With young team, USA try to forget trauma of absence from 2018 World Cup

One of the most famous videos in US football history doesn’t show a goal, a dribble or any beautiful play. Type “Alexi Lalas rant” in the YouTube search to see this.

With the team on the verge of unexpected elimination in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, the country’s historic defender mercilessly criticized, one by one, the main players of the team. Historic names like him.

“Tim Howard: the game against Belgium [pelas oitavas de final do Mundial de 2014] ended three years ago. We need you to make defenses now. Clint Dempsey: yes you are a national team legend, now we need you to be a leader. Jozy Altidore: So is this the best you have? It’s not good enough,” he snapped, live on Fox Sports’ comments.

“And for everyone I didn’t mention, it’s because you guys aren’t relevant enough to be mentioned. That includes you, wonder boy.” .

The alert did not work. Days later, the United States lost to Trinidad & Tobago, last place, 2-1 and ended up eliminated. It was the first time since 1986 that the team had not qualified for the World Cup.

Four years later, the North American team is guaranteed in Qatar to resume what should be the idea of ​​​​growth of “soccer” in the country, Process initiated by the team that had Alexi Lalas in the defense and went to Italy-1990 when it was not expected and then fell at home, in the round of 16 in 1994 against Brazil.

During the period, the selection had memorable campaigns. It reached the quarterfinals in 2002. It was only defeated by Germany by 1 to 0. In 2014, it played against Belgium the best match of that Cup, in the round of 16. Lost 2-1 in overtime. It is the game cited by Lalas, in which goalkeeper Tim Howard made 16 saves, a World Cup record, and then received a congratulatory call from then-President Barack Obama.

Supported by Pulisic, the United States is in a transitional phase. A survey by the Statista website shows that the team is likely to have the lowest average age among the 32 classified. At 24.5 years, it is much smaller than Argentina, possibly the oldest, at 27.7 years.

The chance of qualifying for the round of 16 is real though. The debut should be the most decisive match, against Wales on 21 November. In addition to the favorites for the first place, England, the group B will also have Iran.

Despite their youth, there are talented players, such as Tyler Adams (23, Leeds United-ING midfielder), Weston McKennie (24, Juventus-ITA midfielder), Gio Reyna (19, Borussia Dortmund-ALE midfielder), Tim Weah ( 22, forward for Lille-FRA and son of the former best in the world George Weah) and Sergiño Dest (21, full-back and defender for Milan-ITA).

The list could make the fans confident, but there is distrust with the work of coach Gregg Berhalter. The complaint against him is common to other coaches, some of them who also go to the World Cup: he is very conservative and concerned with the defensive sector.

In the two friendlies played last month, not only the results but also the football were disappointing: defeat to Japan (2-0) and draw with Saudi Arabia (0-0). It was 180 minutes that reinforced problems already seen in the past. Defenders were error-prone, midfielders struggled to get the ball forward with speed, and errors in crosses were common.

“I don’t care,” Berhalter said. “It’s a process, a job we’re developing. You can’t compare the intensity of two friendlies with World Cup matches. Despite the draw, I think we played well against Saudi Arabia.”