Five Points: USA start World Cup quest with straightforward test
ST. LOUIS --
The slate isn’t quite clean after a difficult few months, but there is a new task at hand for the United States men's national team. The road to Russia starts with the World Cup qualifying opener against St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday (live, 7:10 p.m. ET).
“For us, this is the start of an important two years,” U.S. captain Michael Bradley said before the Americans trained at Busch Stadium on Thursday. “There’s no two ways about it. The excitement is there. It’s the responsibility of every guy to come in and give everything they have to make sure we see this out and get ourselves to Russia. There’s no better way to put some disappointing results behind us than to get a result tomorrow night.”
There are no excuses available now as Group C play opens and this expected 16-fixture gauntlet commences. This is a straightforward assignment against modest opposition on home soil. This group needs to proceed accordingly to start this semifinal round on the proper footing:
How short is the memory?
The past few months are over. There is no way to go back in time and erase the defeats to Jamaica and Mexico. It is easy enough to draw a line of demarcation from the outside, but the players must do the same. This match provides an opportunity to issue a response and set the proper stage for the difficult visit to Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday.
“If you have negative results, there are always critics out there,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “The expectations are always the highest because they are pretty simple: qualify for the World Cup. There is no excuse certainly for that. Whenever the games that come up that really matter and count -- like World Cup qualifying or the Gold Cup or a CONCACAF Cup final -- you want to get the higher end of it. You want to win those games. We want to start well into this long run of qualifying games.”
Where will Klinsmann strike the balance between continuity and alteration?
This particular fixture list -- a reasonable home date first, then a taxing trip to the Caribbean second -- forces some difficult choices from a selection perspective. Klinsmann must weigh how many of his players he plans to retain for the trip to Port of Spain before picking his starting XI against St. Vincent.
The introduction of Matt Miazga and Darlington Nagbe into the process adds a novel twist. Both players linked up with the senior team for the first time this week after completing their club commitments on Sunday and traveling to south Florida. Is there a role for them to play against St. Vincent with such limited preparation time? Or will they follow the lead of many, many other players before them who took their time to get acclimated with the setup before debuting?
At this stage, the long-term objectives enter the calculus. It is not just about procuring points here, though a victory is compulsory. It is about how to use this game to prepare for the trip to T&T and lay the foundation for further advancements down the line.
“We cannot start that process maybe six or nine months out of the World Cup,” Klinsmann said. “Here and there, definitely, you need to make that transition happen earlier. Those players are coming in because they are good, because they deserve to come in, they deserve to get a chance to play in World Cup qualifying games, in games that are very, very important. We cannot wait until the very last moment and then hope for the best for the World Cup. It’s a logical process.”
Who will score the goals?
Klinsmann highlighted his desire to give younger players a chance by dropping Clint Dempsey ahead of these qualifiers. It is a risk given Dempsey’s outsized role in producing goals in this side. Jozy Altidore boasts a good record against CONCACAF opposition (10 goals all time in World Cup qualifying), but he requires further help from midfield and from the other forwards retained ahead of Dempsey.
The onus falls square upon Gyasi Zardes (if he sees time up front), Jordan Morris and Bobby Wood to satisfy those demands. It is on them to meet the necessary standards against St. Vincent to continue their growth on the international level and relieve some of the considerable burden now placed squarely upon Altidore’s shoulders.
“If you don’t take those risks at a certain time, then you don’t get answers,” Klinsmann said. “We believe they are ready. They are ready to give everything they have. I don’t expect three goals from them tomorrow night. I expect lots of energy, be confident and give everything you have. And that’s what they’re going to do and they’ll continue to grow over time.”
Does the goalkeeper rotation matter?
Klinsmann named Brad Guzan as the starter against St. Vincent on Thursday as the goalkeeper rotation cranks into gear. It provided yet another talking point, but Guzan summarily dismissed any impact or influence from the decision to alternate with Tim Howard moving forward.
“There’s no secret as to what was going to happen,” Guzan said. “Jurgen put some statements out during the last set of games. For us, nothing changes, as always. I think it’s made more of a big deal from you guys than from us. We train the same, we work hard. For me, it’s a big night because -- as a team -- we want to get off to a good start in this qualifying campaign.”
What sort of challenge does St. Vincent and the Grenadines present?
Klinsmann noted he and his technical staff reviewed film from those matches and studied up on individual players as part of the preparations for this game, but he also underscored the fact that St. Vincent is a bit of an unknown quantity at this level after reaching this stage for the first time since the qualifying process for the 2006 World Cup.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our players and for us as a country as well,” St. Vincent coach Cornelius Huggins said after his team trained at Busch Stadium on Thursday night. “We’re a small country with a 110,000 population. This is a glorious opportunity.”
St. Vincent assistant coach Ezra Hendrickson cited youth and speed as the primary characteristics of the largely amateur side, while several of the players noted the cohesive spirit within the ranks after the qualifying exploits and the extended training camp in the buildup to this match.
“It’s David vs. Goliath, but it’s 11-v-11 on the pitch,” St. Vincent forward Gavin James said. “That’s as simple as it is. If each player does his job, then we can be in this game. Stranger things have happened.
The key to piercing that belief and confidence: an assured opening period. Guzan said the Americans must start well to ensure St. Vincent does not take advantage of this stage and wrest something from the match.
“It is a game that means a lot [to them],” Guzan said. “If they can come to the U.S. and get a result, it’s a huge opportunity for them. For us, it’s important that we get off to a good start. It’s important that we get this atmosphere and this stadium behind us early. And I think if we do that, we should be OK. Until that first goal, it’s going to be a battle, a hard-fought battle.”
