US determined ahead of World Cup showdown
Humbled 2-0 by Costa Rica in New Jersey on Friday, the United States face a resurgent Honduras in San Pedro Sula with their hopes in balance
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras: United States coach Bruce Arena faces the most demanding test of his second spell in charge on Tuesday as his chastened team heads to Honduras for a crucial 2018 World Cup qualifier.
Humbled 2-0 by Costa Rica in New Jersey on Friday, the United States face a resurgent Honduras in San Pedro Sula with their hopes of automatic qualification to Russia hanging in the balance.
With Mexico already locking up one of the three automatic qualifying spots from CONCACAF, and secondplaced Costa Rica almost certain to grab another, Arena’s men are in a threeway battle for third with Honduras and Panama.
The USA currently occupy third place in the standings with eight points from seven games, leading Honduras thanks to a vastly superior goal difference.
Panama remain firmly in contention in fifth place, one point behind the USA “That can’t scare us. Costa Rica and and Honduras with seven points. Mexico are gone. Us and Panama and
The razor-thin margins between the Honduras play a few games, and at the three teams means that the USA face end one will go to the World Cup, one Honduras knowing that defeat would will go to the play-off and one will be mean that automaticout.”qualificationisno longer in their own hands. The fourth Bradley said while the USA would set placed team faces a two-legged play-off out to win all three points on Tuesday, against the fifth-ranked Asian side. a draw would be a satisfactory result
In theory, Honduras should hold with a home game against Panama next no fear for the Americans, who have a month followed by a trip to Trinidad & record of played 24, won 17, drawn four, Tobago in their final came to come. lost three against Tuesday’s opponents. “We’re going to go down there with the
In their most recent meeting in San mentality to win the game,” Bradley said. Jose in March, Arena’s side ran riot to “We’re going to be aggressive and make score a 6-0 victory. sure we are ready to win everything.
However with the stakes raised on And if at the end of 90 minutes we’re in Tuesday, and Honduras opting to kick a position where we take one point then off in the blazing heat of mid-afternoon, we’ll take that, and then everything is in a more challenging task awaits. our hands in the last two games.” BRADLEY ‘NOT WORRIED’ Veteran goalkeeper Tim Howard, at US captain Michael Bradley sounded fault for Costa Rica’s first goal, almost a defiant note in the immediate promised a response on Tuesday. aftermath of Friday’s loss to Costa Rica, “We’re professional, we’re when his team were punished for sloppy defending by some expert counterattacking by the 2014 World Cup quarterfinalists.
“We’re not worried,” Bradley said. “This is where we are at the moment. The likelihood is it’s going to go down to the wire. And that can’t faze anybody. an experienced group,” Howard said following Friday’s loss. “We’ll bounce back, forget about it and move forward.”
Arena meanwhile is also confident his team can recover their poise in time for Tuesday, insisting that the Costa Rica defeat would not be allowed to fester.
“We’ll move on. This is how you deal in competition sports. You don’t win every game,” he said in the wake of Friday’s loss.
Asked if he believed the team had the character to close out the qualification campaign successfully and reach an eighth successive World Cup finals, he replied: “We’re gonna find that out aren’t we.”
“You hate to look at one game in isolation and not look at the whole,” he said. “We didn’t play well (against Costa Rica). But we still have three games left in the competition. We’re still in position to qualify for the World Cup.”