USA edge closer to World Cup berth after gritty stalemate at Azteca
Concacaf’s fiercest rivals took center stage in Mexico City on Thursday to launch their final campaign for World Cup qualification. With three matches remaining, tied on points and a pair of nations at their heels, Mexico and the United States played for more than just qualification.
For Mexico, they played for redemption of a beleaguered federation beset with controversy, eager for victory against the border rival they’ve lost to three times in a row. The US played in the shadow of failed qualification for the 2018 tournament, determined not to repeat the mistake, confident in the talent they have in their ranks now.
Among the biggest questions facing the United States was personnel. The US faces its final World Cup qualifying window missing several key players, including Weston McKennie, Sergino Dest, Brenden Aaronson and Chris Richards. Beyond injuries, there was the question of how to approach the match, balancing it against the importance of the two that lie ahead.
Without question the most important match of the window for the US comes on Sunday in Orlando against Panama. US manager Gregg Berhalter told the media he debated with his staff the merits of rotating heavily against Mexico, giving more playing time to depth players and resting the players he will need most against Panama. “We came up with our decision,” he said on Wednesday. “And you’ll see tomorrow.”
In the end Berhalter started as close to his best 11 available, including nine of the starters from their November win over Mexico in Cincinnati. It was the lineup of a confident manager leading a confident team, optimistic they would draw or even secure their first ever qualifying win at Estadio Azteca, then still go on to defeat Panama at home.
The Americans burst out of the gate with a confidence to match the team sheet. Quick to move the ball up field, Antonee Robinson sent in a beautiful cross inside of the first minute that found Pepi and Weah heavily marked and Memo Ochoa waiting to pick it off. It was a quick transition toward the defensive end from there, in a pattern that would repeat throughout the match. With constant pendulum swings of momentum, neither team dominated possession and both created attacking opportunities in periods of quick transition.
The United States did create the best chance of the first half, though, but failed to put it away. Yunus Musah, Timothy Weah and Ricardo Pepi connected well and found Christian Pulisic well-positioned for a tap-in. He missed. Three points for the taking wasted in a single moment.
As is typical of matches between Concacaf’s giants, the first half was chippy and high intensity from start to stop. Parallel to Pulisic’s failed finish were the pile of yellow cards accrued, ruling two key players out of the Panama match.
Miles Robinson was tagged with the first yellow in the ninth minute on a pointless foul after getting nutmegged. Then right back DeAndre Yedlin – playing his heart out and covering every corner of the pitch – rather unsurprisingly acquired one in the 26th. Weah rounded out the half in the 39th minute with one of his own. Weah and Yedlin, already sitting on yellows, are now suspended for Sunday’s critical date with Panama.
Berhalter made no changes to start the second-half and the slide from confidence to chaotic energy came fast. The crowd in Mexico City was now filling the famous stadium with reverberating chants of “Me-xi-co!” and “Ohhh, Chucky Lozano!”. El Tri appeared to feed off the support.
The US manager sent in his first “solutions” in the 60th minute. Giovanni Reyna, injured since the September window, returned in place of Weah. Jordan Pefok came on for Pepi. Ten minutes later, the two would connect for the second biggest chance of the evening: another sitter that would have earned the USA a historic three points. Reyna closed in on Ochoa from the right, then passed to Pefok in front of a wide open net who then, inexplicably, passed it back toward Gio. The only player more aghast at the decision than Reyna seemed to be Pefok himself.
The tempo of the match continued as it had since the first whistle but with increasingly tired legs on both teams. There were moments of brilliance, including a beautiful run upfield by Reyna that had Berhalter drawing comparisons to Maradona in the postmatch presser. There were also chaotic plays that nearly led to Mexico scoring, salvaged by the effort of a hard working backline and Zack Steffen in net, arguably the best performing US player of the night.
Elsewhere, Canada missed out on a chance to clinch their first World Cup appearance in 36 years with a 1-0 loss at Costa Rica, ending their perfect run through the Concacaf octagonal after 11 matches unbeaten. But needing only a win or a draw on Sunday against Jamaica to get over the line, their participation in Qatar remains all but assured.
Below them, the US remain tied with Mexico for points, sitting in second place as they head to Orlando for Sunday’s penultimate qualifier. Despite any frustration at missed opportunity this evening, a point was what they needed and Qatar is now within sight.