In America, Christmas comes in December, Independence Day is July 4, taxes are due in April, and the U.S. Men’s Under-17 qualifies for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Well, at least that is now the case with three out of those four.
The U.S. U17s were knocked out of the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 championship by Honduras in the quarterfinals.
That loss snapped a streak of qualifications for the world championship at 14 straight. The U.S. is the only country in the world that had qualified for every one ever played. That is no longer the case.
The Richie Williams-coached Americans, which came out of group play unbeaten, came out flat against Honduras, never recovered and fell 3-1 in the regional competition hosted by Panama. Only the four semifinalists earned berths in the World Cup, to be played this fall in the United Arab Emirates.
Mexico, the defending U17 World Cup champion was the eventual 2013 CONCACAF champions, beating Panama in the final 2-1.
On the senior level, the U.S. moved back up the ladder in the CONCACAF World Cup 2014 hexagonal with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in snowy Colorado, and a 0-0 draw in Mexico City.
Those four points pushed the U.S. out of last place in the six-team hexagonal, and up into a tie for second with Costa Rica and Honduras.
The U.S. WNT, with no major competitions on the 2013 calendar, continued to win under the direction of new head coach Tom Sermanni.
Included was a two-game trip to Europe where the U.S. drew with Germany, 3-3, in a matchup of the top two women’s national teams in the world.
The second game came in The Netherlands, a 3-1 victory over the Dutch.