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After a wild and tumultuous journey that was rescued by strong play and fine fortune, the USA has one more obstacle standing between it and a place in next year’s World Cup.
The schedule says that final hurdle is Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday here, where a tie or better will be sufficient to reach soccer’s global showcase. In reality, the sole barrier to that outcome lies not with the team’s opponent but with its own mind-set and the potential for complacency.
The USA has not been in a position of comfort at any point of this roller coaster ride of a campaign through the final phase of CONCACAF regional qualifying. Two defeats to open things up cost Jurgen Klinsmann his job and left the squad with catching up to do, a feat finally achieved Friday.
A 4-0 victory over Panama in Orlando combined with Honduras blowing a late lead against Costa Rica on Saturday mean the Americans occupy the third of this region’s three automatic bids going into the final game. To finish the job, at least barring an impossibly freakish results in other games, Bruce Arena’s men must simply avoid defeat against Trinidad and Tobago, the bottom team of six, already eliminated and nursing a six-game losing streak.
The job has essentially been done. The danger that was clear and present and nerve-racking just a few days ago has not just eased but practically disappeared. The only thing that can bring it back is if the USA were to get sloppy.
“We can’t forget that,” captain Michael Bradley said. “We have made progress and got ourselves in a good spot, but there is still work to be done.”
The USA has been treading uphill the last year. Slow starts are tricky things to overhaul. It has been a good year for the most part, with last month’s home defeat to Costa Rica being the primary exception. Yet Arena’s men have never been able to pull clear of trouble and enjoy the relatively seamless path to Russia that Mexico and Costa Rica have managed.
Only now, right at the very end, can you safely say that getting one of those cherished spots in Russia is a virtual certainty. Trinidad and Tobago is the only team in CONCACAF’s final round to have been a non-factor in the race for the three spots plus one playoff place for the fourth team in the standings. Everything points toward the USA cruising over the line. Or does it?
“In (the last game) when you are playing a team that is eliminated they can play relaxed and they can play very aggressive,” Arena said. “They could (not) care less if they have players sent off and all those things, and I suspect that they are just going to be a handful because they have nothing to lose.
“We have to be smart and prepare like they are a team that’s going to play to beat us. We have to respect our opponent and understand how difficult the conditions will be.”
It figures to be a slightly bizarre night Tuesday, with the game being held in tiny Ato Bol- don Stadium in the small Trinidad town of Couva. And bizarre things happen at the business end of World Cup qualifying.
It is a trait mirrored all over the soccer globe. Sunday’s qualification scenario in Europe twisted and turned countless times, with Scotland flirting with a playoff spot before missing out. Tiny Iceland looks assured of making the World Cup, while 2010 finalist and 2014 semifinalist Netherlands needs a miracle. Argentina has suffered defeats in South America that were unthinkable given that team’s quality, and now Lionel Messi might be absent from soccer’s greatest tournament. In CONCACAF, if Honduras had been able to avert late-game jitters, then it would be the Central Americans, and not the USA, in pole position for third place.
The worst-case scenario for the USA would be a defeat, coupled with victories for Panama over Costa Rica and Honduras over Mexico. That situation would push the team down into fifth place and cause its streak of making seven consecutive World Cups to end.
“We are in a good position, but we are not there yet, and everyone is aware of that,” said midfielder Paul Arriola, a surprise starter against Panama. “No one will be satisfied with anything apart from a win.”