With less than two months away, the World Cup 2022 in Qatar is just around the corner. But after a disappointing start to the last international break, the USMNT is generating more doubts than certainties. Is it time to sound the alarms? It’s been a long road for the American squad, and things are starting to feel like they could go south at any moment. Let’s have a look into how things are shaping up for the Stars and Stripes.
Japanese Nightmare
Last night the USMNT squared off against Japan in Dusseldorf, Germany. This was predicted to be a very interesting fixture for both sides as they polish final details for the World Cup. Several injuries prevented the American team to field a full-strength squad with Pulisic, Weah, Musah, and Robinson dealing with minor knocks that should be no problem for November. The Japanese team was also dealing with absences and still looked dominant from start to finish. The Nippon team conquered the midfield since the beginning of the game, which was key to prevent the American team from creating any sort of trouble for their opponent. This was a brutal outing for one of the USMNT ‘stars’ Weston McKennie, who lost all possession that came his way, missing text book passes all around, and his partner Tyler Adams found himself constantly overwhelmed by the rival since there was null possession of the ball. As a result, and most concerning stat of the game was that the USMNT finished the game with a grand total of ZERO shots on goal.
American manager Gregg Berhalter started to make changes after the break since they were only one goal down at half time (Kamada 24’). But substitutions at the beginning of the second half (Cannon, McKenzie Sargent, Morris) didn’t provide any type of response. Even though the American team was “in” the game just before full time, there was never a real opportunity to even attempt to create something in attack. Japan eased the pace and started to control the match at their disposition. Just before the 90 minutes the Japanese team (Mitoma 88’), laid the final blow of the evening.
Next Up: Saudi Arabia
For final preparations before their World Cup opener against Wales, The USMNT will face Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. This will be another tough test for the “Stars and Stripes” since the “Green Falcons” qualified first of the group in the Asia World Cup Qualifiers (Japan was the runner-up in the same group). This fixture will certainly set the tone for fans coming into the World Cup, and Gregg Berhalter will with out a doubt try to get a much-needed win so this team can have a huge morale boost towards their trip to Qatar.
No injury update has been made about this team’s most essential piece Christian Pulisic, but if the Pennsylvanian forward can make an appearance this will certainly ease everybody’s nerves, since his dynamism on attack usually provides this team an additional layer of stability all around. If Pulisic plays, and the team still struggles to even make shots on goal this could have a very negative impact before the start of the World Cup, since fans and media will start to apply additional pressure to this young USMNT team, and nobody wants pessimism to be the embarking mentality for the team as they will have a very competitive group stage in the international joust (Group B: England, Wales, Iran, USA).
*Side note: Iran also had an International friendly last night and took victory (1-0) against Uruguay and all of their stars.
We’ll keep our predictions and opinions until after the Saudi Arabia match, but it’s crunch time and there’s no doubt this American team has talent, but will they deliver on November?
