The US men’s national team survived the “grind” of Concacaf qualifying. Their reward? A seven-month “sprint” towards the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this fall.
That’s how centerpiece defender Walker Zimmerman described the road ahead in the wake of Wednesday’s Octagonal finale vs. Costa Rica.
“The easy part’s over,” said the Nashville SC center back in a breezeway at Estadio Nacional. “And now we focus on this draw [Friday] and focus on our opponents in the World Cup, and ultimately just focus on staying fit, staying healthy for our clubs and trying to make a difference.
“From here on out it’s a sprint to the World Cup. But it's worth pausing and reflecting on all the sacrifices, all of our work, all the team camaraderie, and be proud, of yourself, of your work ethic. Reflect on that, embrace it, because again,” he added, “we’ll get that draw … we'll be focused on our opponents, we’ll be focused on the friendlies and Nations League in June, friendlies in September, and then we're there.”
"We can be a force going into the World Cup"
Finishing the Ocho on a down note with the 2-0 loss to a young, inspired Ticos side naturally drew attention to the USMNT’s shortcomings during this cycle. The Yanks won just one of their seven away matches and ended up tied with Costa Rica on points, securing the region’s third and final automatic qualification spot on goal differential.
They also finished behind archrivals Mexico in the standings and have little choice but to tip their caps to the Canada side that took four of six points from their head-to-head matchups en route to first place. But star attacker Christian Pulisic did not hesitate to underline his young squad’s credentials for a deep run at the main event.
“I think just the resiliency of the group. We’ve come down and played in some really tough places, we’ve played in some big games and when we’ve needed results, we’ve got them,” he said on Wednesday. “I just like the bite of this team, and I think we have a lot of quality as well. And yeah, I think we can be a force going into the World Cup.
“I just don’t think it’s about age,” he added when asked whether their relative inexperience could prove a strength half a year down the line in Qatar. “I think we have a hungry team, a hungry bunch of guys who are playing at top-level clubs across the world and I think we can go in with confidence no matter what. No matter our age, we’re going to give it everything we’ve got. Hopefully the country will get behind us, support us, I know they will, and yeah, we’re just thrilled for the opportunity.”
History has shown that the path to qualification and performance at the World Cup itself are often two very distinct processes.
With the first job finally done, coach Gregg Berhalter and his staff begin preparing for the second, which will probably involve two friendly matches apiece in June and September, as well as the return of Concacaf Nations League competition, to build towards this year’s unprecedented November-December tournament. Meanwhile individual players must maintain top form at club level, balancing that daily focus with the career-defining adventure awaiting them at year's end.
“Qualifying is not about the vision, so to speak, I think it’s more about getting the job done. You get in some really difficult situations in qualifying,” said Berhalter on Wednesday night.
The USMNT are reportedly close to sealing a friendly with mighty Argentina, who plan to also schedule Mexico on a visit to the United States, and Berhalter says they’re exploring a diverse range of opponents.
“It’s important. I think that’s going to help us prepare,” he said. “We’ll definitely look at playing countries from other continents and get that experience of a different type of soccer. We’ll play some European teams, South American teams, African, hopefully Asian teams and really get an understanding for what these different regions are bringing to the World Cup.”
“We’ve made a ton of progress"
The coaching staff has plenty to ponder.
While somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen standout contributors seem to have effectively booked their places on the plane to the Middle East, glaring questions persist at the striker spot and in regards to central-midfield depth. Berhalter is likely to audition players currently on and around the bubble like defender Joe Scally and strikers Josh Sargent and Jordan Pefok in upcoming international windows.
His rigid allegiance to a front-foot 4-3-3 formation simplified matters during the Ocho’s compressed three-match windows, though its weak points were occasionally exposed and new wrinkles should be added once the Yanks know their group-stage adversaries.
“We improved our pressing; our pressing’s gotten really good, really difficult to play against, creating a lot of turnovers. So that’s been a positive. But we’re going to continue to evolve, continue to improve,” said Berhalter. “The 4-3-3 system has been good for us. We might work with some other systems just to have some flexibility at the World Cup. I think it’s important to see who we’re playing and start planning out how we can be successful there.”
All that said, the former Columbus Crew boss says he likes the evolution of the past year-plus.
“We’ve made a ton of progress,” he said. “I think there’s a clear way that we play. We really improved defensively, we improved our pressing. I think the team spirit is amazing, the mentality is really good. And I think when you’re working with a young team, you don’t always see progress that quickly.
“And we certainly saw a ton of progress in this last, I’d say the last year, in terms of the guys really understanding what it means to win at the international level, when you think about the Gold Cup, Nations League and then qualifying for the World Cup with this young group. So we’ll be ready. We’ll be ready for the World Cup, excited to see what teams we’ll be facing and we’re prepared to win.”
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