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Sports => Football => Topic started by: Flex on October 11, 2017, 01:52:52 AM

Title: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Flex on October 11, 2017, 01:52:52 AM
U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
By Jeff Carlisle (espnfc).


COUVA, Trinidad -- With World Cup qualification seemingly in their grasp, the Americans lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday night. Coupled with Honduras' 3-2 victory over Mexico and Panama's 2-1 victory over Costa Rica, the U.S. finished fifth in CONCACAF's Hexagonal round, out of the running to qualify for Russia 2018.

Here are three thoughts on a humiliating night in Trinidad.

1. World Cup dream is over

There's no other way to describe it: This was a debacle on a countless number of levels.

The task seemed straightforward enough -- avoid defeat and you're in. But as it has so often during this World Cup cycle, the U.S. insisted on making life as difficult as possible and now has paid the ultimate price, failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since the 1986 cycle.

The Americans fell behind in the 17th minute on an own goal by Omar Gonzalez. Alvin Jones doubled the home side's advantage 20 minutes later with a 30-yard blast that cleanly beat U.S. keeper Tim Howard.

Even worse was that Trinidad and Tobago was fully deserving of its lead. U.S. striker Jozy Altidore missed a massive opportunity in the seventh minute when he blasted a shot over the crossbar, but after that, the Soca Warriors were stringing passes all over the Ato Boldon Stadium pitch, making the U.S. chase. The home side was also finding opportunities in transition, which was the last thing the U.S. wanted given T&T's speed and athleticism.

The Americans looked slow and lethargic and showed none of the energy that characterized their 4-0 hammering of Panama four days earlier. Certainly, the sparse crowd meant there was little atmosphere in the stadium initially, though it grew more lively as the game wore on. But with a World Cup berth on the line, one would have expected more urgency from the U.S. players, yet not enough was on display.

Manager Bruce Arena brought on Clint Dempsey for the disappointing Paul Arriola, and the U.S. was soon back in the match as Christian Pulisic's drive from distance in the 47th minute halved the deficit.

The game became a track meet thereafter, with the U.S. pressing and T&T trying to strike on the counter. Howard kept the U.S. in the match, saving Shahdon Winchester's shot midway through the second half. Dempsey hit the post in the 77th minute with a shot from distance. Bobby Wood was denied late on a fine save by T&T keeper Adrian Foncette.

That was as close as the U.S. got. Now it will have the coming months to contemplate how this World Cup qualification got away.

2. The most embarrassing performance in U.S. history?

No doubt, yes.

Heading into the match, everything was lining up for the U.S. to qualify; only a massive collapse would prevent qualification. A win would clinch the third and final qualification spot, while the colossal U.S. advantage in goal differential over Panama (seven) and Honduras (12) meant a tie would almost certainly do the trick.

Only a loss and an outright win by either the Canaleros or the Catrachos could knock the U.S. out of third place. T&T, meanwhile, was already eliminated, with manager Dennis Lawrence opting mostly for younger players in a bid to build for the future.

Yet the U.S. somehow contrived to blow this opportunity. Yes, the Americans have suffered humbling defeats before. Heck, the 1980s were littered with them. But this defeat stands alone.

Yes, the U.S. has lost to T&T before, but that was during the 2010 cycle when progress from the semifinal round was already assured. This time the U.S had everything to gain. But it also had plenty to lose, and evidently that was too much of a burden for an emotionally fragile team to carry.

3. Arena's legacy will be tarnished

As brutal as this is on the players, it is also a humiliating moment for Arena. Yes, he took over this team when it was already in a two-game hole in the Hex, but looking at the totality of his tenure, he was no more effective in inspiring this squad than predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann.

At least Klinsmann could take solace in the fact that, against Mexico and in Costa Rica, he lost two games that are among the three most difficult in the Hex (only away to Mexico is tougher). Arena oversaw a loss to Costa Rica at home and this embarrassment to Trinidad and Tobago.

And for all the talk of the U.S. being unable to take care of business at home, the road did them no favors either. Arena has built an impressive legacy for himself over the years, but that will be dwarfed in many ways by this team's failure to qualify.

RELATED NEWS

Perfect Storm of Hex Results Eliminates USA from 2018 World Cup Contention After 2-1 Loss in T&T.
USSOCCER.COM


 COUVA, Trinidad & Tobago (Oct. 10, 2017) – With an unlikely combination of results in the final Matchday of CONCACAF Qualifying, the U.S. Men’s National Team was eliminated from contention for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

After falling 2-1 to Trinidad & Tobago, the doomsday combination of a Honduras victory against Mexico (3-2) and a Panama win over Costa Rica (2-1) dropped the U.S. from third to fifth place in the Hexagonal. Panama qualified directly with its third place finish, while Honduras will face off against Australia in the intercontinental playoff.

A pair of improbable goals from the Socca Warriors in the first half gave the hosts a 2-0 lead and put the USA in the difficult position of needing to break down an opponent that kept 10 men behind the ball in the second half.

Christian Pulisic cut the deficit in half just minutes into the second stanza when his strike from the top of the box in the 47th minute found the back of the net. The U.S. continued to push forward and created numerous quality chances, but Trinidad goalkeeper Adrian Fonette was up to the task as he pulled off impressive saves to keep the lead.

Pulisic, Omar Gonzalez, Bobby Wood, and Darlington Nagbe all saw chances denied at the last moment by Fonette, while half-time substitute Clint Dempsey saw one of his two great chances hit the post flush and bounce out as time wound down.

Goal Scoring Rundown:

TRI – Omar Gonzalez (own goal), 17th minute: A Trinidad & Tobago attack down the USA’s left flank resulted in a fluke own goal when Alvin Jones centered a ball for Shahdon Winchester that was beyond his reach but ricocheted off Omar Gonzalez’s outstretched foot, looping into the top right corner of U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard’s net for the shock lead.
USA 0, TRI 1

TRI – Alvin Jones (Nathan Lewis), 36th minute: Receiving a pass from Nathan Lewis, Jones took a touch before unleashing a speculative drive nearly 30 yards out from goal. The shot from the right side of the field swerved wildly away from the center of goal, finding the left side netting. USA 0, TRI 2

USA – Christian Pulisic (Darlington Nagbe), 47th minute: Nagbe won the ball just outside the Socca Warriors’ box and played a quick pass to Pulisic, whose first touch set him up to rip a shot through traffic from just outside the top of the penalty arc across the face of goal into the top left corner. USA 1, TRI 2

Key Saves and Defensive Stops:

USA – Tim Howard, 44th minute: Having found his luck with one long-distance strike already, Jones sent a free kick from 40 yards out near the right sideline blistering toward the U.S. goal. The shot dipped just inside the six-yard box and took a nasty bounce off the choppy turf, nearly wrong-footing Howard, who held up just enough to get his shoulder to the ball and keep it out. His job not done, Howard tracked the rebound as it rolled to the left of the goal, knocking it away from Winchester with a well-executed sliding tackle.

USA – DeAndre Yedlin, 49th minute: A Trinidad attack up the right wing worked its way into the USA box but was snuffed out at the last minute by a sliding block from Yedlin to deny Nathan Lewis at the left post from four yards out with Howard down.

USA – DeAndre Yedlin, 58th minute: It was a great recovery by Yedlin to chase down Nathan Lewis and get in a last-minute sliding tackle to deny a point blank shot on goal after the speedy Socca Warriors’ attacker had gotten free down the U.S. left flank.

USA – Tim Howard 63rd minute: As the game opened up with the U.S. pushing forward for an equalizer, the ball was lifted into the U.S. box for a shot from the middle of the penalty area that Howard got down well to kick away.

TRI – Adrian Foncette, 69th minute: A well-executed set play by the USA saw Michael Bradley play the ball toward the top of the Soca Warriors’ box. Dempsey met the pass and sent a chipped shot toward the top left corner but Foncette just got a hand to tip it over the bar.

TRI – Adrian Foncette, 77th minute: As the U.S. carved out another attack, Foncette was finally beaten by a low effort from the top of the box by Dempsey. As it was headed for the lower left corner, a sprawling Foncette made a fingernail save down to his left to deflect the shot onto the post.

TRI – Adrian Foncette, 88th minute: With its last best chance to knot the score at 2-2, Bobby Wood evaded his marker and met Pulisic’s cross to send a downward header bouncing toward the right side of goal, but Foncette got down quick to push the point blank header around the post.

NOTES:

    The U.S. MNT moved to 18-3-4 all-time vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 13-2-3 in World Cup Qualifying and 4-2-2 in away qualifiers.

    Altidore and Michael Bradley appeared in 15 of the team’s 16 CONCACAF qualifiers for Russia 2018.
    The Toronto FC pair also joined left back Jorge Villafaña in making their team-leading 14th appearances of 2017.

    While he recorded five goals and four assists in qualifying matches this year, in one way or another, Christian Pulisic has been involved in 12 of the 17 goals scored by the U.S. during the Final Round of 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying.

    In order to get the gameday roster down to 23 players, defender Michael Orozco and midfielder Juan Agudelo did not dress for tonight’s match.

- U.S. Men’s National Team Match Report -

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Trinidad & Tobago

Date: Oct. 10, 2017
Competition: 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying – Final Round
Venue: Ato Boldon Stadium; Couva, Trinidad
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Attendance: TBC
Weather: 80 degrees; mostly clear

Scoring Summary:

TRI – Own Goal (Omar Gonzalez) 17th minute
TRI – Alvin Jones (Nathan Lewis) 37
USA – Christian Pulisic  47

Lineups:

USA: 1-Tim Howard, 2-DeAndre Yedlin, 3-Omar Gonzalez, 5-Matt Besler, 15-Jorge Villafaña (23-Kellyn Acosta, 72), 4-Michael Bradley (capt.), 21-Paul Arriola (8-Clint Dempsey, 46), 10-Christian Pulisic, 6-Darlington Nagbe (16-Benny Feilhaber, 84), 9-Bobby Wood, 17-Jozy Altidore

Subs not used: 12-Brad Guzan, 22-Nick Rimando, 7-DaMarcus Beasley, 11-Alejandro Bedoya, 13-Dax McCarty, 14-Tim Ream, 18-Chris Wondolowski, 19-Graham Zusi, 20-Geoff Cameron

Head coach: Bruce Arena

TRI: 22-Adrian Foncette, 5-Daneil Cyrus, 7-Nathan Lewis, 8-Khaleem Hyland (capt.), 9-Shahdon Winchester (20-Trevin Caesar, 78), 13-Curtis Gonzales, 16-Levi Garcia (3-Joevin Jones, 72), 17-Alvin Jones, 18-Triston Hodge (4-Kevon Villaroel, 81), 19-Kevan George, 23-Leston Paul

Subs not used: 1-Glenroy Samuel, 21-Gregory Ranjitsingh, 2-Kareem Moses, 6-Josiah Trimmingham, 10-Karl Duane Muckette, 11-Neil Benjamin, 12-Kathon St. Hillaire, 14-Akeem Roach, 15-Jared London

Head coach: Dennis Lawrence

Stats Summary: USA / TRI

Shots: 15 / 11
Shots on Goal: 6 / 5
Saves: 3 / 5
Corner Kicks: 5 / 2
Fouls: 18 / 11
Offside: 3 / 3

Misconduct Summary:

TRI – Triston Hodge (caution)  68th minute
USA – Omar Gonzalez (caution)  90+1
TRI – Joevin Jones (caution)  90+3
USA – Matt Besler (caution)  90+5

Referee: Juan Carlos Guerra (GUA)

USA's Haunting World Cup Qualifying Failure Emits Blame, Shock and Calls for Change.
By Grant Wahl (si.com).


COUVA, Trinidad and Tobago — Let’s be perfectly clear: The most embarrassing failure in U.S. Soccer history was consummated on Tuesday night in a near-empty stadium in the Caribbean tropics, culminating in a soul-crushing 2-1 defeat to a last-place opponent in which the U.S. men’s national team had only needed a win or a tie to qualify for World Cup 2018.

But this miasma of futility—causing the U.S. to miss the World Cup for the first time since 1986—was only the endpoint of a long series of felonies and misdemeanors over the last 12 months in Columbus, Ohio, and in San Jose, Costa Rica; in Harrison, N.J., and in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The dateline for the autopsy of this U.S. team may read Couva, a tiny town that no U.S. soccer fan will ever forget, but the seeds for this dark day were planted in several locations.

When it comes down to it, CONCACAF is a frighteningly forgiving region for World Cup qualifying. Mexico qualified for Brazil 2014 after winning just two of 10 Hexagonal games. The U.S. was eliminated from Russia 2018 after just three victories in 10 qualifiers. The Americans started with a giant margin for error and then proceeded to whittle it down, in chunks large and small, from two opening defeats to last month’s home loss to Costa Rica to the finishing blow on Tuesday—a catastrophic capitulation to a team that had lost six straight Hexagonal games.

Afterward, players fought back tears. One of them was defender Omar Gonzalez, who saw the hosts’ first goal bounce off his shin and into the U.S. net for an own goal.

“It’s one that will haunt me forever,” he said. “I never thought I would see this day. It’s the worst day of my career … 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 all the fans that were pulling for us, that wanted to go to Russia, that believed in us. We let down an entire nation today.”

Another player who was disconsolate was forward Jozy Altidore, who made little impact on the game.

“If you don’t look at yourself after this individually,” he said, “I think you’re f---ed up in the head.”

U.S. captain Michael Bradley had 90 minutes by himself in doping control after the game to digest the doomsday scenario that had just played out; a U.S. loss combined with Panama and Honduras wins was the only way the Americans could be eliminated.

“It was a perfect storm kind of night,” he said after emerging. “Everything that could have possibly gone wrong did, in this stadium and in two other stadiums across the region. To give away the first goal like that [on an own goal] is a killer. It comes from nothing and it ultimately gives them life, gives them energy. It means that all of the sudden they believe, that there’s something there for them. The second goal, the guy [Alvin Jones] hits a great shot that flies into the far corner … We got back to 2-1 and at that point couldn’t make a play to unlock them, couldn’t get the final pass, the final shot, the final action. You can go around in circles a million times over again. But the reality is it was all there for us, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.”

He’s right. The U.S. deserved to drop all the points it did during this miserable qualifying campaign. There were no horrible referee calls that changed results, no bad bounces that somehow rolled into the goal. Trinidad and Tobago, like Costa Rica before it, realized that this U.S. team could be beaten if you sat back, soaked up pressure and picked the right spots to move forward and threaten the goal. The U.S. proved time and again that it didn’t have the ability to break down a team defending that way. You can’t ask 19-year-old Christian Pulisic—who scored the U.S. goal on Tuesday—to do everything.

“Teams certainly have shown they’re going to sit back and frustrate us,” said U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. “So you’re probably going to need to break some teams down. Until we do that, teams won’t come out of their shell.”

Under Arena, the U.S. had appeared to recover much of its old identity—namely, being hard to play against as a unit—between March and June. But that identity mysteriously disappeared again in three of the last four qualifying games over the past month.

“Collectively one through 11, we weren’t able to defend well enough,” said Altidore. “You can’t go and score four or five goals every game. We have to be able to be hard to play against. We weren’t hard enough to play against too many times.”

Most of the U.S. players appeared shellshocked. When the Netherlands was eliminated from the World Cup on Tuesday, the Dutch players knew it was coming, since they had to win by an unrealistic seven goals over Sweden. But the Americans fully expected to qualify for Russia on Tuesday, and at the very least they thought they’d be heading to the intercontinental playoff against Australia. Full elimination wasn’t in the picture, and their dazed looks suggested they were having trouble processing it.

A full reckoning will now have to take place by U.S. Soccer. Arena’s days are numbered, for one thing. He took responsibility for the failure after the game, as he should have: The home loss to Costa Rica and Tuesday’s fiasco were inexcusable.

“I’m clearly very disappointed,” he said. “We had everything there for us today … We should not be staying home from this World Cup.”

But Arena wouldn’t go so far to say that major changes should take place in U.S. Soccer.

“There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing,” he argued. “Certainly, I think if our league continues to grow it benefits the national team program. We have some good players coming up. Nothing has to change. To make any kind of crazy changes I think would be foolish. We’re building a consistent professional league. We have players playing abroad of a certain quality. There’s enough there. There’s no excuses for us to not qualify for the World Cup.”

As Arena spoke, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati sat nearby with a blank look on his face, as if he didn’t know what had hit him.

“Extremely disappointed,” he said. “We certainly expected to qualify throughout the process and especially after Friday night [a 4-0 win over Panama]. So it’s a huge disappointment for everybody: The players, the staff, the coaches, for the federation. It’s not good enough, obviously.”

But when Gulati was pressed on whether wholesale changes were necessary after this debacle, he shook his head.

“So wholesale changes aren’t needed if the ball that hits off the post [from Clint Dempsey] goes in?” he said. “You don’t make wholesale changes based on the ball being two inches wide or two inches in. We’ll look at everything, obviously, and all our programs, both the national team and all the development stuff. But we’ve got a lot of pieces in place that we think are very good and have been coming along. Tonight obviously wasn’t what we hoped for.”

Yet this American failure wasn’t due to one shot hitting the post. It was due to repeated fatal flaws that were exposed time and again over the last 12 months. If you can’t qualify from one of the easiest and most forgiving regional competitions on Earth, how are you going to compete at a World Cup? It remains to be seen now whether Gulati will run for reelection in February—and whether he’ll have a chance to win if he does. The drumbeat for change, real change, will ring loudly now.

At the same time, be wary of those who promise easy answers for complex problems. Too many people in the U.S. soccer community think there are lightning-bolt answers—Promotion and relegation! Send all the youngsters to Europe!—that will solve everything. They won’t. There should be an honest discussion, though, of the factors that led to this day that will live in infamy. It will take some time.

On Tuesday night, though, everyone was still processing the shock and what had led to it.

“We dropped too many points on too many days,” Bradley said. “We put ourselves at a disadvantage from the very beginning when we lost the first two games. When you lose the first two games and drop points on too many days, your margin for error goes. So you know you’re at the mercy of a night like this where everything possible goes against you, both here and in the two other games.

“That’s just reality. That’s on us.”

And then Bradley walked away, by himself, into the darkness and an uncertain future for U.S. Soccer.

USMNT's failure to make the World Cup is the biggest embarrassment in U.S. sports history
By: Andrew Joseph (usatoday).


It’s been 31 years since May 31, 1986 — the last World Cup that didn’t feature the United States. That’s 11,456 days of progress for a sport that’s come so far in a country that still hasn’t fully embraced it.

All of that gone.

With U.S. soccer’s dreadful 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago on the final day of CONCACAF’s qualifying hexagonal for the 2018 World Cup, next summer’s tournament will not feature the USMNT. No Christian Pulisic. No Tim Howard. No Michael Bradley. With that loss, the USMNT gave a nation the lowest point in its sporting history, and it’s not really close.

CONCACAF is a grind, but compared to the other qualifying regions, the 3.5 World Cup spots out of six teams mean that the United States should be a lock to qualify. When it beat Panama, 4-0, on Friday, the U.S. put itself in position to escape a lackluster qualifying round with a spot in the tournament. All it really needed to do was take care of business at lowly Trinidad and Tobago.

They couldn’t even do that. With no sense of urgency, USMNT players and coaches had to watch as their CONCACAF counterparts did them no favors. Four years after the USMNT saved Mexico’s World Cup dreams, El Tri instead blew a lead to Honduras and helped seal the USMNT’s fate. Costa Rica also blew a lead to Panama on a goal that shouldn’t have counted and gave up a late winner as the U.S. decided to score-watch rather than take matters into its own hands. A mostly empty stadium in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, felt even emptier on this night.

It’s really difficult to quantify how bad this loss was for U.S. Soccer. Sunil Gulati and Bruce Arena should both be gone. Tim Howard, whose last World Cup appearance was a legendary performance, will likely leave U.S. Soccer with the lasting image of his worst performance with the national team. As bad as things got for the USMNT, the possibility of missing the World Cup didn’t actually seem real. It’s that arrogance that likely brought the team to where it is right now — out of the World Cup. When U.S. soccer legend Alexi Lalas called out the USMNT, its biggest star, Pulisic, laughed off the attempted gut-check rant.

But when it comes down to it, though, the sport of soccer in the U.S. is going to feel the lasting effects the most. Every World Cup is an opportunity to grow the sport on the biggest stage.

Even the growth from 2010, to 2014, to now has been tremendous. A nation went crazy when Landon Donovan sent the USMNT into the Round of 16 with his late winner in 2010 (a loss would have meant an early trip home). A nation went crazy when John Brooks put the U.S. ahead against Ghana in 2014, as he ran around not fully processing what he had done.

Those moments forge memories and make lifelong fans of the sport. It creates momentum that makes it possible for an MLS team to draw 71,000 fans for a regular season match. Those moments inspire a young fan to kick around a soccer ball rather than throw a football. Those moments make it possible for a 19-year-old wonderkid to break through into the next level of international stardom.

That’s not happening anymore. It’s five years — at best — of the USMNT out of the forefront of American sports. All because U.S. soccer let 95 minutes of arrogance erase 31 years of progress.

And that is truly a shame.

Video - Trinidad and Tobago vs USA 2-1 ● Goals & Highlights Goles y Resumen ● 10 October 2017 HD (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjGnBzuLEgc)

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: asylumseeker on October 11, 2017, 03:03:35 AM
(https://cdn1.nyt.com/images/2017/10/11/sports/11ussoccerjp-early/11ussoccerjp-early-articleLarge.jpg)
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Deeks on October 11, 2017, 03:07:45 AM
All because U.S. soccer let 95 minutes of arrogance erase 31 years of progress.

Overblown. Allyuh just got beat. Change is needed. Just like change is needed in the TTFA.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Deeks on October 11, 2017, 03:24:15 AM
But honestly speaking, the Panama-CR game is real fishy. That Panama goal appeared not to have gone in. The US might have reason to complain.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: maxg on October 11, 2017, 05:29:59 AM
But honestly speaking, the Panama-CR game is real fishy. That Panama goal appeared not to have gone in. The US might have reason to complain.
Blame    a. Obama b. Jack Warner c. Concacaf corruption  d. Commentator calling Couva, Cove- R  e. Hurricane Jones f. All of the above
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Deeks on October 11, 2017, 05:34:12 AM
None of the above. The goal eh score. But until the bring goal-line tech. to the game, Panama win by "scoring a goal". But I glad for Panama, the messed up the last time around.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Sam on October 11, 2017, 07:51:56 AM
I was very impress with  Foncette, Gonzales, Hodge, Alvin and especially Winchester, I love his mobility, his runs in the box and how he can break behind defence,, he impove a lot in Mexico.

Alvin Jiones nearly score de two same goals from free kick, ah couldn't believe he was going for another one and Levi coulda get a penalty to. Alvin know that field well.

If Hyland copuld play like he did vs Mexico and USA in de last two games, we good.

Nathan Lewis is a decent player going forward, but play a dunce brand, he gives away the ball to many time and Cyrus to, even though Cyrus was tops yesterday defensively.

Good brand of football, by Lawrence, no setta high ball, we knock, but to all fairness, USA wasn't them self, cause we backline still suspect.

USA.....  :rotfl: :rotfl:

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Sando on October 11, 2017, 08:20:56 AM
This man gone off he head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgFh729L2oA#action=share

Good going T&T

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: FF on October 11, 2017, 08:49:00 AM
This man gone off he head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgFh729L2oA#action=share

Good going T&T




Issa meltdown
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Sam on October 11, 2017, 09:50:54 AM
George is we most intelligent player.  Ah forgot to mention him.

Paul was decent to.

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: E-man on October 11, 2017, 10:25:05 AM
Shaka and co. discussing:

http://www.espn.com/core/video/iframe?id=3226533
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: pull stones on October 11, 2017, 01:20:01 PM
you want to know what is the most disheartening thing about this victory? the fact that no one including our own fans gave the coach and the lads any credit for the result. the yanks went on and on about how it was their inherent right to defeat us, even when the record showed that they don't travel well and how they have never beaten us at home by more that a one goal margin with a dog fight on their hands yet twellman bob lee and all the other pundits never said kudos to Dennis Lawrence and his staff for cooking up a well thought out plan.

if they had done their home work then they would have seen that it took Mexico till the 88th minute to take the lead from this team on friday and would not have waltz in expecting to clubber us in our own back yard, but no such luck this time and it couldn't come any more convenient time than at this juncture. they underestimated us for far too long, I bet now that they would handle us with better care in the future even though we never get another victory over them.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: pull stones on October 11, 2017, 01:28:43 PM
Ps. and all the dennis lawrence naysayers who thought that he should have been fired or replaced for a better coach, I hope you enjoyed your plate of crow. the ones who claimed we were good for 3 4 and 5 goals, remember I pull stones told you it would never happen at least not at home because I watch every game and we were never dominated under dennis lawrence like we had in previous times and was very unlucky not to get many calls in this whole hex that could have changed the results drastically.

keep on working hard coach lawrence the best man for the job, you have my full support. and one more thing, where's the conspirators who said that the federation president is being paid to sell out to the usa and mexico, some selling out he did last night.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: E-man on October 11, 2017, 01:42:19 PM
Omar 'OG' 'Own Goal' Gonzalez   :devil:
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Sando prince on October 11, 2017, 01:51:53 PM

Look at Twellman meltdown after USA loss  :rotfl: 

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/918110211667140608?s=07
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: pull stones on October 11, 2017, 02:20:34 PM
the man said Belgium played bosnia on a cow pasture.  :rotfl:
Title: Jack feels like partying
Post by: Tallman on October 11, 2017, 03:20:20 PM
Jack feels like partying
By Susan Mohammed (T&T Express)


I WANTED TO PARTY.

This was the reaction of former FIFA Vice President and former CONCACAF President Jack Warner Trinidad and Tobago extermination of the US soccer team's chance at qualifying for World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Warner in an interview on radio on Wednesday said that it was correct to say that Tuesday night's win was “sweet revenge”, in reference to Trinidad and Tobago's loss to USA in 1989, crushing local hopes of qualifying for World Cup 1990 in Italy.

“I have not been in better spirits. This is the happiest day of my life”, said Warner. “It (the win) couldn't have given me great joy”.

The former CONCACAF President said that the US had “reduced football in CONCACAF to a nightmare”.

“They have used their Government to help to dismember FIFA in a way that is unimaginable. And last night on the field of play Trinidad and Tobago reduced them to their knees” he said.

Warner said that the US team was feeling the pressure to qualify for World Cup 2018 in Russia.

“They will continue to undermine (the World Cup in) Qatar for 2022, but they will not succeed. As far as I am concerned this is the beginning of the end for US football”, he said. “Nobody in CONCACAF likes the US.”

He said other teams within the CONCACAF sought to “help one another” but the US team sought to “embarrass them”.

Warner said however that for there to be more football success team coach Dennis Lawrence should rely more and more on local players since the time has come where they can no longer depend on overseas players.

“They (local players) have the commitment and know how to push us forward”, he said.

He added that the team should focus now on building their game towards World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

Warner also said that the win for him was personal payback.

“And for me personally, it has reduced the US to a laughing stock. Last September 27 when the judge ruled against Jack Warner there was a party in the US, they were quite happy”, he said.

“”Knowing that this has happened I wanted to go out and party as they partied last September when a judge ruled against me. I wanted to party. This was my personal feeling”.

RELATED NEWS

Warner: USA has paid a price.
By Shaliza Hassanali (Guardian).


T&Ts victory over the United States is “the best day” of Jack Warner’s life. The former FIFA Vice President, who is facing extradition charges to the United States, described it as a “glowing achievement” and a “feather in the cap” of the team to beat the Americans.

“At the end of the day, after 28 years we have now settled the score with the USA for the first time. You know something, we have beaten them when it hurts the most that they cannot qualify to go to Russia,” Warner said as he weighed in on T&T’s 2-1 victory that ultimately ended all hopes of the USA qualifying for next year’s World Cup.

He said T&T had nothing to gain by beating the USA, “but you know what, God don’t sleep, and they have paid a price for what they have done to football in FIFA, CONCACAF and in the Caribbean.”

The former CONCACAF head also dismissed the ‘River to Russia’ statement, posted by the US Men’s National team Twitter page, as “foolish.” He said he was sure that American players who practiced on the stadium’s saturated grounds on Monday had experienced similar conditions back home. Warner told the T&T Guardian: “We have been blessed. Rain has fallen in Houston, Miami and Dominica and all over the Caribbean and Central America. We have a little flood at the Ato Boldon Stadium and we are taking that as embarrassing ourselves to the world with River to Russia.”

“We make a mountain out of a molehill,” he added.

Warner was also full of praise for head coach Dennis Lawrence, saying T&T needed to rely heavily on its local players, “as you would have more to gain while they are more committed.”

Extradition proceedings are set to resume in the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court after Warner lost his lawsuit challenging his extradition to the United States. He was indicted by US authorities over allegations of racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracies spanning 24 years.

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: vb on October 11, 2017, 09:43:04 PM
Can't blame the US for the shock.

They have been achieving and overachieving for almost 30 years. Gone are the days when people laughed at US soccer in the 70s and 80s.

They have a multi million dollar league and are simply used to a level of success we in TT know very little of. OUr only victory previous to this in a WC qualifier was when they had already qualified.

I felt like that 25 odd years ago when J'ca eliminated us from the qualifiers. It was worse when in less than one week we lost to Bermuda AND Guyana and again got kicked out. In recent years, we can't even make the top two in the C'bbn and struggle vs Martinique and Haiti. We even getting C'bbn cut tail at Jr. level. We have become food for our C'bbn rivals instead of instilling fear and respect.

I stopped ranting long time. Got used to the underachievement.

The US obviously are not and they have to go through a period of closure and recovery. Make no doubt they will recover. Teams like France, England and Holland have failed to qualify for the WC in the last 25 years and come back. The US will as well.

We on the other hand, have to worry about not self destructing against opposition like Guyana, Bermuda and Haiti.

But on Tuesday night, I put all that aside. I urged my Warriors on for no other reason than pride. That game WAS my World Cup.

Thanks for putting a smile on my face.

VB
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Kingk on October 11, 2017, 10:17:17 PM
 Leaders of T&T football why can't we see all the shit talking at these Americans are doing and get our act together and prove to them that this was not a fluke by consistently winning
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Deeks on October 11, 2017, 10:33:41 PM
Like I said, I don't feel this victory was revenge for 1990. That feeling gone when we won in Qatar. This victory was whether these guys had heart and tenacity. They could have laid down and get 6, and everybody would have said, "told you so, TT eh have heart. They let US walk all over them.  The Central Americans would have said,  TT is cannon fodder for everybody and they sell out to the US so that Panama and Honduras can't go to the WC. Then the US pundits would say, Arena is a genius. He brought them from the brink, etc,etc. I have no illusions about our football. Our football is weak for Concacaf. The only way this victory could be the rule, rather than the exception is for a change in TTFA and some input from the private sector(those who are willing to be patient with development). We need better local coaches. They need more coaching development courses, etc, etc.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Deeks on October 11, 2017, 10:35:57 PM
I hope last night's game was a "shot in the arm" for local football. Hope the fans come out  and support the respective leagues.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Flex on October 12, 2017, 01:38:29 AM
Skeene proud of Soca Warriors but calls for full commitment towards Qatar 2022.
ttproleague.com.


Dexter Skeene, chief executive officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League, says he is proud of the recent effort of the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Team and by extension head coach Dennis Lawrence and his technical staff and the players and management.

Skeene, an ex-Trinidad and Tobago forward, said T&T’s historic 2-1 win over the United States on Tuesday night at the Ato Boldon Stadium in their closing World Cup 2018 Qualifier of the CONCACAF Hexagonal represents hope for the future of the twin-island republic.

Skeene, though, believes that Trinidad and Tobago can only realise its full potential through the dedication of all stakeholders. He urged that “we must all work together.”

“The Pro League through its players, coaches, management and by extension the clubs, makes a major contribution to the National effort,” Skeene added.

“Against the U.S. it was very rewarding to see nine players coming out of our local TT Pro League and performing credibly at the international level. It is clear the Pro League and by extension professional football is critical to the development of football and for Trinidad and Tobago to qualify for a World Cup on a regular basis. We at the Pro League are dedicated to do our part with Qatar 2022 now the focus.”

Skeene also thanked the clubs’ owners for making the financial investment and for being resolute, committed and for having the vision to understand the role of professional football.

Trinidad and Tobago finished bottom of the CONCACAF Hex, and though the Soca Warriors’ Road to Russia ended three Qualifying games ago – due to points -- Lawrence’s men had the last laugh.

Trinidad and Tobago’s win against the United States, combined with Honduras’ victory against Mexico (3-2) and Panama’s win over Costa Rica (2-1), saw the US dropped from third to fifth place in the Hexagonal and out of the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama qualified automatically for the World Cup 2018, while Honduras will face off against Australia in the intercontinental play-off next month.

Tuesday's win also represented the end of a 28-year-wait to exact revenge over the United States who needed just a draw -- just as T&T needed only a draw in 1989 to qualify for the Italy World Cup but lost 1-0 to the Americans.

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Flex on October 12, 2017, 01:50:30 AM
Dad, I did it: Strike Squad member’s son scores revenge on US.
T&T Newsday Reports.


Alvin Jones has paid tribute to the 1989 Strike Squad team, in which his father Kelvin was a member, after he played a key role in Trinidad and Tobago football team’s 2-1 victory over the United States in their 2018 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Zone Final Round qualifier at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva

After US defender Omar Gonzalez scored an own goal after 16 minutes of action, Jones unleashed a thunderous 40-yard shot, in the 37th minute, to gave the hosts a 2-0 halftime lead. Teenaged US midfielder Christian Pulisic netted in the 47th but the Dennis Lawrence-coached TT outfit held firm until the final whistle.

That result ended the United States’ hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia and, on the flip side, earned a measure of revenge. The Strike Squad, on November 19 1989, were beaten 1-0 by the United States, at the then National Stadium (now Hasely Crawford Stadium) in Mucurapo to qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy – at the expense of the Strike Squad.

Jones said that Tuesday’s victory will serve as sweet redemption of the ghost of 1989.

“Yeah, I think it was,” he said, during a telephone interview yesterday. “From (1989) it was something that they lived (with) for the rest of their lives, getting knocked out. And I think that (Tuesday) we displayed as a team that finally, after so many years, they’ll put this to bed, they can live comfortable now and I think that the Strike Squad got justice.

“I’m happy for them, I’m happy for the players and also I’m happy for our team.”

Jones’ right-footed blast, which flew past the outstretched right hand of goalkeeper Tim Howard, will live long in the memory of the minds of the estimated 3,500 fans in attendance, as well as the millions who watched the game live, both on television and via online streams.

Asked how he felt when he scored, Jones replied, “Words can’t explain. If you know me, that’s one of my strengths, to kick the ball. I just gave it a try and it finally paid off.”

Was he surprised that he had no challenge from any US player before he took that kick? “I think the system they started off playing was the diamond in the middle,” he replied. “So we had plenty room on the flanks so they were giving me the opportunity to push high into the midfield. So that’s how I got the opportunity to shoot.”

Jones also had a chance to score from a freekick in the 44th minute which was fumbled by Howard.

“That’s a strength I have also,” said the 23-year-old, who is the younger brother of midfielder Joevin. “I had scored from 30 yards so I said that my confidence is high. The freekick that we (got) I wanted to take it because my confidence was high and I (thought) that Tim Howard’s own was low from that goal. So I just made use of the opportunity.”

The W Connection defender is keeping his fingers crossed that he can earn an overseas contract in the immediate future.

“I didn’t get any (offers as) yet. It was only (on Tuesday). But I’m hoping that something happens.”

He added, “The whole world watched it. It’s just not about the goal. I think my performance was one of the best on the day. I’m just hoping that one or two clubs come behind me. Hopefully my club and their club can agree to some kind of contract, and I can take it.”

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Jumbie on October 12, 2017, 05:16:08 AM
We didn't make Russia, won a game on an own goal and this fella talking bout DL is ah bess coach. GTFOH Will this win have any affect on the team, admin, fan support etc going forward? I doubt it. Just a bunch of memes and news bites for our entertainment.

The lil victory sweet and respect to the fellas, but we eh really achieve anything.
Title: Congrats first, review next
Post by: Tallman on October 12, 2017, 05:58:06 AM
Congrats first, review next
T&T Express


It has taken more than a quarter century for Trinidad and Tobago to savour the sweet taste of revenge with Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over arch footballing nemesis, the United States.

The goals by Shahdon Winchester (17th minute) and Alvin Jones (36th minute) rescued some of the dignity of the national team which had been lost over the course of a lacklustre campaign for next year’s World Cup finals in Russia.

Goal for goal, however, the victory is hardly enough to erase the burning memory of T&T’s November 19 defeat against the US in 1989 which put to sudden death the nation’s hope to finally make it onto football’s world stage.

Having lost the chance, it would take another 16 years for T&T to realise its World Cup ambition after Dennis Lawrence’s magical header against Bahrain catapulted the Soca Warriors into the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.

On Tuesday night, the stakes were nowhere as high for the national team, which has struggled throughout the 2018 World Cup campaign. By kick-off in the final match at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, heart-broken fans had already deserted their team in droves.

By contrast with the teeming thousands that had turned up to support the team early in the campaign, Tuesday night’s match got little fanatic energy from the stands. It took only a scent of victory, however, to bring fans rushing back in an explosion of overdue joy as the final whistle was blown.

In defeating the US and blocking its path to Russia, the national squad has lifted afresh the hope for a future beyond Russia. Before all of this, however, the process of honest review and evaluation must be engaged.

The hard truth is that T&T football is exactly where thinking minds feared it would be after Germany 2006. Having worked the odds to get there, successive teams of football administrators have failed to lay down the infrastructure for sustained development of national football.

Even as the faces change, football’s legacy of highly centralised, ad hoc and arbitrary management has continued to promote an unstable and antagonistic environment which has taken a tremendous toll on our football talents.

Once again, we have been given the chance to learn that excellence cannot be achieved by cutting corners or by taking short cuts. There is no alternative to the systematic and strategic planning needed to lift our football from the doldrums in which it now languishes and put it on a path to Qatar 2022.

While one expects the T&T Football Association to conduct an exhaustive review of the now completed campaign, the TTFA cannot be left to review itself. If national football is to move forward on a solid basis, an independent review of the TTFA’s management of the campaign is required.

The T&T public has a vested interest in the future of our football. We are thankful that coach Lawrence and his team have given us something to smile about. Let’s celebrate today for tomorrow the work must begin anew.
Title: Soca Warriors close off in style
Post by: Tallman on October 12, 2017, 06:00:02 AM
Soca Warriors close off in style
By Colin Murray (T&T Guardian)


The shame and embarrassment when I saw photos of the river that was flowing through the running track when the USA team went to practice at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva before the World Cup qualifier against T&T soon turned to ecstasy on Tuesday night as the USA were dealt a significantly crushing defeat by the Soca Warriors.

After that, the only river that flowed was from the tears of the USA team as they failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. Before we go into the superb performance of the T&T team, I sincerely hope that the Ministry of Sport and the chairman of the Sports Company launch a thorough investigation into the state of that running track that bears the name of one of our best athletes.

Yes, I agree the Americans played on it but to simply dismiss it in the arrogant way that an official of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) did, is as ridiculous as they behaved.

How did they do it? Firstly, the support was woeful. Someone said to me he thought the Americans had more support. Be that as it may, these boys showed heart, spirit, tenacity and real attitude that finally brought a smile to Dennis Lawrence’s face. I have said it before, and will continue to say that in Stephen Hart and now Dennis Lawrence, we have had two excellent coaches.

Dennis’ philosophy is simple - work hard, be disciplined, have a good attitude and show some pride when representing the red, white and black; believe me the 11 players and the three substitutes all showed those qualities and more.

You could have seen it coming. They played well in Costa Rica, looked good for 78 minutes against Mexico, but faulted badly against Honduras and Panama. However for the first time the team fought with grit and determination for 95 minutes. Lawrence did point out it was the first time he got a full solid performance from his team.

The burning question remains - now that the World Cup dream is over where do we go from here? The coach says he needs to continue working with these boys and he wants to get many international friendlies as his dream is to make T&T the No 1 team in the Caribbean. However, he needs support.

We as a people tend to bask in the euphoria of victory (especially against the USA) and two weeks down the road revert to the past. Dennis - my advice to you is break down whosoever door you need to. You need to carry on this momentum and do not, I repeat do not, let anyone stand in your way of achieving your goals.

You have won over the support of the nation and trust me, if the team continues to play good football, the crowds will return. You do need some marketing support and I really hope you get it. Good luck Dennis and to you and the players, thank you for the memory of Tuesday October 10, 2017 which will go down as the day the often forgotten little twin island Caribbean nation of 1.3 million people prevented the USA of 323.1 million from qualifying for football’s biggest tournament.

Revenge can strike a devastating blow as I am sure many of you were in the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain on November 19, 1989.

On another positive note let’s all journey in our thousands down to the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair on Saturday from 7.30 pm to see the Red Force united again to oppose a Caribbean Select XI in a charity game for our Caribbean neighbours who were so badly affected by two of the worst hurricanes in recent history.

To hear Dominican West Indies selector Lockhart Sebastien describe the devastation was heart-wrenching. The hurricane relief Twenty20 (T20) game should be full of excitement with all the top stars back together again. Pollard, the Bravo brothers Dwayne and Darren, Sunil Narine, Kevon Cooper, Samuel Badree and the latest batting sensation Evin Lewis to name a few, taking on the best of the Caribbean.

Unfortunately, Chris Gayle is recuperating from injury and can’t play but it should be a cracker of a game and even though it’s for a great cause, the Red Force don’t like to lose when they are playing at home in a T20 game.

Let’s get there in our numbers and support the Red Force but equally as important, support the Hurricane relief effort.
Title: USA suffer a heartbreak all too familiar to Soca faithful
Post by: Tallman on October 12, 2017, 06:19:49 AM
USA suffer a heartbreak all too familiar to Soca faithful
FIFA.com


“We were so close to reaching the World Cup and then we all woke up the next morning to realise our dreams had been dashed,” said one player, looking ahead to a narrowly missed chance to live out a FIFA World Cup™ fantasy.

“The disappointment was almost too much to bear,” said another.

These could so easily be the words of USA’s stars today, knowing that just a point in Trinidad and Tobabo would have taken them to Russia 2018. In fact, they are those of the Soca Warriors' own Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke who, 28 years ago, saw their dreams shattered by the Stars and Stripes in an eerily similar manner to the USA’s 2-1 defeat on Tuesday night.

History tells the story of Paul Caligiuri’s goal catapulting the USA to Italy 1990 on the final day of qualifying – when only a win would do – into a run of seven successive appearances at the finals after a 40-year absence. The flip side of that tale then was that T&T's legendary ‘Strike Squad’, a team arguably not even matched by the one that made their World Cup debut 17 years later, missed out in heartbreaking style.

The young stars of that team, Latapy and Yorke, would go on to finally live out their dreams at Germany 2006, but the parallels of their near-miss to the USA’s today are striking. Just like the Soca Warriors that day, all Bruce Arena’s side needed was a point to stamp their World Cup ticket and, ultimately, a thunderous goal from distance was what inflicted defeat - though last night's Couva reboot occurred 40 minutes drive south of the Port of Spain original.

While Alvin Jones’s screamer will not be heralded in the same way as Caligiuri’s, having not brought the joy of a finals to a nation, his name may well go on to bring shudders down the spines of USA fans for years to come, just as the California native’s did for the Caribbean island’s football faithful.

What is certain is the reactions to the defeat are very reminiscent to the words uttered by the vanquished side almost three decades ago. None more so than those of Omar Gonzalez, whose own goal set the American nightmare rolling after just 17 minutes.

“I just want to say sorry to the fans. We let down an entire nation,” the defender, who appeared at Brazil 2014, reflected. “It's one of the most unlucky goals ever, I think, for myself. It will haunt me forever. I never thought that I’d see this day. This is the worst day of my career.”

Conspiring fate
A goal that was as farcical as it was horrendously unfortunate, slicing wildly off the outside of his boot to loop over Tim Howard, it was a strike – as with Jones’ top-drawer effort – that seemed to point squarely to it not being USA’s night.

“It was kind of like fate, having it come down to that last game,” Mike Windischmann, captain of the side that would go on to appear at Italy 1990, told FIFA.com on their island triumph. Following a disjointed qualifying campaign, some may view the defeat in a similar, albeit less rosy, manner.

Inconsistency punctuated by moments of brilliant cohesion on their Russia-targeting journey, namely putting ten past Panama and Honduras on American soil, means there will be plenty of questions asked as a generation of USA fans must watch a World Cup without a home side to get behind.

However, few will envisage the likes of Christian Pulisic, USA's young starlet and last night's standout performer, will have to wait as long as Yorke to taste a trip to the finals. But in the immediate aftermath of defeat, there will have been plenty on hand in Couva who could easily empathise with the pain of missing out this way.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: soccerman on October 12, 2017, 08:25:22 AM
Like I said, I don't feel this victory was revenge for 1990. That feeling gone when we won in Qatar. This victory was whether these guys had heart and tenacity. They could have laid down and get 6, and everybody would have said, "told you so, TT eh have heart. They let US walk all over them.  The Central Americans would have said,  TT is cannon fodder for everybody and they sell out to the US so that Panama and Honduras can't go to the WC. Then the US pundits would say, Arena is a genius. He brought them from the brink, etc,etc. I have no illusions about our football. Our football is weak for Concacaf. The only way this victory could be the rule, rather than the exception is for a change in TTFA and some input from the private sector(those who are willing to be patient with development). We need better local coaches. They need more coaching development courses, etc, etc.
:beermug:
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Sam on October 12, 2017, 08:31:51 AM
Alvin Jones lost he chance to ever play in de MLS now....

 :rotfl: :rotfl:

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Flex on October 12, 2017, 08:42:06 AM
Fox Projects Up to $20 Million in Lost World Cup Ad Sales
By Lucas Shaw, Eben Novy-Williams and Ira Boudway (bloomberg)


Without the U.S. team in the 2018 World Cup, Fox Sports projects it will lose $10 million to $20 million in advertising sales, according to a person close to the company.

The projection is lower than some outside estimates. Fox has already sold about 75 percent of its advertising inventory, which will mitigate the absence of the U.S., said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The broadcaster paid $400 million for the English-language U.S. rights to broadcast the next two editions of the soccer tournament.

Another person familiar with Fox Sports said the number will probably turn out to be higher, at around $50 million.

Shares of parent company 21st Century Fox Inc., which had dropped on the U.S. team’s failure to qualify for the tournament Tuesday night, inched higher on Bloomberg’s report. They were down 2.2 percent to $26.18 at 3:04 p.m. in New York.

Fox’s acquisition of World Cup rights, a deal announced in 2011, seemed like a sure thing at the time. Soccer continues to get more popular in the U.S., and live sports content has been one of the few areas of programming keeping viewers tuned in to live television.

Fox also had no reason to think the U.S. team would fail to qualify for the first time since 1986. Even after a few stumbles in the early rounds of qualifying, the U.S. team entered the last round of games with a 93 percent chance to qualify. But a shocking loss to Trinidad on Tuesday, paired with wins by Panama and Honduras, knocked the U.S. out of the running.

The World Cup’s popularity in the U.S. is deeply tied to the performance of the men’s national team. In the 2014 tournament, an early-stage match between the U.S. and Portugal drew more viewers than either semifinal. Two of the three most-watched matches that year featured the U.S., and though the team was eliminated before the quarterfinals, its games made up 20 percent of the U.S. viewership.

“Last night’s World Cup qualifying results do not change Fox Sports’ passion for the world’s biggest sporting event,” Fox said in a statement. “While the U.S. was eliminated, the biggest stars in the world from Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo stamped their tickets to Russia on the same day, and will battle teams ranging from Mexico to England that have massive fan bases in America.”

Without the U.S., early-stage games on Fox will probably draw about half the audience, according to independent media consultant Brad Adgate. It’s like having the small-market Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies playing in the World Series, he said: “I just don’t think it resonates with anyone but the most hardcore fans.”

The absence of the U.S. team will drive away casual viewers and the advertisers that want their money. Because Russia is hosting, games will air at what for a U.S. audience will be odd hours.

“The one thing that Fox has done is they have locked in some advertisers earlier in the sales process than I know ESPN historically would have,” said John Guppy, founder of Gilt Edge Soccer Marketing. “The fact that they have been able to get commitments earlier, I think is going to help them in the sales goals that they are trying to hit.”

In addition to adjusting its marketing to emphasize the appeal of soccer’s biggest global stars, Fox will feature Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia in an appeal to Hispanic viewers. Unfortunately for Fox, many of those viewers may opt to watch on Comcast Corp.’s Telemundo, the broadcaster that paid $600 million for the Spanish-language U.S. rights to the next two Cups.

The lack of U.S. participation in 2018 compounds problems Fox is facing with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was moved to winter to avoid the Middle Eastern country’s harsh summer temperatures. That change means the tournament will compete for viewers with the NFL, NBA and NHL, another bad result for Fox.

Fox will have a chance to make up some of those losses in 2026, which has a lot going for it: It’s a bigger tournament and North America is likely to be the host. What’s more, the company agreed in a closed bidding process to pay $300 million for the games (with a $180 million bonus if the U.S. hosts), a price discounted by as much as $500 million to compensate for the Qatar schedule change.

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: pull stones on October 12, 2017, 10:53:29 AM
We didn't make Russia, won a game on an own goal and this fella talking bout DL is ah bess coach. GTFOH Will this win have any affect on the team, admin, fan support etc going forward? I doubt it. Just a bunch of memes and news bites for our entertainment.

The lil victory sweet and respect to the fellas, but we eh really achieve anything.
i will have to respectfully disagree with you dude. i believe that this could definitely be the turning point and as you already know we were playing for absolutely nothing yet turned out a spirited gritty performance not just last night but on Friday night respectively which could be a sign of something hopeful as far as the coaching staff goes. as for missing out on russia, what do you expect to happen when you lose your first two games in the hex including a home opener and changing two coaches in the process while missing out on the region's most prestige tournament (the gold cup)?

all the hexagonal teams were present at the gold cup except for us and not only that but the federation is financially in the red for 20 million dollars with players and coaches unpaid wages pilling high, I got news for you mate very little success could come out of so much chaos, and to compound on the issue the officiating towards us have been nothing short of horrific and last night was simply more of the same when Levi Garcia was brought down by omar gonzales only to be denied a penalty.

we were also denied penalties in costa rica when jameel boatswain was fouled in the area and in mexico on friday when nathan lewis and shadon winchester was brought down in the area only to be denied. and let's talk about the goals scored that was disallowed starting with the jovin jones scorcher in the HSC vs mexico Daniel cyrus two goals vs honduras and panama and nathan lewis goal vs the usa. and let's not forget the uncalled fouls that mounted to the high heavens even the commentators on Friday in mexico claimed that at least two mexican players should have been send off because of very dangerous tackles.

it's easy to sit in your comfortable living room and criticize but let's be fair to the lads, they are the ones in the kitchen and they know way more than we would ever be privy too, and if the bloke wants to say that Lawrence is a best coach then that's his right(even though those words did not appear no where in the article), if I'm not misteken he has been there under hart and sainfiet and if he feels that strongly then what's your beef? no one cried when molino peltier and jones had nothing but praises for Steven hart.

not because we didn't make the World Cup means that we will not do well in the near future holland and chile missed out on the world cup this time around and they have far better infrastructure than we will ever dream of. my advice would be to give the coach a chance and he is doing an ok job he was just very unlucky in so many games, so let's be patient and throw our support behind the brother instead of calling for his head, what is the problem people?
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Flex on October 13, 2017, 03:56:04 AM
Yorke sees win over US as morale booster for T&T.
T&T Guardian Reports.


Former Trinidad and Tobago captain Dwight Yorke has offered complimentary words to Dennis Lawrence and the members of the National Team for Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over the United States. But he has made his feelings clear that there is a still a lot more work to be done to take the team forward into future campaigns starting with Qatar 2022. The captain of the 2006 World Cup team spoke following the news of T&T’s win which pushed the team to six points but left them at the bottom of the six-team Concacaf qualifying table.

“I think it’s a good morale boosting victory for Dennis (Lawrence) and the entire squad and good to see the miserable losing streak has finally ended. We felt a lot of pain as as players and as a nation in 1989 and they (USA) will have a similar feeling now. However, that’s all there should be to it. There’s nothing more to celebrate really because we have the brunt of the work to do from here. We’ve got to strip ourselves down as a footballing nation and see where we go from here if we really want to get anywhere as footballing nation. At the end of the day we finished bottom of the table and it’s not something I am proud to speak about or like to hear people say to me,” Yorke said.

“I read somewhere where we have gone two years with 19 losses in 29 matches, more than any other country in that period and that is a record that must be addressed as we go ahead”

“To celebrate the demise of the United States is not something we should be focusing on because that’s how things are done out there. What we should really be doing is just quietly accepting that we got a victory and looking to see where we go from here,” added the former Manchester United man who is now based in Dubai as a coach and is a member of FIFA’s Football Development committee.

“I heard there were about 3,000 persons at the game last night and when you compare that to the fact that there were 35,000 and more to see the game in 1989 and another ten thousand who couldn’t get in, then that tells you the state of our game at the moment and we’ve got to work on that. There’s no sense ranting about anything if the country at large is not supporting the football.

“And to me, just blowing up because we knocked the United States out of the World Cup is not enough. They have suffered a tremendous loss in billions of dollars by not going to Russia and I can tell you, they will do whatever it takes to get themselves up again. We must do the same because we have a lot more fixing to do than them and it has to start sooner than later,” Yorke said.

RELATED NEWS

Yorke calls for soul-searching within T&T football.
T&T Newsday Reports.


FORMER TRINIDAD and Tobago captain Dwight Yorke has offered complimentary words to Dennis Lawrence and the members of the national football team for Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over the United States. But he has made his feelings clear that there is a still a lot more work to be done to take the team forward into future campaigns starting with Qatar 2022.

The captain of the 2006 World Cup team was speaking after TT’s win at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, which left them at the bottom of the six-team CONCACAF qualifying table.

“I think it’s a good morale boosting victory for Dennis (Lawrence) and the entire squad and good to see the miserable losing streak has finally ended. We felt a lot of pain as players and as a nation in 1989 (referring to the Strike Squad’s 1-0 loss to the US) and they (USA) will have a similar feeling now. However, that’s all there should be to it. There’s nothing more to celebrate really because we have the brunt of the work to do from here. We’ve got to strip ourselves down as a footballing nation and see where we go from here if we really want to get anywhere as footballing nation.

“At the end of the day we finished bottom of the table and it’s not something I am proud to speak about or like to hear people say to me,” Yorke said.

“I read somewhere where we have gone two years with 19 losses in 29 matches, more than any other country in that period and that is a record that must be addressed as we go ahead.

“To celebrate the demise of the United States is not something we should be focusing on because that’s now things are done out there. What we should really be doing is just quietly accepting that we got a victory and looking to see where we go from here,” added the former Manchester United striker who is now based in Dubai as a coach and is a member of FIFA’s Football Development committee.

“I heard there were about 3,000 persons at the game (on Tuesday) and when you compare that to the fact that there were 35,000 and more to see the game in 1989 and another 10,000 who couldn’t get in, then that tells you the state of our game at the moment and we’ve got to work on that. There’s no sense ranting about anything if the country at large is not supporting the football.

“And to me, just blowing up because we knocked the United States out of the World Cup is not enough. They have suffered a tremendous loss in billions of dollars by not going to Russia and I can tell you, they will do whatever it takes to get themselves up again. We must do the same because we have a lot more fixing to than them and it has to start sooner than later,” Yorke ended.

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: maxg on October 13, 2017, 01:07:56 PM
Yorke sees win over US as morale booster for T&T.
T&T Guardian Reports.


Former Trinidad and Tobago captain Dwight Yorke has offered complimentary words to Dennis Lawrence and the members of the National Team for Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over the United States. But he has made his feelings clear that there is a still a lot more work to be done to take the team forward into future campaigns starting with Qatar 2022. The captain of the 2006 World Cup team spoke following the news of T&T’s win which pushed the team to six points but left them at the bottom of the six-team Concacaf qualifying table.

“I think it’s a good morale boosting victory for Dennis (Lawrence) and the entire squad and good to see the miserable losing streak has finally ended. We felt a lot of pain as as players and as a nation in 1989 and they (USA) will have a similar feeling now. However, that’s all there should be to it. There’s nothing more to celebrate really because we have the brunt of the work to do from here. We’ve got to strip ourselves down as a footballing nation and see where we go from here if we really want to get anywhere as footballing nation. At the end of the day we finished bottom of the table and it’s not something I am proud to speak about or like to hear people say to me,” Yorke said.

“I read somewhere where we have gone two years with 19 losses in 29 matches, more than any other country in that period and that is a record that must be addressed as we go ahead”

“To celebrate the demise of the United States is not something we should be focusing on because that’s how things are done out there. What we should really be doing is just quietly accepting that we got a victory and looking to see where we go from here,” added the former Manchester United man who is now based in Dubai as a coach and is a member of FIFA’s Football Development committee.

“I heard there were about 3,000 persons at the game last night and when you compare that to the fact that there were 35,000 and more to see the game in 1989 and another ten thousand who couldn’t get in, then that tells you the state of our game at the moment and we’ve got to work on that. There’s no sense ranting about anything if the country at large is not supporting the football.

“And to me, just blowing up because we knocked the United States out of the World Cup is not enough. They have suffered a tremendous loss in billions of dollars by not going to Russia and I can tell you, they will do whatever it takes to get themselves up again. We must do the same because we have a lot more fixing to do than them and it has to start sooner than later,” Yorke said.


:thumbsup: Glad he have us in mind, and not rant about self, local or foreign nor even jump in to make suggestions or criticisms as to the way forward before actually talking to the coach.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: E-man on October 13, 2017, 03:20:19 PM
nice video for some Schadenfreude

https://www.youtube.com/v/IlaGCUzubQM

more from espn and Hislop

https://www.youtube.com/v/V8nEsLB6g9o
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Flex on October 14, 2017, 05:02:01 AM
The Real Effects of the win on 10/10/17.
By Shaun Fuentes (Guardian).


Forget November 19th, 1989. The new date to remember will be October 10th, 2017. The Trinidad and Tobago team, under head coach Dennis Lawrence, achieved a significant win on Tuesday night for more than one reason. For T&T’s benefit it brought a much needed end to the team’s recent losing streak and it helped to bury the ghost of ‘89.

Now the US teams facing T&T at any level in the future, will have in the back of their minds that this is a T&T team that comes from a nation that stopped them in their stride to Russia.

Moreso, it will be etched in the minds of every T&T player whenever they step onto the field against the Americans. The simple ability to put that “fear of America” aside will be huge for our players.

Trust me, I can tell you from experience of being there with several past national teams at all levels for the past 17 years.

What has this defeat done to the US, aside from the immense effects of TV rights and other contract earnings of not being in Russia, is that it has shook all levels of the game in the US and for all US nationals globally. On Wednesday, the day after the USA’s catastrophic defeat, the MLS Product and Strategy Committee met with several influential owners in Los Angeles to discuss matters going forward. Guess what the main topic would have been?

For T&T, this result must be a spike for the game locally for men and women. It must be used as a means of boosting the belief that we can make something happen that will have positive effect on all ends.

The players in the Pro League, Super League, SSFL, Zonal, elite development etc must not simply celebrate this result but must let it encourage them to realise that their ambitions can be achieved. The Leagues can now see more worth in everything they do and at the same time feel their importance. The 2-1 scoreline will promote the Trinidad and Tobago brand across the globe, more than we might imagine right now.

George: We owed the country

Midfielder Kevan George, a rock in the T&T midfield in the last two matches against Mexico and the United States said he was not over celebrating the win on Tuesday night but felt a level of satisfaction and is now more optimistic over the team’s potential progress in the future.

“We are elated to have achieved the victory over the US. The result was a culmination of all the hard work that we have put in and we owed the country both a performance and a win. For us the main focus was not revenge but building a platform for the future with a mixture of youth and experience. We have learned a lot despite the lack of success in the campaign and this has brought us together more as a unit. It has made us stronger as individuals to be better prepared for future international competitions and campaigns,” George said.

Panama grateful to T&T

The Panama football Association and its national team has a lot to thank us for. After all, our victory over the United States coupled with their late come from behind win over Costa Rica on Tuesday propelled them to third place and a spot in the 2018 Russia World Cup. And grateful they were.

In an immediate reaction, Panama national team press officer Adan de Gracia told this columnist “For us, this victory over Costa Rica represents the most important triumph in the history of our football. It is something that will live forever in our minds and hearts. Trinidad and Tobago’s triumph over the United States was the perfect complement to making history and we are thankful for this. Viva Panama and Viva Trinidad and Tobago,” de Gracia said.

RELATED NEWS

Bruce Arena resigns as US coach.
T&T Guardian Reports.


Gulati not standing down as president

Bruce Arena has stepped down as coach of the US men’s national team yesterday after they failed to qualify for next summer’s World Cup.

An insipid, and sometimes embarrassing, qualification campaign ended in a 2-1 defeat to Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday night. That result meant the US missed out on the World Cup for the first time since 1986, and it was almost inevitable that Arena would leave his post.

“It is the greatest privilege for any coach to manage their country’s National Team, and as I leave that role today, I am honoured and grateful to have had that opportunity twice in my career,” said Arena, who also coached USA at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

The blame for the US’s failure cannot entirely be laid at Arena’s feet.

He took over from Jurgen Klinsmann last year after a string of poor results but yesterday he accepted responsibility for the team’s failings.

Arena said: “When I took the job last November, I knew there was a great challenge ahead, probably more than most people could appreciate.

Everyone involved in the program gave everything they had for the last 11 months and, in the end, we came up short.

No excuses. We didn’t get the job done, and I accept responsibility.”

Another figure who has come under criticism, US Soccer president Sunil Gulati, said on Friday that he also takes responsibility for the USMNT’s failings but does not plan on standing down.

He would not be drawn on whether he will seek re-election in February. “It’s not the proper day to talk about my personal future with the federation,” Gulati said.

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: congo on October 14, 2017, 10:28:47 AM
Their own player, Jermaine Jones don't rate MLS or the players in it. :rotfl: :rotfl:

Some highlights:

– Jones reiterated multiple times that he has nothing against MLS. After all, he plays there. It’s just that the European leagues push players to improve.

– “The national team coach, you have 12 days. In these 12 days, you play two games. You need players who you can pick, and you can throw in, and you don’t have to teach them where they have to run. And that was what Jurgen said. … It’s tough to bring some players in from MLS, and you have to teach them the easy soccer thinking. That’s the problem. … If you take a 25-, 26-[year-old] player in MLS and you compare him to a 19-, 20-[year-old] player in Europe, the Europe player is, in his head, farther already. And that’s not good.”

– The one specific story Jones tells is the best part. He says Klinsmann asked him to call Jordan Morris, who was deciding between going to Germany to play with Werder Bremen and staying at home with the Seattle Sounders. Jones says he called Morris and encouraged him to go to the Bundesliga. But he says that Morris told him, “I want to go home, my dad is a doctor in Seattle, and my mom, they bought me and my girlfriend a dog.” Jones looks into the camera dumbfounded at this point. “Really? Why you go the easy way when you have the chance?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=607&v=_zYLi0jPwFc

don't know how to embed.
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: congo on October 14, 2017, 10:31:50 AM
The real scary thing is if our "best" players are from the MLS....where does that really leave us?

Another thing, we can in no way shape or form rely on the US Colleges League to further our players development etc.

Is a pro league or bust at that age.

We have so much work to do..Sighhhhh
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Tallman on October 28, 2017, 08:52:55 PM
WATCH: Angus Eve shares his thoughts on Trinidad and Tobago’s 2-1 win over the United States

https://www.youtube.com/v/WhyoKCcFWjQ
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Flex on June 03, 2018, 01:55:25 AM
Has the U.S. men's national team lost its fight?
By Jeff Carlisle (ESPN).


In the bowels of Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad, champagne and beer sat chilled in the U.S. locker room. All the men's national team had to do was tie Trinidad & Tobago on this humid October evening, and a trip to Russia for the 2018 World Cup was theirs.

There was every reason to plan a celebration. The U.S. had taken part in the previous seven World Cups, qualifying six times and hosting the event in 1994. Of the 23 players on the roster that night, 16 hadn't even been born when the U.S. last failed to qualify for a World Cup, in 1985. Plus, the U.S. was playing a T&T side that had already been eliminated, having lost eight of its nine matches in the final-round Hexagonal. In seven career road World Cup qualifiers against T&T, the U.S. had lost only once, and that was during the 2010 cycle, when its progression to the Hex had already been assured.

But then the first goal went in for T&T, another followed 20 minutes later and a furious second-half fight back from the U.S. fell short. Meanwhile, some 1,200 miles away in Panama, defender Roman Torres scored to put the Canaleros ahead against Costa Rica. When the final whistle blew in Couva, the U.S. staff hustled the champagne and beer out of the locker room. The celebration was not to be -- and neither was the trip to Russia.

The ensuing months have resulted in considerable soul-searching within the U.S. soccer community. ESPN FC spoke to 18 current and former players and staff associated with the program about what happened that night in Trinidad and how the past four years might have contributed to the breakdown. What has emerged from those conversations is a sense that the men's program has lost its identity.

For years, the U.S. was known for its strong mentality -- that win or lose, it was going to fight from the first minute to the last. There is consensus that this trait is not as ingrained as it once was, resulting in rampant inconsistency across performances.

"When we were in Trinidad, we needed better fighters. We didn't necessarily need better players," said one former U.S. international who asked not to be identified. "That's what we've lost. We've lost how to fight, how to battle to get results."

Tab Ramos, former U.S. assistant and current U-20 manager, echoed that sentiment. "After having been with U.S. Soccer after 30 years, it's disappointing to me that it seems that we've lost the fight for the last three or four years," he said.

According to former U.S. assistant Andi Herzog, he tried to warn Jurgen Klinsmann about this decline when the German coach was in charge from 2011 to 2016. As a coach from Europe, Herzog had always admired the U.S. mentality -- and he sensed it was slipping away.

"The last one or two years, you could already see a little bit of change in this area," Herzog said via telephone. "It's the first time this generation has a reputation they deserve because they played a great World Cup [in 2014]. We had a lot of success. It was the first time where the players were still making a lot of money. The generation before, maybe they were a little bit more fighting their ass off to get more and more success and a better reputation for the whole sport of soccer [in the U.S.]."

For some, the key to reinvigorating the fight is to send more players to Europe, where the level of competition is higher. That is certainly a piece to the puzzle, but it isn't a cure-all by any means. With MLS offering multimillion-dollar salaries for U.S. players to come home, as it did with Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore between 2013 and 2015, it can be nearly impossible for players to turn down those contracts.

That was by no means the only issue facing the U.S. team. One former U.S. player highlighted that there were disagreements among Klinsmann, Bradley and German-born Jermaine Jones about team tactics and how the midfield should function. Throughout Klinsmann's tenure, there was friction between domestic- and foreign-based players. One recurring theme was that the German-Americans were viewed as not being as committed to the cause as their teammates who grew up in the U.S. Whether that stigma was fair or not, it caused an undercurrent of discord. Jones declined to comment.

Fabian Johnson, one of the German-Americans on the team who enjoyed an impressive 2014 World Cup, denied that there was any kind of rift.

"I think [the divide] is just something made up from media or people who have a bad opinion on that," he said.

Others weren't as convinced.

"There was definitely a thought process that [the German-Americans] were great when the World Cup came around, but they didn't want to go down and fight in a game like Trinidad or in Honduras or Guatemala, the travel and that kind of stuff," the former U.S. international said. "A guy like Fabian Johnson -- in big games, in qualifiers -- at times, it just looked like he was going through the motions."

Johnson was famously sent home by Klinsmann following the CONCACAF Cup defeat to Mexico in 2015 -- and ahead of a friendly against Costa Rica. Johnson had begged out of the match, citing an injury, and Klinsmann became furious when it emerged that Johnson wasn't as hurt as he initially stated. But for some, that kind of accountability didn't happen often enough.

Klinsmann's style of man-management, an approach that was laid bare in a 2013 Sporting News article, remained an issue as the new cycle beckoned. Klinsmann often pushed his players to focus on their profession 24/7. Some pushed back. Then there was Klinsmann's habit of criticizing players in public for poor performances rather than owning up to his own failings. It was a style some dealt with better than others.

"Maybe some guys under Jurgen, they couldn't handle his bluntness," U.S. midfielder Alejandro Bedoya said. "Look, he threw me under the bus one game. What am I going to do, cry and whine about it? No. I know he threw me under the bus, and I know he knows he was wrong. He should own up to the fact that he shouldn't have played me as a No. 6 against Brazil. But it is what it is. So what? On to the next game. Some guys maybe can't handle it. It's a different mindset from player to player."

Klinsmann, through an intermediary, declined to be interviewed for this story.

Klinsmann's explanations of tactical instructions often left players unsure of what he wanted. One source indicated that sometimes Klinsmann's expectations of what his team was capable of understanding in terms of tactics were higher than reality.

"Jurgen's message was very confusing," said another source who asked not to be identified. "We didn't even know what the message was most of the time. I'll be honest with you: It was crazy."

There were also factors beyond Klinsmann's control that were chipping away at the team. The U-23 team twice failed to qualify for the Olympics during Klinsmann's tenure, but this was a symptom of something larger. From those groups of players, very few ended up having the kind of success at club level that enabled them to consistently challenge for minutes on the national team.

This was a critical piece, given that at the 2014 World Cup, the U.S. was the 13th-oldest team out of 32 teams in the tournament. Without enough new players coming through, the old guard wasn't being challenged for places, leading to an aging team. A few players, such as 19-year-old midfielder Christian Pulisic, did break through, but overall, there weren't enough prospects doing the same.

"Complacency is the worst thing you can possibly ever have if you want to reach the highest level of competition," the former U.S. international player said. "What you need is younger players coming through to force older players to keep their edge. When there was nobody pushing Jozy and nobody pushing Michael and nobody pushing Clint and nobody pushing Tim [Howard], it doesn't work."

As the 2018 cycle began, the team's inconsistency began to manifest itself with some poor results. Jamaica beat the U.S. in the semifinals of the 2015 Gold Cup, a result that Klinsmann more than once intimated was fixed. The U.S. later lost a World Cup qualifier to Guatemala, creating unneeded tension in the semifinal round of qualifying, though the U.S. ultimately got the results it needed.

At the conclusion of the semifinal round of qualifying, Klinsmann was hanging by a thread. ESPN.com reported that USSF president Sunil Gulati had already contacted Bruce Arena and Peter Vermes with the intention of replacing the manager. Arena detailed in his upcoming book, "What's Wrong With US?" that the decision had already been made to fire Klinsmann, but when USSF CEO and Secretary General Dan Flynn underwent heart-transplant surgery, the change was put on hold.

By the time the U.S. faced Costa Rica in the second match of the final round -- this in the wake of a 2-1 home loss to Mexico -- the American squad was deflated.

"They were just defeated guys that didn't really want to be there," one source said.

And they played like it. The U.S. was hammered 4-0. Klinsmann was relieved of his duties, and Arena was put in charge. Arena, who had coached the U.S. from 1998 to 2006, immediately set about trying to rebuild the psyche of the team. He also began a process of relying more heavily on domestic players.

"There was no question that Bruce came in to be the anti-Jurgen, do everything opposite of Jurgen," the former U.S. international player said.

At first, all seemed well. The U.S. went unbeaten in Arena's first 14 games as boss. The pinnacle was reached in a pair of June qualifiers, when the U.S. defeated T&T 2-0 and secured a 1-1 draw against Mexico at the Azteca. That put the Americans in third place, good enough at the time for the third and final automatic qualifying spot.

"I actually thought Arena did a great job of eradicating players that weren't bought in [to the team]," U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "He did a great job of coming in from day one, speaking to people he knew to get a pulse of the team."

But team chemistry was something Arena grappled with throughout his brief second stint as manager. The U.S. squad composed mostly of domestic players triumphed at the Gold Cup in July, to which most countries sent their B-teams. But when the full team reconvened in September for a pair of World Cup qualifiers, Arena sensed something was off.

"We brought in five new players from the lineups that played in the Gold Cup, and we weren't close to being the same team," he said via telephone. "Those players probably weren't as fit as they needed to be in the beginning of September, and in all honesty, it was like the whole year, we never had enough time with the team."

Granted, chemistry is a vague term that often gets thrown out to explain why a team might be underperforming. But Howard was direct with his definition.

"Chemistry for me is about commitment," he said. "It's not about personalities. I think when people think about team chemistry, it's like one big powwow and everyone loves each other and hangs out. Chemistry is having one direct message from the manager -- 'This is the style we're going to play. This is what I expect of you as a player' -- and then going out and performing every single day."

The extent to which it was a factor against Costa Rica is difficult to quantify. The U.S. played poorly that night, with Howard conceding a goal on a tight-angled shot from Marco Ureña and Geoff Cameron gifting the Ticos a second. Four days later, the U.S. scraped a 1-1 draw in Honduras, and the path to the World Cup was seemingly clear, though the margin for error had shrunk even further. Four points ought to do it, but a win against Panama in Orlando, Florida, was mandatory.

When the players arrived in Florida in October, the atmosphere was tense but focused. Yet there was one player, Cameron, who was in a particularly foul mood. His error against Costa Rica, combined with a subsequent injury that limited him to one 90-minute stint for his club, Stoke City, just prior to the Panama match, had seen him fall out of favor with Arena.

"I told [Cameron] in advance that I didn't think he was fit playing Costa Rica," Arena said. "He didn't look sharp, and I wasn't planning on starting him against Panama. I made it clear. If he couldn't buy into that, he should stay home. He was well aware of what my plans were."

Cameron ultimately agreed to come but was dissatisfied with this role. More than one source indicated that Cameron's attitude was so bad that there was consideration given to sending him home, though Arena denied that this was the case.

"It goes with the territory," he said of dealing with unhappy players. "Not everyone is going to be an altar boy."

Cameron did not respond to multiple requests to be interviewed.

"What you need is younger players coming through to force older players to keep their edge. When there was nobody pushing Jozy and nobody pushing Michael and nobody pushing Clint and nobody pushing Tim [Howard], it doesn't work."
Former U.S. international who asked not to be identified


Despite the situation with Cameron, Arena's decisions looked spot-on against Panama, as the U.S. thrashed the Canaleros 4-0. The Americans were not only back in third place, but also their goal differential was such that a draw in T&T would be enough. The hard work appeared to be done, though there was acknowledgement that the team couldn't relax yet.

"We have a great game against Panama, win 4-0, and as a team we don't take our foot off the gas," midfielder Paul Arriola said. "We get to Trinidad, and we're still very focused and constantly talking about it. We know it's not going to be easy."

Heading to Trinidad, Arena was faced with a few decisions in terms of his lineup. Previous fixture windows had seen Arena make considerable alterations from the first game in the fixture window to the second. Would he go that route again, or would he reward the group that performed so well against Panama? The U.S. had put a lot into the Panama match, but after checking the physical condition of the players, Arena opted for the latter. That meant that Bradley would be tasked with playing as the sole holding midfielder in support of Arriola, Pulisic and Darlington Nagbe. It was an approach in which the U.S. looked vulnerable at times in a home qualifier against T&T in June. Now Arena, intent on freeing up Pulisic, was going with that again, even though in prior road matches, a player such as Kellyn Acosta had lined up beside Bradley to provide more defensive support.

The team's preparation was hampered by the fact that part of the playing surface at the Ato Boldon Stadium was under water. The USSF's social media team later posted tweets highlighting the conditions with the hash tag #RiverToRussia, with pictures of U.S. players being carried across the water. Arena later lamented that the tweets "humiliated" the T&T football federation.

But Arriola is of the opinion that the conditions didn't alter anything about the U.S. approach.

"I don't think people understand how prepared we were," he said. "In my opinion, we were 100 percent prepared. We were set up to win the game. Before the game, warming up, everyone was concentrated, we were talking about it. We were going to go out, we were going to press, we were going to get the first goal. And in the game, it just didn't go like that."

Not at all. After surviving an early, wide-open look that Altidore squandered, the Soca Warriors looked like the sharper side. The U.S. simply couldn't get to them. The reasons for what went wrong are varied. Bedoya, from his spot on the bench, felt that the team wasn't following the game plan.

"There was complacency," he said. "You could see the way we were going about things. We had a game plan, and we didn't really stick to that game plan. We were losing easy balls in the middle of the field when we wanted to attack them out wide and that stuff. So it felt like maybe there was a little bit of complacency, a little bit of arrogance about our style that we just needed to get out there and get the job done."

Arriola pointed to a different culprit: Fatigue.

"We weren't even able to think about the game plan because we were just a step slower than Trinidad," he said. "I think it's very inaccurate to say that we relaxed, especially me being there and knowing I 100 percent wasn't relaxed. I was extremely focused. One thing I will tell you is I was extremely fatigued. I was tired. I was still trying to recover from the Panama game, which is why I went from having probably the best game with a U.S. shirt on to having the worst game with a U.S. shirt on against Trinidad. I just couldn't [get going]. I was trying to, but my legs just weren't responding to my mind, especially on a field like that."

Arena doesn't buy that explanation, saying that the data from the medical staff and his conversations with players indicated everyone was ready to go.

That said, as the first half progressed, the performance caused frustration and alarm on the U.S. bench. The inability to close opponents down saw T&T gain more of a foothold in the match. It was a game crying out for more support in the center of midfield, where someone such as Bedoya would apply the necessary grit.

"Some players, I feel like that type of game wasn't made out for them," Bedoya said. "That's how it is. That's not their style, that's not what it is. It was very frustrating to sit on the bench and feel helpless because I knew that I could have prevented this pass from happening, that play from going on."

Sure enough, an own goal by Omar Gonzalez and a long-range blast from T&T's Alvin Jones put the U.S. in an 0-2 hole. No one, it seemed, from Howard in goal to Bradley in midfield to Altidore up top, was playing well.

Arena attempted to alter the course of the match -- starting with his halftime talk.

"We got after them," he said. "The first goal is an accident. I don't know how else you describe it. The second goal, give the player credit, maybe Tim is a little better and gets a hand on it. The second goal, our heads dropped, so we had to wake these guys up at halftime and get them going."

Arena brought on Dempsey for Arriola, and the U.S. quickly pulled one back through Pulisic. But the equalizer the team needed never came. Dempsey hit the post late; a header from Bobby Wood was saved.

Meanwhile, results elsewhere, after looking positive for the Americans for most of the night, took a drastic turn for the worse. Honduras and Panama were both winning their matches. Word soon trickled down to the U.S. bench what was happening. And if there was any doubt, one only had to look at the glum faces of the USSF executives. As one USSF staffer sitting on the bench put it, "I didn't know what the scores were, but I was like, 'This is not good.'"

When the final whistle blew, the magnitude of the U.S. team's failure hit home. Gonzalez later called it "the worst night of my life." In the locker room, the U.S. players and staff grappled with what had taken place.

"Disbelief, just complete disbelief. Very quiet," then-U.S. assistant Dave Sarachan said. "Guys were upset, crying. It was something I hope I never have to experience again in my coaching career."

"I didn't know what to do, didn't know what to feel," Arriola said. "It was kind of one of those things where you didn't want to leave the locker room and face what had really happened. You walk through the media understanding that you were part of the team that didn't qualify for the World Cup. You walk onto the bus, and you don't want to load your phone because you don't want to see anything. You don't want to see text messages."

The plane ride home was no different.

"There wasn't much said," defender Tim Ream said. "There were tears in the airport the next morning, as we all went our separate ways."

The explanations since then have run the gamut. Arena has spoken about the team's lack of chemistry, but should that have been enough to cost the U.S. this game? Arena also hailed the team's leaders and players for being "a good group to work with." Was it a compatibility issue? The team looked totally in sync against Panama.

Pulisic, for one, doesn't believe that chemistry was a primary reason for the performance.

"I think we put ourselves in a good spot [heading into the last game], and we made a mistake in the final game. That's how it went," he said. "We weren't focused. We weren't ready to come out and finish the job. That's really all there was.

"It's hard to say exactly what went wrong -- a lot of things."

There were no German-Americans to blame, either, though the absence of defender John Brooks to injury didn't help. There have also been "just one of those nights" type of explanations. But there were six other nights during qualifying when the U.S. failed to secure maximum points.

"We were very close to putting together a very good year, so all the criticism and all that other kind of crap, it's for people that don't know, and what are you going to do?" Arena said. "That's life."

The reality is there is ample blame to go around. While Arena is fond of digs at those who second-guess his decisions, it's his job to get them right, and he didn't. The players will need to look at themselves and ask why they didn't perform, not only in Couva but in places such as Panama City and San Pedro Sula and Harrison, New Jersey. The Federation will look back and wonder why it stuck with Klinsmann for as long as it did, knowing full well his limitations.

For now, the U.S. men's program is still in a state of upheaval. Arena resigned a few days after the game against T&T, with Sarachan taking over on an interim basis. The promised reforms by new USSF president Carlos Cordeiro have yet to materialize, with the newly created GM position -- intended to add more technical expertise to the USSF hierarchy -- yet to be filled. Former U.S. national player Earnie Stewart has emerged as the leading candidate. Even then, there's no guarantee that the GM will be given the responsibility needed to make significant changes.

Nonetheless, hope can be found where it usually is: in a new crop of players.

"I think we have a very good new generation of players who have gotten results on the world stage by recognizing that they need to fight on the field for every minute," Ramos said. "I think that's going to be an advantage moving forward."

Ramos highlighted the likes of Schalke's Weston McKennie, the New York Red Bulls' Tyler Adams, Manchester City's Erik Palmer-Brown and Tottenham's Cameron Carter-Vickers. Chelsea's Matt Miazga, on loan with Vitesse this season, has the looks of a mainstay going forward. Pulisic will be at the heart of it.

"I want to be in the World Cup one day," Pulisic said. "It's my biggest dream as a soccer player. I always wanted to play in the World Cup. You can imagine how I feel about that."

Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Brownsugar on June 03, 2018, 05:27:12 AM
Heh heh heh.......it good for them.....I eh have a team to hate on this World Cup but it good for them......btw, where Zeppo?   :thinking: :whip: :flamethrower:
Title: Re: U.S. World Cup hopes end after shambolic loss to T&T.
Post by: Deeks on June 03, 2018, 06:07:33 AM
I think mental fatigue could have been an issue. But the main reason  were over confidence with a huge dose of arrogance. They thought they would have gotten by no matter what. We always get by Treeneedaad!!! Nope, not this time.
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