TEAM USA FACES PIVOTAL WEEK
Two-game stretch could turn tide in World Cup qualifying
Bruce Arena takes his U.S. national team into a pivotal week of World Cup qualifying trying to instill a sense of normalcy into a twogame stretch filled with peculiarities.
For starters, the team’s position in the CONCACAF regional final qualifying pool means that its clash with the weakest team, Trinidad and Tobago, is in many ways more important than its game against its strongest foe, Mexico, three days later.
A Thursday-to-Sunday turnaround is an extreme rarity in international soccer. Throw in a flight from Denver to Mexico City, another shift in elevation and a pair of highly motivated opponents, and the task looks extra daunting.
“Our focus is on T and T, and until the final whistle blows on Thursday night, I couldn’t care less about Mexico,” Arena said Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The USA-Mexico rivalry is such that Arena could have been forgiven for being tempted to rest key players from the opening game in order to have a fresh and full-strength lineup at cavernous Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Had the qualification scenario been different, that might have been an option. It’s not, however, after the team managed four points from its first four games of the 10-game campaign, all of those in two outings since Arena replaced Jurgen Klinsmann.
As much as any game against Mexico offers the potential of regional bragging rights, Arena’s focus is on making sure the team makes it to the World Cup in Russia next summer. To accomplish that goal, dropping points against the likes of Trinidad and Tobago, stuck at the bottom of the sixteam group and likely to stay there, is unthinkable.
“We certainly understand the significance of this game,” Arena said. “We firmly believe we have to win the game. I believe our opponent will be glad to walk away with a (draw) and be elated with three points.”
The USA has found its share of frustration since the hexagonal round began in November with a loss at home to Mexico. Klinsmann did not survive that and a 4-0 road defeat to Costa Rica the next week, while Arena’s swashbuckling start, a 6-0 trouncing of Honduras, was tempered by a hard-fought tie in Panama. That left the squad fourth in the group, with three teams to automatically advance to the World Cup and a fourth to take part in a playoff against a team from Asia.
The reality heading into Thursday’s game is that a minimum of three points is needed from these two matches, and the easiest way to get those is by taking care of business against Trinidad and Tobago.
Altitude is a factor, with the Denver-area home of Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids picked as host for this game solely because it would help acclimate the team ahead of the trip to Mexico.
“(The elevation) is definitely not overrated,” forward Jozy Altidore said. “It is difficult to play at altitude. It is not easy. But at the same time, it is the same for everybody, so there are no excuses.”