Top Stories

USMNT left in state of heartbreak, emptiness following World Cup failure

Anger. Frustration. Pain. Disappointment. Heartbreak.

There are a million ways to describe what happened to the U.S. Men’s National Team on Tuesday night. At the same time, there are no words that truly fit a nightmare that culminated in the worst night in American soccer history.

With a World Cup spot on the line following what could certainly be described as an up and down qualification run, the U.S. had fate in their hands on Tuesday night. It was all to play for, and a spot in Russia was up for grabs despite all of the setbacks and rebounds that happened throughout the cycle.

The U.S. dropped the ball. It’s that simple, even if the reasons why are so much more complicated for a team and program that sits in shock. With the loss, the team became the first U.S. team to miss a World Cup since 1986, and that fact will stain their legacies no matter which way you slice it.

“Quite honestly you’re on empty,” said Michael Bradley. “You give so much through this whole qualifying campaign to try to navigate every part of it. Even when things look bleak, make sure that we all understand that none of the stuff on the outside matters. We have a group that’s able to pull strong and pull tight in big moments and every single guy did that and when you get to the end and it ends like this, you’re empty.

“We’ve all lived moments like this before, maybe not in this context so that’s something we’re all going to have to live with,” he added. “In time, a lot of time unfortunately given the timing of everything, we’ll have our chance to respond. In the meantime, you have no choice but to stand tall and face the music.”

For a match with so much on the line, the U.S. came out flat. Tim Howard says he believes part of that was nerves while another was the discipline showed by T&T. The Soca Warriors got their early goal and then added a second, making the hole one that was too big to climb out of.

Those two goals will haunt the U.S. for some time. The first, a deflected own goal off Omar Gonzalez, gave T&T hope. The second, a long-range blast from Alvin Jones, put the U.S. too far behind to ever recover.

“I never thought I’d see this day. It’s the worst day of my career,” Gonzalez said. “I’m extremely sad right now. I don’t know how to put into words what I’m feeling. What was supposed to be a celebration is now, I don’t even know what to say. It’s terrible.

“I just want to say sorry to the fans, all of the fans that wanted to go to Russia and were pulling for us and believed in us. We let down an entire nation today.”

It remains to be seen what happens next. By the time the next World Cup rolls around, the USMNT will almost certainly look very different. Players like Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey won’t be around. Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore will be 34 and 31, respectively. The team’s veteran core, one that has been in the fold for the better part of eight years, is likely done on the big stage.

For many throughout the program, that hurts. There may be brighter days on the horizon and changes may come as a result of the failures of the 2018 World Cup cycle but, for the players involved, the events of Tuesday night will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

“This is a huge blow,” Altidore said. “I don’t know how else to put it. It would be easy to walk away now and say that enough is enough. We have to use this as motivation now. Everyone will be coming after us now. That’s the way of this beast. We have to take it all and try to reverse it. It’s going to take time.”

“Every time you have a setback, you have to look at things, reevaluate and get better,” Howard added. “As a program, we have to get better. This Hex proved that there are some good teams on the up and up. We have our work cut out for us.”

Comments

  1. Michael Bradley lovers, this is on you. I blame all of you for this failure. If this overrated, good for nothing excuse for a player had been called out years ago. Like 10 years ago. He would not have been on the field for any of this mess he helped to create. Thanks Michael Bradley fans.

    Reply
  2. “In time, a lot of time unfortunately given the timing of everything, we’ll have our chance to respond.” — MB

    He actually thinks he’s gonna be playing in 2022.

    I saw Besler crying on the field for like 5-10 minutes after the game. He’s crying because he loved the shirt and he knew it was probably the last time he would wear it. He might not be the talented CB but he had heart. MB just strolls around and then whines about how much time he has to wait to respond.

    Reply
  3. Wow, apparently for what I read here, if MB had not played at all we would be going to Russia. Wow, and Antigoal gets a pass, even making it to the next WC. A guy whose heart sunk to his feet yesterday, who looked like a deer in headlights. I agree that MB has been disappointing of late, specially with his back passing, but to give Antigoal a pass is reckless. That guy should be the first one to never ever again wear a US jersey. Maybe he can make a one time switch to Haiti.

    I truly, truly truly feel sorry for Pulisic not going to the WC.

    I don’t know what else he’s done, but culprit number one is Gulati for hiring Klinsman for the second cycle and then for hiring Arena to replace Klinsman. Culprit number two is Klinsman for taking us down the path of destruction. And culprit number three, Bruce Arena for for nailing the coffin shut. Then, and only then, can you start blaming players.

    Finally, this whole shit started when Klinsman and Gulatui left Landon Donovan out for the 2014 WC in Brazil.

    Reply
    • Much as you like to troll (some of it is funny I admit)…. you actually forgot the biggest crime Gulati committed. Which would be selling the rights to USMNT away qualifiers to BeIN Sports. My word that was awful coverage. “We interrupt this critical attacking sequence to bring you Uruguay’s 4th goal!”

      Reply
  4. I I doubt any of us feel worse than they do. With that said, I think their needs to be some player turn over just to start fresh. Empty is a great adjective to describe the feeling. Aaaah

    Reply
  5. I’m probably in the minority but I thino the players tried, they’re just not very good. Maybe some of the players felt entitled and that affected their play but as fans we aren’t entitled either. Nobody on that team owes me an apology I just don’t have to watch them. I’m more dissapointed in how bad they than missimg the world cup but they probably think i suck at my job too. They’re probably right; afterall, I’m posting here in the hopes that a bunch of people i dont know will think “that guy is right” instead of working.

    Reply
  6. I’ll be 72 in two months, so I;’ll be 80 the next time the US can make the World Cup. You never know how long you’ll live, so I may never see them in another WC. I also speak Russian and was giving some thought to going to this WC. So much for all that. If we had lost to Mexico in Azteca, that’s one thing. But to lose to this T&T team is totally inexcusable. I said this last night and I still think that most of them could stay in T&T for all I care, because they didn’t care enough to play hard for most of the game. They should all sign a public note of apology or something. They are just lucky they live in a country where soccer isn’t valued much by most of the population.

    Reply
      • @ Gary, didn’t know that about you of course. Hoping you get see what our youth can do in 2022 and 26 and no reason you shouldn’t. You’re always a reasonable and logical poster and I enjoy reading your posts here.

  7. What started off as a great “righting the ship” with the 6-0 drubbing of Honduras quickly became 2006 all over again. Arena thought “his” guys could get it done. But you can’t go into every cycle with the same over and over again. In 2006, he tried replicating with his 2002 squad, but several were past their prime. It’s the same with this group. Almost an exact replica of 2014 squad minus some players. Definitely missed on Howard, Beasley, Zusi at right back, no toughness in the middle, and the list goes on and on.

    Reply
  8. Michael Bradley completely strolled around the midfield the last few games of the Hex. Last night especially, in the most important game ever, he just casually let guys run by him all night. It’s time for him to lose his starting job for good and let him actually earn playing time for once.

    Reply
  9. Yea, additionally, the lack of accountability is nauseating. Not enough guys are standing up and taking responsibility. Just say, “I/We didn’t play well enough and we didn’t deserve it.”

    We aren’t blind. We saw throughout the entire Hex the opponents playing every minute like their lives depended on it while our guys just walked around.

    I hope to never see Nagbe again either. For all the talk about how he has the ability to be special he never actually ever really does anything. He is just always just “there.” Has never made a difference in a game of any importance.

    Reply
  10. Altidore is right, everyone will be coming after them…..for about a week. Then this country will go back to not caring about soccer. When the boys are playing a sparsely attended friendly in South Dakota a year from now maybe they will start to realize they aren’t as special as they think they are.

    Reply
  11. MB and Howard’s comments are atrocious! Maybe if MB listened to the outside criticism a bit more, he would have understood what they were doing wrong instead of putting your head down and doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Only Omar had the respect for us to apologize and say he did not do well enough. I hate how he played, but at least he is a stand up guy. Jozy, MB, Howard all needed to say “I was not good enough, we were not good enough, I cannot apologize to all the fans enough” Anything else is just noise.

    Reply
  12. Howard looked fat and awful. He is an absolute shell of his former self and should not have been playing. Both goals were saveable. No excuses.

    MLS ruined Bradley and Altidore. They got paid way way beyond their real market value by MLS owners and their abilities have suffered for it. It was no coincidence we saw them at their best for the national team when they were playing in Europe. Altidores best run of form with the national team coincided with his run at AZ. Bradley has been a shell of himself since returning from Europe as well. MLS has actually been horrible for the national team in the short term by paying USMNT players fat salaries so they either 1. don’t go abroad or 2. come back from abroad and their abilities clearly suffer from it.

    In terms of youth development MLS academies have largely failed. Every single MLS club has a youth academy. Many have had them for 10+ years. How many quality footballers have they produced? It’s pathetic.

    Reply
    • The young hot shot prospect everyone is all about, Mckinney, was developed by an MLS academy. Yedlin is one of our best players. Acosta is only 22 and is an MLS product. That u-17 team people are high on is full of MLS products.

      Reply

Leave a Comment