By Favian Renkel
This was a game that we thought wouldn’t happen. The temperature was the coldest temperature ever recorder in a soccer game, five degrees. It happened and the United States won 3-0. Should we all be happy with the result? The short answer is yes, a win is a win. At what cost, though, the Honduras National team had two players get hypothermia. This was the statement the boys in Red, White, and Blue were looking to make.
All 3 of the game’s goals came off of set pieces, Kellyn Acosta was the American Pirlo in this match. The whole fan base was saying how it was the Acosta in the Gold Cup playoffs. The USMNT needed to get this win to help their chances of Qualifying for Qatar as well as Mexico winning vs Panama. They got the job done, as did Mexico.
Weston Mckinnie puts the first goal in for USMNT. This goal looked like a goal he has scored all year for Juventus. It was a beautiful cross from a free kick in by Kellyn Acosta and then beautiful headed in past a full stretched Honduran goalie Luis Lopez. This goalie is one of the two players that have to be treated for hypothermia after the game. Weston Mckennie once again proved to all of us why he is the best player in CONCACAF, a role we all thought would go to Captain America himself Christian Pulisic would hold. The one player that everyone was excited to see play was Luca De La Torre. A player that Berhalter hasn’t given a full chance to in the national team. Luca put in a stellar outing for the USMNT. He received the MOTM from Berhalter himself. Luca ended up putting himself in positions where the Honduran team could not adjust. They would end up fouling Luca, and in this game, all 3 goals that the USMNT scored came from set pieces.
The USMNT played great under Walker Zimmerman as the captain. The team is now 4-1-0 will Walker with the armband. He is a true leader of this team and something he told everyone in the Post Match Conference is that hes been dreaming for the moment to wear the armband for the Red, White, and Blue.
This game gave us a lot to be happy about, but at the end of the day, this was a Honduras team that never plays in weather this cold. The Honduran team already was eliminated from reaching the World Cup. These guys on the field had nothing to play for, and it was evident. Once the USMNT got their first goal, there was no looking back. Gregg Berhalter was so confident during the 80th minute of this game, he stopped to take a picture with the fans during the game. The USMNT have to go into to Mexico and get a result in the next window, that will be a true test of what this team is capable of. Gio Reyna will be back and it will be interesting to see how Gregg fits all these players together on the same pitch.