For the first time since 1986, the United States Men’s National Team will not be featured in a World Cup. The U.S. cemented their place in infamy after falling to Trinidad & Tobago, 2-1.
Needing only a draw to lock down automatic qualification, the U.S. looked uninspired and found themselves down to last place Trinidad & Tobago after the first half. Head coach, Bruce Arena, brought on Clint Dempsey to try to mount a comeback but had little success. Wunderkind, Christian Pulisic, renewed hope after he scored and cut the lead down to one. However, the U.S. only mustered a few more shots and were unable to make a comeback.
There were a variety of scenarios at play that saw the U.S. at least going to a playoff game to get to the World Cup. There was only one way in which the U.S. saw themselves eliminated. Panama needed to beat and Costa Rica and Honduras needed to beat Mexico. To the shock of USMNT supporters, that’s exactly what happened.
Throughout qualification, the U.S. never seemed capable to string together consecutive good performances. Early on former manager, Jurgen Klinsmann, was heavily criticized for his formations, player selection, and criticism of Major League Soccer. Eventually, Klinsmann was fired in late 2016 following a 2-1 loss to Mexico in Columbus and a 4-0 thrashing away to Costa Rica.
Bruce Arena was brought in as caretaker manager to right the ship. He previously coached the US in the 2002 and 2006 world cup. It looked like the federation had made the right choice as the team picked up points against Honduras, Panama, and Trinidad & Tobago. He even managed a draw against Mexico in the Estadio Azteca.But then came the slip-ups. They lost at home, 2-0, to Costa Rica but beat Panama, at home, 4-0.
Even after the loss to Costa Rica, the US were still in a prime spot to qualify. To say that no one expected what happened in Trinidad would be an understatement.
As mentioned, the team looked sluggish with no sense of urgency. It was almost as if they felt that they would get a result simply by showing up. They were the U.S. their players play in the top European leagues, and they’re facing the last place team in the hexagonal. Call it arrogance, call it the concept of American exceptionalism, but the bottom line is that the USMNT did not get it done when it mattered most.There is no excuse for failing to qualify when the U.S. plays in CONCACAF where four out of the six teams make it through with the fourth playing a playoff game against Australia. A country where the players have nearly every available resource at their disposal. It’s definitely gotten better than it used to be. At least for the men’s team.
The U.S. finally have a player on their team in Christian Pulisic that is a legit world-class prospect. He’s flourishing in Germany with Borussia Dortmund and it’s a shame that we won’t be able to see him in the World Cup. Perhaps the players felt that there was no way the scenario that saw them eliminated would happen. That even if they somehow lost, Mexico would handle Honduras or Costa Rica would handle Panama. However, that’s not the way to approach qualifying. Take care of your business first so you don’t have to rely on another team to do you a favor. The national team deserves all the criticism being thrown their way.
So, what’s next for U.S. men’s soccer? Bruce Arena already resigned, but that was inevitable. He was brought in to qualify to the World Cup and he failed. Even if he succeeded, his tenure would have ended after the tournament. Many are calling for the resignation of Sunil Gulati, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). However, in a conference call, he said he had no plans to do such thing.
Gulati said, “We’ve got a lot of things on our agenda, including a World Cup bid that is due at the end of March and a decision in June. And so I don’t plan to do that.” The bid he’s talking about is a joint bid between the United States, Mexico, and Canada to host the 2026 World Cup.
There needs to be change from top to bottom. The senior team isn’t the only one who’ve failed to qualify for tournaments. The U.S. men’s U-23 failed to qualify for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. The significance is that those U-23 players should be making up the core of the senior team for years to come but they’re underperforming as well. One area that many are talking about is the “pay-to-play” system in which families have to pay a significant amount of money in order for their children to play in teams. That barrier means that only those who can afford it are the ones who have a real opportunity to progress in their development. This means that those who can’t, usually minorities, either switch to a different sport or give up the sport altogether.
The U.S. may very well be missing out on talented prospects because their families can’t afford to have them play. We see cases where young talent is spotted playing a pickup game somewhere and someone from a local club spots them and are given a trial. It happens quite often in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a sense of urgency from the federation. The man overseeing the whole thing, Gulati, isn’t going anywhere and public opinion of him isn’t favorable. After all, he was the one who appointed Jurgen Klinsmann and is in charge during one US soccer’s greatest embarrassments. The 2018 World Cup in Russia will take place without the United States. USSF need to make sure they make the right decisions. Arguably, Costa Rica have leapfrogged above the United States and just below Mexico. If they’re not careful, we could see them struggle to qualify for 2022 in Qatar, even with Christian Pulisic.
Ernesto Hernandez
Sports Columnist