US eases pressure by rallying to win in World Cup qualifier
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — Some American players rushed from Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano and its pulsating Latin music for a charter flight through the night to London and on to Berlin, where weekend games awaited with European clubs.
Others headed in the morning to Miami and connecting flights for Major League Soccer.
They could travel with some degree of ease. Given a wake-up call by coach Gregg Berhalter, they responded in a way few U.S. teams have.
Panicking fans were soothed — at least until qualifying resumes next month. The Americans won a World Cup qualifier for just the second time in 41 matches they trailed at halftime. Instead of lagging behind the field with just two points, the Americans have five following a 4-1 win over Honduras. They are tied with Canada for second place, two points behind Mexico.
Not quite the nine they had hoped for, but well above the awful start of the previous cycle, when the U.S. opened with losses to Mexico and Costa Rica and never recovered.
Those memories clung to jittery supporters, unwilling to forgive and unable to forget, not after opening draws against El Salvador and Canada.
Berhalter’s reaction had been “to sort of laugh.”
“Listen, I think even if we would have lost the game, we wouldn’t have been out of qualifying,” Berhalter said. “There would still be 11 games to play. It’s the mentality that we’re just jumping all over reactions. And I think part of it, it was our fault for setting it up, what we wanted to do, being that open about it. But that is the expectations of the group.”
A record 12 Americans are on Champions League clubs. But 16 players made their World Cup qualifying debuts in the past week, their first taste of qualifiers on bumpy fields in humidity with horns blaring and supporters screaming.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, defender Sergiño Dest and midfielder Gio Reyna got hurt, Steffen tested positive for COVID-19 and midfielder Weston Mckennie was sent home for violating team protocols.
“Maybe we thought it was going to be easier than it was going down to El Salvador, Honduras,” Tyler Adams said. “These are tough games, man. You see how hostile the crowds are, but the energy is amazing. The atmosphere is amazing. It’s only going to make us better for the future.”
Brayan Moya’s 27th-minute goal on a header past Matt Turner ratcheted the already high pressure. Berhalter’s 3-5-2 formation, with Tyler Adams on wide right and James Sands in central midfield, was getting dominated.
Antonee Robinson, Breden Aaronson and Sebastian Lletget entered to start the second half as the U.S. switched to a 4-3-3. All three subs scored along with Ricardo Pepi, who had a goal and two assists in his debut.
“At halftime, the message was, ‘Guys, we’re going to get back in this game,’ ” Berhalter said. “‘We need to compete because there’s urgency on every single dual that they go in and we need to match or exceed that.’ ”