The USMNT got its World Cup qualifying campaign back on the right track, baby, yeah, by defeating Costa Rica 2-1 in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night. Block every voice that tells you this isn’t something worth celebrating because after going down 1-0 to a strange goal early, the U.S. produced the sort of performance that makes this grind of qualifying more than worth your time.
After the USMNT escaped El Salvador with a 0-0 draw to begin World Cup qualifying, various Twitter accounts with profile pictures of teenaged USMNT stars chalked it off as unacceptable.
Landon Donovan labelled that thinking as "crazy."
Maybe the USMNT should just stop playing on Oct. 10. It never ends well, and 2021 was no different, the U.S. suffering a pitiful 1-0 defeat to Panama. Reexamining the USMNT vs Panama stats a day later, it’s shocking just how bad Gregg Berhalter’s team was.
We were treated to an all-time CONCACAF moment last week when Ronnie Brunswijk, the 60-year-old Vice President of Suriname, started and played 54 minutes in the round of 16 of the CONCACAF League.
Brunswijk suited up for Inter Moengotapoe (IMT), the club he owns, as they lost 6-0 to Honduran side Olimpia. Needless to say, he looked a little out of place:
You read that headline correctly. The Suriname Vice President, Ronnie Brunswijk, played for 54 minutes against Honduran club giant Olimpia on Tuesday night. The club he owns and captained that night, Inter Moengotapoe, lost 6-0.
Brunswijk is officially the oldest player in the world to play in an international club competition at the spry young age of 60. Inter and Olimpia were playing in the Concacaf League, which is essentially the UEFA Europa League equivalent.
Whew. That was a close one. Facing the prospect of two points from its opening three World Cup qualifiers, the USMNT rallied for a big 4-1 win on Wednesday night in Honduras, salvaging a decent showing over the September international window. It wasn’t great, but the Americans avoided disaster, which makes our USMNT player ratings (and coach rating) all the spicier.
The Panama World Cup qualifying campaign is smooth sailing after the first three games. This is the exact opposite of what we predicted here at The18.
In our Concacaf World Cup qualifying predictions, six out of seven people predicted the Panamanians to finish dead last in the group of eight teams. Only one person had Panama finishing higher than eighth. That individual had the Central American country finishing seventh.
The USMNT played one of its worst opening 45 minutes in the modern era on Wednesday night in Honduras, and then followed that up with one of the greatest second halfs we've ever seen. Both were largely down to the choices of Gregg Berhalter, and while we should ultimately value and treasure the second 45, we shouldn't immediately forget about the first half.
Panic meters were reaching Cuova levels on Wednesday night in San Pedro Sula. The U.S. trailed Honduras at halftime and it looked like the Americans were headed toward a dismal two points from their first three World Cup qualifiers. Gregg Berhalter made three halftime changes, somewhat surprisingly leaving on qualifying novices Ricardo Pepi and James Sands.
Ricardo Pepi repaid the faith.
Whisper it — anything more than a whisper and it might vanish — but Canada is on course for the 2022 World Cup (after three games).
The 1-1 draw with the United States in Nashville must’ve stirred something in the Canucks’ plums, because they came out like a side possessed on Wednesday night at BMO Field. Frankly, some of Canada’s play against El Salvador in the opening 30 minutes was disturbingly good, and 38-year-old captain Atiba Hutchinson was at the heart of it all.
How much must this all mean to the man who collected his 88th cap tonight?