Tonight's the night. Win and in. Tie and maybe in. But it looks good for the fellas to make the WC again.
Here's the breakdown.
If the U.S. beats Trinidad and Tobago
It qualifies for the 2018 World Cup by finishing in third place in the CONCACAF region.
If the U.S. ties Trinidad and Tobago -
The U.S. will almost certainly still qualify for the World Cup. The only way the U.S. could drop out of third place would be if Panama beats Costa Rica by eight goals or Honduras beats Mexico by 12 goals. In the unthinkable event that both those happened, a tie would eliminate the U.S. If one of them happened, a tie would put the U.S. into a playoff against either Australia or Syria in November.
If the U.S. loses to Trinidad and Tobago - then if Panama beats Costa Rica and Honduras beats Mexico, then the U.S. would be eliminated and miss out on the World Cup for the first time since 1986. If Panama and Honduras lose, the U.S. would still qualify in third place. And if Panama or Honduras win but the other ties or loses, then the U.S. would finish fourth and go into that Syria/Australia playoff.
Apparently the field in TnT was completely under water and the playing conditions will be awful tonight. The field is now surrounded by a huge moat if water. Big surprise there.
Netherlands is out. US is out.
Is Argentina out?
Messi saved Argentina. Chile is out so no Alexis Sanchez in the WC either
spent the next 4 years figuring out how to put a respectable defense on the field.
just pathetic, awful, every bad word to describe it.
Klinnsman = Coughlin
Pulisic = OBJ
Bradley = JT Thomas
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US WC ratings are going to be a shitshow
FIFA did fine before the US cared about soccer. I'll bet they're laughing their asses off
US have all kinds of foreigners that will watch their home teams.
When you do that, you basically pin your hopes on having to win on a near unplayable field where I might be as fast as some of the guys out there.
Like Terps said - pin a lot of this on Gulati. He wanted JK so bad, got him, and then stuck with him far too long.
Not qualifying is just the fruit of those seeds that were sown.
Exactly. We couldn't beat T&T in a game to go to the WC, can't say the results would have been all that different in the 2 games that Arenas didnt coach.
I disagree because those last few games with JK actually counted. They waited entirely too long to drop the ax on him.
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we lost to fcking trinidad. its on arena and the 14 players that laced it up tonight.... plain and simple.
Exactly. We couldn't beat T&T in a game to go to the WC, can't say the results would have been all that different in the 2 games that Arenas didnt coach.
we had to tie... not even win... gutless... this game wasnt tactics it was effort --- if you cant get up for this game then take a fcking lap and dont come back in four years.
And that's on Gulati. Star struck asshole.
He was a problem, a big one. But not the only one. That is beyond evident now
Midfield has not been able to connect with forwards on a consistent basis.
Bradley's play has been a huge disappointment the last 18 months. Pulisic is the future of USA soccer.. He was the one shining player during WC qualifying.
Team needs to be totally rebuilt over the next couple of years.
Yes, the conditions were the same for both teams, but when you can't lean on your skill advantage because the field renders that moot, it isn't as easy as it sounds to just go out there and win.
Players were literally falling down on just basic changes of direction.
That's CONCACAF.
It's like a nightmare.
Hope that asshole Gulati and these prima donnas have a great charter flight home tonight.
Can't beat Guatemala. Can't beat Trinidad and Tobago. Can't beat Honduras.
Billions of dollars spent on development, MLS, etc.
Fucking. Garbage.
Bingo. This was "Beat Trinidad and Tobago, go to the World Cup." And they utterly failed. Zero to do with Klinsmann. Can't blame him forever.
Yes, the conditions were the same for both teams, but when you can't lean on your skill advantage because the field renders that moot, it isn't as easy as it sounds to just go out there and win.
Players were literally falling down on just basic changes of direction.
Sorry man. But I call bullshit.
They were listless, lazy, had no energy or urgency. The balls from Bradley and Acosta were horrific. Bradley ballooned multiple free kicks offering no chance for his teammates to connect.
Gonzales lazily played the fluke deflection in the first half. Like he didn't even try.
Yeah the field was shit.
But you can't lose that game with the WC on the line.
Absolutely pathetic, embarrassing and disgusting.
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we lost to fcking trinidad. its on arena and the 14 players that laced it up tonight.... plain and simple.
Bingo. This was "Beat Trinidad and Tobago, go to the World Cup." And they utterly failed. Zero to do with Klinsmann. Can't blame him forever.
Wrong. This was TIE Trinidad and Tobago and you're in. Fuck this team.
FUCK!!!
add in the choice of Omar who is AWFUL.
At least Dempsey came in with urgency... these other guys... fkkk. Enjoy the MLS playoffs.... woo hoo.... yipppeeeeee.... FKKK
TIE TRINIDAD AND YOU CAN QUALIFY--- and you dont!!!!!!
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In comment 13642210 hitdog42 said:
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we lost to fcking trinidad. its on arena and the 14 players that laced it up tonight.... plain and simple.
Bingo. This was "Beat Trinidad and Tobago, go to the World Cup." And they utterly failed. Zero to do with Klinsmann. Can't blame him forever.
Wrong. This was TIE Trinidad and Tobago and you're in. Fuck this team.
Well, I know that (as I said in my 10:01), but an aggressive, seize-the-moment attitude says, "Let's beat Trinidad!", not "Let's tie Trinidad!"
Kyle in NY : 10:25 pm : link : reply
But it's not good enough. Teams around the world have to play in garbage conditions all through qualifying. Not a good enough excuse
We shouldn't have been in the position that this was a must win in the first place. I'm not absolving them - when you don't beat T&T you don't deserve to go to the WC, but people need to understand that it will look a lot of times like guys aren't trying in conditions like that. The two T&T goals were results of Howard not being able to have footing to make strong dives. The balooned kicks were a result of slipping anytime force was used in an opposite direction.
And take soccer athletes who already are very finesse oriented and take their finesse away, and you will often see play like we did tonight.
It is easy to say they didn't have heart because you see guys running at half speed, but it wasn't lack of heart that was doing it.
As far as conditions go, these are professionals, they should know how to change their game, positioning and delivery to factor for the conditions.
Lastly, on the comment of Ramon Torres of all people scoring the winner for Panama, as a longtime Sounders fan its not surprising. I'd give a nut to have him as a CB over Gonzales.
A recipe for the disaster that unfolded.
Sad but true.
Link - ( New Window )
That's pitiful.
thanks for posting. he is spot on... enough with the excuse making... enough with the fluff and bullsh%t. call it like it is.... a total embarrassment... and i love his comments on the "tough conditions"...
this is completely and utterly inexcusable. i can fucking spit fire right now. CONCACAF has been set up for US/Mexico to go through every fucking time and somehow we couldn't get a result against a goddamn team that managed a -11 GD and 6 pts in the hex with EVERYTHING on the line? this entire outfit is systemically broken. i used to think it could get no worse than '98...i was brutally wrong.
a shit Giants season and we regain at least some semblance of hope again 9-10 months later. here? we are waiting 4 years just to get back to this point and ultimately at least 8 years between US world cup matches.
Gulati - OUT
Arena - OUT
gut the fucking system. this is pathetic beyond words.
Have been watching quite a bit of that and thank god those kids have a clue. its real soccer, not the sh%t these guys put out there.
@JeffreyCarlisle
Gulati: You dont make wholesale changes on a ball being two inches wide or two inches in...Well look at everything. #usmnt
There's a clear failure point here..
Maybe if these corrupt Fifa scumbags put money into the game instead of their pockets, there would be goalline technology
https://twitter.com/JogaBonitoUSA/status/917927959687770112 - ( New Window )
That i'm aware of so far, Steven Gans and possibly Eric Wynalda. Google "Sunil Gulati election" and you'll see articles about this.
We talked a few months back about how this was a transition cycle for the US, but this was just a bad mix of players who never gelled with poor leadership (Bradley was subtly thrown under the bus on the beIN postgame).
But underlying that was a Reese-like arrogance that US Soccer seemed intent on telling us how great MLS was instead of fixing the back four and other problems in the team.
2. Is what is good for MLS = what is good for US Soccer?