Where did CONCACAF qualifying go wrong for U.S. men’s soccer team?

COUVA, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO There are many places to start looking for why the United States finds itself uninvited to soccer’s global party but a phantom goal in Panama is not among them.

Wednesday morning saw the start of a long hangover for the men’s national team, with the repercussions of the previous night’s depressing elimination from the World Cup set to hurt for years.

It is easy in such times to get distracted. Panama, which along with Honduras leapfrogged over the Americans over the course of a wild night of action, did not deserve one of its goals as it beat Costa Rica. Gabriel Torres’ equalizing strike in the 52nd minute did not cross the line and should not have been given.

However, suggestions in the hours after the game that the U.S. should seek a back-door entry into the tournament by launching a protest are ludicrous and unhelpful.

That’s soccer. Bad decisions happen. Video technology is needed and it is coming. Tough luck.

What is needed is a deeper look at the U.S. program and how to address the shortcomings.

The coach

Bruce Arena, for how much longer who knows, insisted “nothing has to change”, that there needs to be no wholesale overhaul of the system. Wrong. Absolutely wrong. How could it not be wrong? The U.S. has failed to qualify for the tournament from the easiest and most forgiving confederation of all, CONCACAF.

The president

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati made a point on Tuesday that if Clint Dempsey’s late effort had gone in instead of hitting the post, the U.S. would have qualified and there would be no great inquest.

He’s not entirely wrong, but he’s entirely missing the point. Or points.

One is that the U.S. should never have been in position where it was susceptible to such small margins. Another is that while the overall state of the game in America is far more buoyant than at any other time, the national team has somehow snapped its own streak of seven straight World Cup appearances.

The roster

Arena got caught between two generations. The only time there was any consistent attacking during the campaign, Christian Pulisic was usually at the core of it. At 19, he was asked to shoulder most of the creative responsibility on a team with some colleagues nearly twice his age.