ST. PAUL, Minn.— Enveloped by absurd, historically low temperatures that left many questioning the sanity of simply playing the game, the U.S. men’s national team enjoyed a timely thaw in a long-dormant component of its attack on Wednesday night in the Twin Cities. And with it, came a warming of its World Cup prospects.
Qualifying difficulties always seem to come as a surprise, even though you could set your quadrennial calendar to them. Negotiating the Concacaf gauntlet is never as easy as pedigree and predictions suggest it should be, and adversity is inevitable. A lot of the recent consternation surrounding the U.S. has been focused on its floundering offense. It hasn’t produced the fireworks many expected from a team of skillful and exuberant players who have made their way to some of the sport’s biggest clubs, and a coach who has preached proactive soccer.
The Americans had managed just 13 goals through their first 10 games of Concacaf’s Octagonal, which will send the top three finishers directly to Qatar's 2022 World Cup. And with just one goal across the first two matches of this penultimate window, the U.S. was in danger of slipping toward fourth.
