Americans tie Canada in qualifier
NASHVILLE — The remade U.S. men’s national soccer team quickly got itself into trouble in World Cup qualifying, wasting Brenden Aaronson’s second-half goal when Cyle Larin scored to lift Canada into a 1-1 draw Sunday night.
U.S. star Christian Pulisic returned after missing Thursday’s opening 0-0 draw at El Salvador while regaining fitness after a positive COVID-19 test. Pulisic was dynamic and injected some creativity the Americans lacked on the road, contributing to the buildup leading to Aaronson’s goal in the 55th minute.
But defenders DeAndre Yedlin and John Brooks were at fault for Larin’s goal in the 62nd, and the United States emerged from its opening two matches of the 14-game qualifying tournament with just two points heading into Wednesday’s game at Honduras.
Miles Robinson came closest to a winner for the Americans, heading Pulisic’s corner kick over the crossbar in injury time. An overhwelming pro-American crowd of 43,023 at Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, booed loudly at the final whistle.
Mexico (2-0) leads the North and Central American region with six points, followed by Panama (1-01) with four, and the Canada (0-0-2) is third with two points, ahead of the United States on total goals, with El Salvador and Honduras further back. Costa Rica (0-1-1) and Jamaica (0-2) trail.
The top three nations qualify for next year’s tournament in Qatar, and the fourth-place nation advances to a playoff.
The Americans ended a streak of seven straight World Cup appearances when they fell one point short of reaching the 2018 tournament. The primary cause of the failure was the inability of the Americans to win home qualifiers against Mexico and Costa Rica. Before that, they had not lost a home qualifier since 2001.
No. 59 Canada, which hosts El Salvador on Wednesday, lost Davis to an injury midway through the second half. The Canadians have their best team in decades and are trying to reach soccer’s global showcase for the first time since 1986.
While Pulisic returned, the 10th-ranked Americans were missing Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna. McKennie violated team COVID-19 protocols, which also caused Juventus to drop the 23-year-old midfielder for the Derby della Mole against Torino in April. Reyna strained his right hamstring and also will miss Wednesday’s match.
No. 1 goalkeeper Zack Steffen missed his second straight match, this time after testing positive for COVID-19 after being sidelined for the opener by back spasms. He also will miss the Honduras trip.