Qualification For US Is Enough For Now

The US looked less than sensational in their two wins over El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago this week. There’s no hiding that fact and it could easily be argued that the US has not put together a convincing performance since going into half time of the Confederations Cup Final with a 2-0 lead over Brazil. This has caused some consternation amongst the US faithful and the viability of a run into the knockout stages of next summer’s World Cup has come into question. After all, when teams such as England are disposing of Croatia 5-1 (albeit a shorthanded Croatian squad), the Netherlands take maximum points from qualification and even a couple African sides (Ghana and Ivory Coast come to mind) look strong, it’s easy to question whether or not the US has any chance of making it out of the group stage. Let’s take a minute and consider history before we ponder next summer though.

The US came away with maximum points in two World Cup Qualifiers and while they were not at their best, six points is six points. They top the hexagonal with only two matches remaining and get one of those at home. 20 years ago, the US was battling it out with a team from Trinidad and Tobago, who the US just beat, for the final spot in the World Cup. It took a Paul Caliguiri strike and some help from the sun to push the US through to Italy and now, 20 years and possibly six World Cups later, the Nats are considered a near lock for qualification by some. Not bad progress, eh?

For those unwilling to take solace in amazing progress and are still predicting another World Cup in which the US fails to advance out of the group stage, bear this in mind. As often as not, the play of a team a year before the World Cup has no bearing on that team’s performance the following year. The key is qualification and the US is on the cusp of it now. Whether they do so impressively means little, if anything at all.

Remember Brazil’s World Cup winning side in 2002? Most do and can vividly recall the magic of Ronaldo as the Brazilians celebrated in Japan. Few remember that that same side barely qualified for that World Cup and just barely scraped their way in. History is littered with sides who struggled to qualify with less than inspiring play.  In fact, if we take a trip back to that same World Cup, we can find our own Nats in a battle for qualification.

Any US fan can recall the middle of the night and early morning matches of Japan/S. Korea 2002. They can tell you about John O’Brien kicking off the Cup with a finish from short range. Two Brad Friedel penalty saves? Oh yeah, what memories. Clint Mathis’ Mohawk, Landon Donovan cementing his status as Mexico’s favorite player to hate as he put the US ahead 2-0. US fans even have the name of a referee forever etched in their memories thanks to Hugh Dallas’ permitting a handled ball on the line versus Germany. These are all memories US fans will not soon forget, but it’s amazing how many forget heading into the final two matches of qualification with a World Cup spot far from secured. Just four years later, a dominating qualification run could not be parlayed into a successful Cup.

As you can see, qualification performance yields little when it comes to prognosticating for the following year. The US will likely qualify for South Africa next month and considering their two opponents, Honduras and Costa Rica, are in a qualification battle of their own, odds are it won’t be a pretty means of qualification for the US. However, the key is qualification. The style with which it is accomplished will do little in the way of positioning the team for next summer. Bask in three points and qualification. Worry about quality of play in six months time when it may actually tell you something about the teams’ World Cup fortunes.