Send the Word Over There, The North Americans are Coming
As Porky Pig famously says, That’s All Folks! The first and maybe last octagonal round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers in CONCACAF is now over. My predictions from the beginning were right, although the order it ended with was quite a surprise to me personally. From the beginning, I thought Mexico, the United States, and Canada would qualify in that order. However, our neighbors to the north were a juggernaut until the last 3-game window and finished as the top team in the region. Let’s take a look at how the games unfolded this past Wednesday night.
To begin, we have the matchup that attracted the least attention between last place Honduras and disappointing Jamaica. Jamaica saved face in their final home game by overcoming an early deficit to win 2–1. Honduras finished without winning a single game and getting shut out in 8 games. I didn’t expect much of this team but those lowly stats show that Honduras weren’t just bad, they pretty much served as the region’s punching bag. Jamaica couldn’t overcome not having their starters from the beginning due to COVID restrictions and never got things going in this round.
I figured Canada would want to guarantee finishing atop the standings and try to win down in Panama. Their starting lineup proved that as a few starters got to rest, but the overall lineup was still the same. In a very chippy game, Panama’s lone goal ensured the Canaleros would finish strong at home and hand the Canadians only their second loss of this round. Coaches rarely stick around for more than one World Cup cycle, but considering the overall popularity and good job Panama head coach Thomas Christiansen did, it’ll be interesting to see if he stays or gets a big payday elsewhere. Despite the loss, Canada still finished atop the standings due to goal differential giving Les Rouges not only the first World Cup berth since 1986, but bragging rights in the region.
Mexico looked to finish strong and have a convincing result at home vs El Salvador. Coach Tata Martino finally gave some minutes to players like Erick Gutierrez, Alexis Vega, and Uriel Antuna. Antuna had the best night of all since he scored the first goal and set up the second by drawing a penalty. Raul Jimenez got a confidence booster since he scored the penalty which was Mexico’s second and last goal of the evening. I thought the score would be more lopsided, but El Salvador didn’t simply lay down and allow Mexico to run all over them. Mexico’s performance was better simply because of the fact players like Antuna gave them some new energy, which is something fans have been clamoring for as some players from the old guard just don’t have spunk. The result was good enough to clinch a direct World Cup berth and take the pressure off the team and coach at least for one night.
Lastly, we revisit the US vs Costa Rica game. Superman has his kryptonite and there are soccer teams who simply can’t figure out how to beat one in particular. For Brazil, it’s France. For Argentina, it’s Germany. For the US, it’s Costa Rica specifically down in San Jose. Costa Rica faced a long shot in trying secure a direct World Cup berth since they had to beat the US by 6 or more goals. Even when the US was at their worst, that’s a tall task. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for the US to finally go down there and get a positive result as this Costa Rica tram is old and pretty slow, while the US is a younger, faster squad that could press and take advantage of this team most of the night.
The US appeared relaxed, albeit too relaxed at times. I get the fact the team was pretty much qualified, but if you want to be the powerhouse in the region, you have to go out and expect to win every game. The US seemed to have an advantage on the right side thanks to Tim Weah and Yunus Musah, but seemed to lack the final touch. Whether through a cross or a poorly taken set piece, the States failed in terms of accuracy and when they got a shot on goal, Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas kept reminding us why he’s the best goalkeeper in the region’s history. Navas seemed to stand on his head at times and when he didn’t, he got the help of his teammates in blocking anything that came their way. Most teams would fold under this pressure, but Costa Rica hasn’t and didn’t as that’s been their game once the results started coming: weather the storm and take advantage of the few opportunities you have.
In the second half, the US started the same way they began, trying to attack but without much clarity. This team is best when wingback Antonee Robinson goes up and joins the attack, but you didn’t see much of Robinson throughout the night. As they tend to, Costa Rica took advantage of a corner kick when Juan Vargas headed in the first goal of the evening. Two American defenders let Vargas sneak in behind Walker Zimmerman, who then headed in a ball with force. It appeared goalkeeper Zack Steffen was in a good position and could’ve reacted quicker to stop the header, but it was too late as Costa Rica went wild and celebrated the game winning goal. Less than 10 minutes passed when youngster Anthony Contreras snuck through an American defense that was ball watching and scored to make it 2–0. I didn’t think Costa Rica had anything to offer due to their lack of youth, but Contreras and several other Ticos on the field not only gave the country hope for one night, but for years to come due to their spirited effort in withstanding a slight American barrage and then taking advantage when they had the chance.
The US’s performance was an overall disappointment. They consistently earned corner kicks and set pieces, but failed to be dangerous on them as it seemed they needed to work on them, Christian Pulisic in particular. Pulisic is an overall solid player, but his set pieces need work as Kellyn Acosta is far better on them, but he usually defers to Pulisic when Christian is on the field. The US tried to get something and give some guys rest when Luca de la Torre, Gio Reyna and Jesus Ferriera came on, but it just wasn’t the States’ night. Navas and his defense again came up big with some stops until Navas had to be subbed off due to injury. The last ten minutes featured a lack of opportunities due to both teams realizing the reality that a blowout or a tie was out of the question. When the final whistle blew, the result was very bittersweet. The US was pretty flat at times throughout the night and you wondered why they couldn’t replicate the performance they had against Mexico at Azteca. But the important thing was the objective had been achieved, and this team had qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, something they failed to do 4 years ago.
Costa Rica now has to get ready for a one-game play-off vs New Zealand in June to decide who’ll go to the World Cup. Coach Gregg Berhalter and this possible Golden Generation now has to take the next step. This team and the fanbase expects to qualify for the World Cup, which made not making it 4 years ago not only heartbreaking, but catastrophic. It did lead to changes that brought all this talent the team now has amassed, but now it’s time to shine on the world stage. This team is very young and inexperienced on the international stage, but they’ve done a lot of growing in the past year. It started with a resilient win over Mexico in the Nations League to a qualifying round with more ups than downs, but still leaves some question marks. Can coach Berhalter prepare this team and offer something different since he has more talent than any other USMNT national coach has had? Can this team stay healthy and avoid in-fighting which so often has affected talented teams before the World Cup? Will they put things together to make a run or stumble out in the group stage?
These are questions I wish I had the answer to, but only time will tell. The important thing is the team is back in the big dance. I enjoyed the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but not having the US there just didn’t feel right for me. Even if the States had crashed out in the group stage, it’s nice to have your own personal dog in the fight. The injury concerns are what worry me the most due to the strange international break coming in the middle of the club season with the World Cup now starting in November and ending in December. The next important date is this Friday as the US will find out who their rivals are through the World Cup draw. Well folks, we made it through World Cup qualifying. This’ll be the last one for the US, Mexico, and Canada until at least 2028 due to these 3 countries co-hosting the next World Cup. It was one heck of a ride, now it’s time to see what these North American teams will do in Qatar.
