To Do the Expected, the U.S. Is Bracing for the Unexpected
|
Version 0 of 1. The taut drama of the World Cup can be enjoyed only by teams that emerge from the more rugged slog of regional qualifying, and though the United States is a tournament regular now, having participated in the previous six editions, regarding qualification as a formality still feels like a taboo. This mind-set seems rooted in the idea that advancing through this part of the world is more an endurance trial and psychological crucible than an assessment of pure soccer talent. And so, as the American team begins the final round of qualifiers with a match Wednesday afternoon in Honduras, its wariness toward these types of games has remained. “Those games in Concacaf qualifying are physical battles, full of emotion, social tension,” Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in a recent interview. He described the approach of the smaller regions as, “We want to show the big team, if it’s Mexico or the U.S., we can compete with them, and we’ll find anything to make their experience as ugly as possible.” Ask players, staff members or journalists who have experienced these qualifying games, and familiar stories emerge: of soul-sapping heat and operatic downpours, of failures of electricity and plumbing, of pocked fields and questionable officiating, of partisan fans hurling insults and objects, and of partisan foreign reporters subverting press box norms. Featuring all this and more, the final Concacaf round will unfold over a period of more than eight months, from Wednesday until Oct. 16. After the six teams play one another, home and away, the top three will earn automatic entry into the World Cup. The region’s fourth-place team will advance to a two-game intercontinental playoff against the winner of the Oceania region. From the individual qualification tournaments around the world, 31 teams will emerge to join the host, Brazil, in the final field. The World Cup will begin June 12, 2014, in São Paulo. Inside Concacaf, the competition on paper appears light. The United States (ranked 28th in the world by FIFA) will face Mexico (15th), Panama (46th), Jamaica (58th), Honduras (59th) and Costa Rica (66th). And for all the talk of unseen dangers and potential missteps, it would be a shock if the United States did not qualify from the group to reach its seventh consecutive World Cup. Understanding the task, Klinsmann has toggled his stance quickly between confidence and caution. He asserted, for instance, that the United States, man for man, was superior to Mexico, its greatest rival. He said his team should approach its game March 26 in Mexico City as one to win, not simply draw. That match, at the uninviting Estadio Azteca, represents the marquee date of the region’s qualifying round. The United States will host Mexico on Sept. 10 at a location to be determined. But Klinsmann spoke, too, about the risk that his players would not have the proper attitude — “a giving approach, a fighting approach,” he called it — entering these games. “It’s more a mental topic,” Klinsmann said of Concacaf qualifying. Klinsmann, not quite a year and a half into his tenure, is still forming impressions of the American player pool. He said some countries had a sense of the core of their squad from the start of a World Cup cycle. Such a characterization, he said, does not apply to the United States. Particularly, he has been looking for players who can step into leadership roles. “Even if you say we will undoubtedly have starters like Michael Bradley or Jermaine Jones or Clint Dempsey or Tim Howard, are those our leaders?” Klinsmann said of what his team would look like next year. “It doesn’t really mean that he will also fulfill that role, he will set the tone, he will give direction or he will lead the group. There might be somebody else that is not on the page yet.” Whether the exclusion of Landon Donovan from the list of stalwarts Klinsmann rattled off the top of his head was intentional or not, Donovan’s involvement with the national team will be one of the more intriguing story lines. Donovan, 30, who has represented the United States at three World Cups, has largely disappeared this winter after saying that he needed an extended break from the game. He was not present last month when the Los Angeles Galaxy opened its training camp. Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said he was certain Donovan would play for the team this year, but Donovan has made no assurances to the national team, and Klinsmann has not yet been able to integrate him into his plans. For the United States, it will be another factor complicating what appears to be a simple task. |