By Favian Renkel
The time is August 2021, the USMNT are hot coming off of two back to back final wins against Mexico, two titles (Nations League, Gold Cup) and a bunch of momentum going into qualifying for the World Cup. “Whew, thank god we have all these European players to carry us through CONCACAF qualifying.”, is what everybody was saying 4 weeks ago. “Qualifying in CONCACAF is much easier than all the games these European players play week in and week out.” echoed through the fanbase of the USMNT. 2 CONCACAF qualifying games later, we are only 2 points up on where we were last World Cup cycle. The cycle when the USMNT did not qualify for the world’s biggest tournament. Yes, the infamous Russia 2018 World Cup. “Good thing this happened because now we know that it can never happen again.” Was the sentiment going forward after the utter disappointment of not qualifying. We sit here now thinking if we would have scored 1 more goal in either game, we would be full of worry. Here we are, back into panic mode. Jurgen Klinsman got tossed aside after two losses into the Hex of the 2018 qualifying cycle. If anyone’s seat is hotter than Gregg Berhalter right now, I would love to know. Even after winning 2 cups this summer, the United States have a bad taste of not qualifying for the World Cup. This next game is a must win for Berhalter’s career as the USMNT coach. One would say it’s a little harsh, due to all the injuries to this roster, that Gregg may lose his job, but with this roster that is currently ranked in the Top 10 in Fifa World Rankings, he should be qualifying for the World Cup easily.
Going into this game after a worrisome draw against El Salvador, this was a must win. We knew that Pulisic could be back in this game, but at the same time we lost Gio Reyna. Gio Reyna went down with a hamstring injury and is not available for the rest of this round of qualifying. We find out an hour before the game that Weston Mckinnie is not playing because he is suspended by the U.S Soccer Federation for not following COVID protocols. So two of our star players are already out, it really leaves it all up to Christian Pulisic. A pressure that Pulisic should be able to bear with the name Captain America. I’m not going to go into the game vs Canada too much, but the problems that came up in El Salvador plagued us vs Canada as well. This Canada team is not like the Canada team of the past. They easily have the most accomplished player on the world stage in Alphonso Davies. The game ended in a 1-1 draw in a must win game for the USMNT. The goals were scored by Aaronson and Larin for Canada. Aaronson slots in a nice cross from Antonee Robinson and puts USA 1-0 over Canada. John Brooks then loses his mark completely and Alphonso Davies finds the open man in Cyle Larin. Canada makes it 1-1 almost instantly.
If the United States wants to qualify for this World Cup, they need to add some passion every time they kick the ball. This team desperately needs to add some experience in qualifying for the World Cup. Maybe give up a call to a guy who has been here before to help these young guys understand what Berhalter needs from them. There’s a veteran that plays up in Canada that would love to help. At this point, giving one roster spot to Michael Bradley to help with the locker room would not be a bad idea for the next round of qualifying. The United States have a must win game vs Honduras or else Berhalter is out.