The US goes through to the World Cup!
I gave the Hondurans the benefit of their stranglehold at San Pedro Sula and happily I was proven wrong.
A blizzard of goals descended on the second half of the match. And the US came out winners in the end. Amongst all the chatter about Charlie Davis, Jozy Altidore, and even Brian Ching; Bradley trotted out Conor Casey to start.
In the scale of shock, this fell a wee bit short of Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Casey is Crew’s not so secret weapon but apart from that distinction he is not really known for his stellar national contribution.
But it is a peculiarity of this US team that there are a finite number of players but infinite heroes. They crop up every game. Yes, Landon is a staple and once again he did not disappoint but Casey put the exclamation point(s) on this game.
So even as we feel good that the US invariably manages to be very efficient in converting shots on goal there is a bit of the separate the “wheat from the chaff” syndrome. The Hondurans missed a penalty which might have given them a draw and the defending again did not shine. Bradley needs to pause to recalibrate.
We have entered the World Cup for the sixth time in a row but are we being set up for a giant pratfall? For now we celebrate. But we should guard from the cock a hoop attitude that fatally undermined our 2006 World Cup appearance. Partly generated by the unprecedented 2002 World Cup success but also by being part of the insulated CONCACAF region that can induce a sense of misplaced destiny.