The worst defeat in the history of the US national team

[Boiler 43,606]

The worst defeat in the history of the United States national team, the record will show, played out over an hour and a half on a sweltering weeknight before a few hundred spectators at Ato Boldon Stadium, confines so modest even its namesake questioned why it was chosen for a World Cup qualifier, and ended with the Americans walking off in a soft parade of stunned silence and thousand-yard stares.

But truthfully Tuesday night’s loss to Trinidad & Tobago was a failure years in the making, an outcome undeserving of the surprise it was received, given the manner in which the Americans stumbled from the gate in Concacaf’s qualifying hexagonal, prompting the dismissal of Jurgen Klinsmann with a not-insignificant $6.2m golden handshake. Even after the constellation of factors limited the United States to a scant 12 points in nine qualifiers, Bruce Arena’s side needed only a draw with the world’s 99th-ranked team to be virtually certain of securing at least a play-off spot. Instead, a stunningly torpid defeat, paired with Panama’s last-gasp win over Costa Rica, leaves the US out of the World Cup for the first time in 32 years and represents a disastrous setback for the sport’s growth here.

 

The Catastrophe at Couva won’t provoke national shame like it would in countries where soccer is a matter of vital public importance, but it’s a devastating blow to the millions who hope the sport will get there one day. The run-up to Tuesday’s critical qualifier was dwarfed in the headlines by America’s two most popular sports, the NFL and college football, and the Major League Baseball playoffs. Which meant the match, broadcast in the United States on a channel that no one gets, scarcely moved the needle until it was over. That’s the thing about rock bottom: you never know you’ve hit it until you’re there.

 

Somehow this manages to outplumb the previous nadir of France 98, when the US entered on a head of wide-eyed optimism and promising results – the second-round finish at the 1994 World Cup, the semi-final run at 1995 Copa América, a famous win over Brazil in February 1998 – only to be thoroughly outclassed by Germany, eliminated in a politically charged tilt with Iran and brushed aside by Yugoslavia to finish 32nd out of 32 teams.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

It is actually blessing in disguise.

 

The FIFA world cup will be held in Russia. 

 

No chance of Russia Collusion accusations 

Edited October 11, 2017 by Merrytooth

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

Clearly the fault of the so called President 

[Dashinka 23,306]

Maybe they did not want to get invited to the WH?

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

I wish I understood even a little bit of the OP.  But alas, I do not follow hockey...

[Boiler 43,606]

2 hours ago, IDWAF said:

I wish I understood even a little bit of the OP.  But alas, I do not follow hockey...

 hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the game date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland, France and the Netherlands.^[1] The game can be played on a grass field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie. Players use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre, fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities (with the higher carbon fibre stick being more expensive and less likely to break) to hit a round, hard, plastic ball. The length of the stick depends on the player's individual height.^[2] Only one end of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies often have a different kind of stick, however they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick, this is to give them more surface area to save the ball. The uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey.

[Dashinka 23,306]

16 hours ago, Boiler said:

 hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The earliest origins of the game date back to the Middle Ages in England, Scotland, France and the Netherlands.^[1] The game can be played on a grass field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie. Players use sticks made out of wood, carbon fibre, fibre glass or a combination of carbon fibre and fibre glass in different quantities (with the higher carbon fibre stick being more expensive and less likely to break) to hit a round, hard, plastic ball. The length of the stick depends on the player's individual height.^[2] Only one end of the stick is allowed to be used. Goalies often have a different kind of stick, however they can also use an ordinary field hockey stick. The specific goal-keeping sticks have another curve at the end of the stick, this is to give them more surface area to save the ball. The uniform consists of shin guards, shoes, shorts, a mouth guard and a jersey.

Thus endeth the lesson!

[charmander 692]

I don't know about you guys but I'll be rooting for Iceland in 2018. Ísland!! 

Edited October 12, 2017 by charmander

[X Factor 1,110]

Yep it was really a bad loss for the USA