Is it Karma, good luck, or a simple matter of getting a good result in a great environment.
Doesn’t matter. What we know is the U.S. Men’s National Team has qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
They did it with a 2-0 shutout over their biggest CONCACAF rival Mexico. For the fourth straight hexagonal, El Tri traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and went down 2-0 to the U.S. team.
Might have been 3-0 had Clint Dempsey not skyed a late penalty kick over the crossbar to preserve the “Dos a Cero” scoreline. All that proved is that Landon Donovan should have been taking the penalty kick. He seldom misses!
Against Mexico, Eddie Johson got the first goal on a header early in the second half, and Donovan made it 2-0. When the final whistle blew, the celebration began.
With two games left to play in the final qualifying round, the U.S. is safely in, but has work yet to do if they want to win the group and go into the World Cup as the region’s top team[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’].
During the qualifying process, when the Americans ran off 12 consecutive wins, the U.S. moved up to #13 in the FIFA World Rankings.
Now without the pressure of getting through to earning a World Cup berth, the job of preparing the U.S. team for the tournament gets more difficult for U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann. It could be an advantage for him, as he has World Cup experience as both a player and head coach for his native Germany.
Klinsmann’s player pool got deeper this year, particularly with the success of a number of players during the CONCACAF Gold Cup championship run.
“What we take away from the game against Mexico is certainly a huge positive in terms of how the players stepped it up, especially in the second half,” said Klinsmann.
“In the first half Mexico started well and caused us some problems for the first 15-20 minutes. We slowly got into the game, and the way we played the second half with the determination and character that we showed was very positive to see. It was great to see the players coming in because of yellow cards, injuries and whatever the situation and really play the game at the top level.”
When asked about the last two games, and who he would call in to play, Klinsmann said, “Definitely for our last two qualifiers against Jamaica and Panama, our approach is six points.
“We want to win these two games badly, and we are going to bring in the best players. We are going to bring in everyone that is available and finish this qualifying campaign on the highest note possible.
“It’s been a tremendous year so far in 2013, so we want to finish it off in the right way.”
The crowd at Columbus Crew Stadium was more than a sellout at 24,584, more than the actually seating for the stadium. The atmosphere was electric with cheers, chants and drums going from start to finish. The USA is now 7-0-3 all-time at Columbus Crew Stadium.
Kansas City, where the U.S. will play Jamaica on Oct. 11 is already sold out. The fan support hasn’t been lost on the national coach who says he will bring his best for the last home game in the hexaegonal.
“We owe that to the fans,” he said. “Kansas City is sold out. Our fans are coming from so many different places in the United States – in Columbus, fans came from 48 states – so we owe them a real good game.
“Therefore, everybody that is fit and healthy and belongs in that group will be there.”
Donovan, who played his way back onto the U.S. MNT starting lineup, increased his U.S. record of caps in World Cup Qualifying to 36. He appeared in his 16th match against Mexico. It was the 153rd appearance in his career, moving to within nine caps of the all-time record of 164 held by Cobi Jones.
The final game for the U.S. in the final regional qualifying round is set for 16 in Panama City. Neither Jamaica or Panama have qualified for Brazil, and will provide a challenge for the U.S.
Klinsmann has used 37 players in World Cup qualifying. Dempsey is the most-capped with 14 games and leads in goals with eight. Six different players have scored a goal and 20 players have earned their first World Cup Qualifying caps.
Since 2000, the USA has posted a 12-5-4 record against Mexico, including a 10-2-3 record at home during that span. The U.S. is now 17-32-13 all-time against Mexico.
US Soccer has announced that the U.S. MNT will play Scotland on November 15 at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Doesn’t matter. What we know is the U.S. Men’s National Team has qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
They did it with a 2-0 shutout over their biggest CONCACAF rival Mexico. For the fourth straight hexagonal, El Tri traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and went down 2-0 to the U.S. team.
Might have been 3-0 had Clint Dempsey not skyed a late penalty kick over the crossbar to preserve the “Dos a Cero” scoreline. All that proved is that Landon Donovan should have been taking the penalty kick. He seldom misses!
Against Mexico, Eddie Johson got the first goal on a header early in the second half, and Donovan made it 2-0. When the final whistle blew, the celebration began.
With two games left to play in the final qualifying round, the U.S. is safely in, but has work yet to do if they want to win the group and go into the World Cup as the region’s top team[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’].
During the qualifying process, when the Americans ran off 12 consecutive wins, the U.S. moved up to #13 in the FIFA World Rankings.
Now without the pressure of getting through to earning a World Cup berth, the job of preparing the U.S. team for the tournament gets more difficult for U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann. It could be an advantage for him, as he has World Cup experience as both a player and head coach for his native Germany.
Klinsmann’s player pool got deeper this year, particularly with the success of a number of players during the CONCACAF Gold Cup championship run.
“What we take away from the game against Mexico is certainly a huge positive in terms of how the players stepped it up, especially in the second half,” said Klinsmann.
“In the first half Mexico started well and caused us some problems for the first 15-20 minutes. We slowly got into the game, and the way we played the second half with the determination and character that we showed was very positive to see. It was great to see the players coming in because of yellow cards, injuries and whatever the situation and really play the game at the top level.”
When asked about the last two games, and who he would call in to play, Klinsmann said, “Definitely for our last two qualifiers against Jamaica and Panama, our approach is six points.
“We want to win these two games badly, and we are going to bring in the best players. We are going to bring in everyone that is available and finish this qualifying campaign on the highest note possible.
“It’s been a tremendous year so far in 2013, so we want to finish it off in the right way.”
The crowd at Columbus Crew Stadium was more than a sellout at 24,584, more than the actually seating for the stadium. The atmosphere was electric with cheers, chants and drums going from start to finish. The USA is now 7-0-3 all-time at Columbus Crew Stadium.
Kansas City, where the U.S. will play Jamaica on Oct. 11 is already sold out. The fan support hasn’t been lost on the national coach who says he will bring his best for the last home game in the hexaegonal.
“We owe that to the fans,” he said. “Kansas City is sold out. Our fans are coming from so many different places in the United States – in Columbus, fans came from 48 states – so we owe them a real good game.
“Therefore, everybody that is fit and healthy and belongs in that group will be there.”
Donovan, who played his way back onto the U.S. MNT starting lineup, increased his U.S. record of caps in World Cup Qualifying to 36. He appeared in his 16th match against Mexico. It was the 153rd appearance in his career, moving to within nine caps of the all-time record of 164 held by Cobi Jones.
The final game for the U.S. in the final regional qualifying round is set for 16 in Panama City. Neither Jamaica or Panama have qualified for Brazil, and will provide a challenge for the U.S.
Klinsmann has used 37 players in World Cup qualifying. Dempsey is the most-capped with 14 games and leads in goals with eight. Six different players have scored a goal and 20 players have earned their first World Cup Qualifying caps.
Since 2000, the USA has posted a 12-5-4 record against Mexico, including a 10-2-3 record at home during that span. The U.S. is now 17-32-13 all-time against Mexico.
US Soccer has announced that the U.S. MNT will play Scotland on November 15 at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
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