Our first loss, to Panama away in a dreadful performance, could prove costly in the end, but the comeback win over Costa Rica in Columbus Ohio gave us some breathing space. We still have two games against Mexico, and it's entirely possible that we get no points out of them. If that's the case, we'll have to do much better against Panama and Canada in the return fixtures. We're sitting in second now, a single point above Canada and three above Panama.
In our favor is the youth of this squad. They can only get better, right? In Columbus, the oldest US starter was younger than the youngest Costa Rican starter. It was the youngest squad the US ever put on the field in a qualifier. Pulisic was injured, Weston McKennie was disciplined. The defense is talented and learning. We have players who can do some spectacular stuff (like Dest's goal against CR) and also who can make dumb errors. You can't teach the former, but the latter can be corrected. I think we'll be all right. If we can get a couple draws against Mexico, great. A win? Even greater. But I believe it'll come down to beating the teams we're supposed to beat.
No comments:
Post a Comment