US Soccer Rebounds With 4 Points In 2 Qualifiers Under Arena

As the above graphic shows, the four points earned by the U.S.in their last two CONCACAF final round games has bumped them into fourth place in the Hex, raising their likelihood of qualifying for the World Cup to 82 percent.

Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked in November and replaced by Bruce Arena, the USA coach from 1998-2006, and the Americans accomplished their immediate goal by getting back into contention with Friday’s 6-0 home rout of Honduras and a valuable point on the road. Pulisic fought through the physical nonsense.

“It was a good lesson for Christian tonight”, said Arena.

“He has to learn that the referee won’t always protect him”. He has to deal with it.

To have come through such a night relatively unscathed, coupled with the good vibes and goal differential bump accrued last Friday against Honduras, and it has been a pretty solid week’s work. He created our goal and in the second half was part of some things where he could have created the second goal. That would qualify them for the World Cup automatically. But Tim Howard was immaculate in both games and was the biggest factor besides Pulisic in his team picking up points. “You’ve got to really stay focused and physical out there”. It’s all about finding that balance.

There may be a day in future when I tire of writing about what the brilliance of Christian Pulisic means for the future of the USMNT, but that sure as hell ain’t today. From here, the central option looks like the better one.

For a small country, Panama are a good side – hard to break down, creative going forward, a tough style of play and a hostile atmosphere.

At 38, Howard returned from a leg injury and re-established himself as the No. 1 goalkeeper. Going away from home the fields aren’t great, bumpy and unpredictable. Arena also lost Sebastian Lletget in the game against Honduras, along with John Brooks. “We obviously plan on taking some points”.

“We’ve got three home games left”.

The Americans began their time together with a new coach and without any points in the CONCACAF standings. With the team now sitting in fourth place, Arena will be hoping that he will have most of the players back healthy as they continue to push forward to reach a top-3 spot in the table to earn a direct spot to Russian Federation 2018. Kellyn Acosta, 21, and Paul Arriola, 22, entered in the second half Tuesday. On June 6th, they host Trinidad & Tobago before traveling to Mexico four days later. “The objective was to get four points”.

“We’re back on good footing”, said USA soccer team president Sunil Gulati.

The U.S. had not impressed during the Confederations Cup and needed an unlikely set of result – a 3-0 win over Egypt and a 3-0 Brazil victory over Italy – just to get into the semifinals, where there was no hope. If we win all of those without taking another point [on the road] we’ll have 13.

Arena wants Pulisic to be the player who pulls the strings, while remaining conscious that his career is still in its formative stage. So far, it seems to be happening.

The only problem I have with Pulisic (I know, I’m sorry) is that he makes too many sloppy turnovers in midfield, and sometimes can take too many touches without being able to keep possession. The fourth-place team will face an opponent from Asia in a two-game playoff.

Bedoya, who came on much later than his appearance on Friday, finished the match with a 77% passing completion rate, while also made two successful clearances.

Remember, the only thing that matters in getting to a World Cup.is getting to a World Cup.