{"id":46841,"date":"2017-10-11T06:26:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T06:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=46841"},"modified":"2017-10-11T07:08:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T07:08:54","slug":"united-states-miss-world-cup-loss-trinidad-tobago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/united-states-miss-world-cup-loss-trinidad-tobago.html","title":{"rendered":"United States to Miss World Cup After Loss in Trinidad and Tobago"},"content":{"rendered":"

United States to Miss World Cup After Loss in Trinidad and Tobago<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

United States to Miss World Cup After Loss in Trinidad and Tobago:-There was always a chance that a year would come when the United States again failed to qualify for the World Cup, when the hurdles in the nearly two-year slog of regional qualification \u2014 the matches on steamy afternoons and muggy nights, the hard tackles and the coin-throwing fans, the lousy fields and the dubious refereeing \u2014 all proved too much.<\/span><\/p>\n

That year is 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trinidad and Tobago, whose World Cup dreams ended months ago, stunned the United States, 2-1, on Tuesday night. The result, combined with just-as-shocking outcomes in two simultaneous games in Honduras and Panama on the final day of qualifying for the Concacaf region, ushered in the unthinkable: The American men, mainstays of the World Cup for more than a generation, are out of next summer\u2019s tournament in Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, Panama, which rallied from a one-goal deficit for a 2-1 win over Costa Rica, will join the Ticos and Mexico in Russia. It will be Panama\u2019s first trip to the World Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Honduras, which overcame a two-goal deficit to beat visiting Mexico, 3-2, passed the Americans to claim fourth place in the six-team final round. That position comes with a World Cup lifeline: Honduras will face Australia in a two-leg playoff in November for a spot in the finals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States\u2019 defeat capped a dramatic final day of qualifying on multiple continents, with France and Portugal locking up World Cup spots from Europe and three South American teams \u2014 Uruguay, Colombia and, with a monumental sigh of relief, Lionel Messi and Argentina \u2014 doing the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

The result in Trinidad and Tobago completed a slow-starting and, ultimately, devastating campaign for the United States. The path through qualifying had been full of pivotal moments; the team switched coaches after losing its first two qualifiers of the final round, firing Jurgen Klinsmann and rehiring Bruce Arena for a second stint leading the team. While Arena\u2019s arrival initially seemed to steady the team, the Americans ultimately won only three of the eight qualifiers he coached.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t qualify for the World Cup,\u201d Arena said after Tuesday\u2019s loss. \u201cThat was my job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe have no excuses. We failed today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sunil Gulati, the president of U.S. Soccer, echoed his coach\u2019s disappointment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly expected to qualify, throughout the process, and especially after Friday night,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cIt\u2019s a huge disappointment for everybody; the players, the staff, the coaches, the federation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not good enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gulati, who is expected to face his first contested election for the U.S. Soccer presidency in February, said he would make no decisions about the future of the program in the immediate aftermath of the defeat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s for tomorrow,\u201d he said. He declined to say whether Arena would coach the team through the end of his contract, which runs through the end of the 2018 World Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arena and his team entered Tuesday\u2019s game needing only a win or a tie to qualify, and \u2014 after a 4-0 win over Panama on Friday that kept the Americans in control of their qualification destiny \u2014 even a loss would have done the trick if the results in the other two games went the Americans\u2019 way.<\/span><\/p>\n

But an uncharacteristically listless first half on Tuesday put them back on perilous footing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon Panama and Honduras were rallying from early deficits, and then it all unraveled for the U.S. Trinidad and Tobago forward Shahdon Winchester and United States defender Omar Gonzalez converged on a looping cross in the penalty area in the 17th minute, and the hopeful ball knuckled off Winchester\u2019s foot and Gonzalez\u2019s shin before sailing over goalkeeper Tim Howard, who was caught off his line.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat goal,\u201d a crestfallen Gonzalez said later, \u201cwill haunt me for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The day, one Gonzalez called \u201cthe worst of my career,\u201d soon got worse. Twenty minutes later, Trinidad and Tobago right back Alvin Jones, sauntering up the right side and looking for a passing option, realized he had no pressure and decided to shoot instead \u2014 a rocket from nearly 35 yards that screamed past Howard. The tiny crowd that bothered to show up to Ato Boldon Stadium roared again.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Americans had lost control of their fate, and suddenly needed goals \u2014 or help elsewhere \u2014 to save them. Christian Pulisic grabbed a goal back less than 90 seconds after halftime, and the press for one more \u2014 which would have been good enough to clinch qualification \u2014 was on.<\/span><\/p>\n

It never came, though, and despite Clint Dempsey\u2019s hitting the post in the final minutes \u2014 one of several late chances that would have rescued the U.S. \u2014 the Americans were out.<\/span><\/p>\n

The defeat could mean the end of the national team careers of several national team mainstays, including Dempsey, 34, and goalkeeper Tim Howard, 38. But those decisions, too, are for another day.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, there was just the hard truth of qualification. In international soccer, Bradley had noted on Monday, \u201cyou either qualify for the World Cup, or you don\u2019t. There\u2019s no extra points for how you qualify.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no relying on other teams to help, either. So as the scores turned bad in the other two matches, and as the time ticket down on the tiny scoreboard at the stadium here, the increasingly desperate Americans could sense what was coming. Arena said he did not check the other scores, but Gonzalez said he could read the body language on the bench from his position on the field, and he knew the news wasn\u2019t good.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the final whistle blew, Gonzalez and Bradley and the rest of the team were, for the first time since the 1986 World Cup, on the wrong side of the qualifying line.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that it was all there for us,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cAnd we have nobody to blame but ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/10\/sports\/soccer\/usmnt-trinidad-world-cup.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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