The Soccer Thread (Version 12) — Revenge of the Backup GK

Mexico were toothless. Win on Sunday and we are basically in.

 

It’s odd watching Canada dominate with 10 men. In normal times a 1-0 loss in Costa Roca would be celebrated here. Times have changed.

 

0-0 at the Azteca, which is still a decent result in the continuum of possible outcomes. As Webster notes, a win on Sunday is all but ballgame to go to Qatar (Costa Rica could catch us on points if they beat us in San Jose but would have to make up seven goals).

Even a single draw pretty much ensures you at least get into the playoff, since Panama has to make up eight goals.

Overall, tonight was OK, I'd say, since job one of any trip to the Azteca is "don't have a nightmare." But Canada getting a man sent off in the first half and losing is a bad break. On the flip side, Honduras thawing out in time to get that second-half equalizer kept them from making up any ground.

 

Poster has a sock puppet here, except for USMNT?

 

And, I gotta confess: Did not know there was a North Macedonia until I heard the score on the radio while driving home.

 

The artists formerly known as Macedonia had to rebrand to get Greece to stop blocking their accession to NATO.
Macedonia officially changes its name to North Macedonia

 

Watching the highlights, the Pulisic miss was pretty bad. He had the entire goal to shoot at. Pefok’s was awful too but he was off balance.

 

You're right, much the better side in the second half, just couldn't buy a break. Costa Ricans diving all over the place and it cost Canada big time when Kaye got stupid on a yellow.

Should be crazy at BMO Sunday, I am sure Jamaica will have its share of supporters too.

 

Pefok's "thing" was another pass back to Reyna. I think. I've watched it a bunch of times, and I can't figure out what the hell that was.

 

The best that I can come up with is that he wanted to shoot with his right (he takes a little quarter step to get his body shaped correctly), quickly realizes that he can't and then either tries to pass to Reyna or take a shot with his left. Either way it was awful.

 

Having followed the US men since before the 1994 World Cup, there's something of a ring of truth to this. Maybe it's rising expectations, maybe it's a sense of entitlement from fans who came into the sport later, maybe all of the above.

 

I think there are a lot of things that contribute to an inferiority complex surrounding the USMNT.

First of all, failing to qualify for Russia 2018 out of CONCACAF was absolutely inexcusable and the sort of stain that hangs with the program for a generation. Second, the USWNT has now won consecutive World Cups and has often cast light on the USMNT's underachievement to bolster their own (valid) arguments for equal pay. Third, CONCACAF is funny because there's two ways to fail and no way to succeed. If you beat any other team in the confederation with the exception of El Tri in Mexico, you're supposed to have won it. If you lose to any of those teams for any reason, it's a failure. And every game, win or less, is measured against an El Tri side that is supposed to have a superior program even though we took four of six points off them this cycle, they look even more like shit than the US does right now, and El Tri has NEVER won a knockout stage game at a World Cup they did not host.

And finally, men's international football exists in this weird space. With the exception of hockey (and even then, Americans and Canadians kind of blend together to a point), Americans are used to the domestic athletes they see on TV in domestic leagues being the creme de la creme of that particular sport. In soccer, they aren't. MLS is a fun league and better than it was five or 10 years ago, but it's going to take decades to catch up to that moving target. That's OK. I think MLS is a blast in the way it melds American sports and fan culture with talent and players from around the world in a way that really isn't matched in other American sports or in other world soccer leagues. But I really think the Average American Sports Fan can't compute that the U.S.'s Best of the Best is maybe No. 12 or 13 on the planet on a good day.