left to substitute Christian Pulisic to finish the scoring. Acosta swung over a corner and when the ball bounced off Zimmerman, the Chelsea FC striker was first to react.
The USMNT is in second place in this round with three games left to play and will still need to be on their game with a tricky match in Mexico next on their schedule (March 24) before a home match against Panama (March 27). They then round off their campaign away at Costa Rica (March 30). Two wins should be enough to see them through, but a loss against the Mexicans would really put the pressure on, as Panama currently sit in the playoff position.
