FIFA awarded Peru and Chile 3–0 wins as a result of Bolivia fielding the ineligible player Nelson Cabrera. Originally Bolivia had defeated Peru 2–0 and drawn 0–0 with Chile. Nelson Cabrera had previously represented Paraguay and did not meet eligibility rules.
Germany Portugal Belgium Poland France Spain England Iceland Serbia plus four of Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Rep. Ireland and Greece
Brazil Argentina Colombia Uruguay Peru or New Zealand
Iran Japan South Korea Saudi Arabia Australia or Honduras Mexico Costa Rica Panama
Nigeria Egypt Tunisia or DR Congo Morocco or Ivory Coast Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde or South Africa
Confirmed. US fail to qualify from easy peasy CONCACAF.
It's not that easy. Some of the away trips are pretty brutal. The pitches are poor and the conditions are often bad. The US should qualify, don't get me wrong, but they do sometimes have an aura of "if we turn up we'll qualify."
There will be a lot of picking over the bones of this US team, but Klinnsman isn't that great of a manager and left them barely better off than he found them. Arena is not that good of a manager and his time came and went arguable a decade ago--and yet when he was brought in it was just assumed the US would qualify. Why? His teams sometimes underperrformed in qualifying and he's spent a decade+ in MLS since then. What's he done to improve himself?
The team are average, and some of the standout and even better players have chosen to come back to MLS in recent years. Some are aging, but you could argue all of their careers: Dempsey, Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Diskruud, have gone backward, with the one exception of Jozy Altidore who, shock surprise, can score against North American opposition and literally nowhere else.
There's also an element of bad luck in addition to bad decision making by US Soccer. To start with the latter, I could have told them Klinnsman is a snake oil salesman and not a man tactically adept to coach even the most basic of U-13s. Because he's smart and charming and handsome he keeps getting jobs he is not qualified for. And on top of that his ego and aloofness meant he fell out with most of the non-German players.
As to the bad luck, there is a generation coming through who look like talented players who, very notably, and this isn't an accident, have spent a lot of time at European academies, but who aren't quite there yet. Pulisic, at 19, is a wonderful player but he cannot lead a team by himself, especially with the shoddy service he gets. Luca De La Torre still can't break into the Fulham team. Gideon Zalalem hasn't matured anywhere near to his potential. Carters-Vicker and the FC KC lad whose name escapes me aren't quite ready yet. Same with Josh Sargent. And as such, the defense and midfield are made up of aging mediocre journeymen.
Also, somehow Tim Howard still gets picked in goal which is...weird.
The real shame is Chile missing out. This was almost certainly the last hurrah for that wonderful group of players who twice won the Copa. They're now all late 20s/early 30s and while it couldn't go on forever I thought they had one more tournament in them. It's not a deep team though, and combine that with the high intensity they play and they were bound to burn out at some point. Plus, losing Sampoli was a huge blow. I always loved watching them play.
I don't know. He finds himself behind the thoroughly average Chris Wondolowski and the enigmatic Juan Agudelo. The other forward I forgot to mention earlier is Jordan Morris, from whom big things were expected. He's been largely poor since turning pro--he tiurned down Hamburg I think it was to play for Seattle. To be fair he's still only 22 but he's someone who could desperately use a move abroad to expand his horizons, but is unlikely to get one on current form.
Somewhat ironically, Aron Johansson declared for the US despite being a part of that Icelandic golden generation that came through together--Gunnarson, Sigurdsson, JBG, Finbogasson, Sigthornson, etc. He's had a terrible time with injuries the last couple years but I suspect if he'd made different choices he's be in with a shot of getting into a World Cup squad.
So the US and Wales now our before the competition even begins. Bet their muggy bigheaded fans that celebrate when we go out will shut up now. Both flukes that won’t happen again for a generation.
Thanks for the added insight, @SDAddick. However, I stand by my comment re CONCACAF. I'll give you Mexico as tough opponents but as for the rest, really?!
Confirmed. US fail to qualify from easy peasy CONCACAF.
It's not that easy. Some of the away trips are pretty brutal. The pitches are poor and the conditions are often bad. The US should qualify, don't get me wrong, but they do sometimes have an aura of "if we turn up we'll qualify."
There will be a lot of picking over the bones of this US team, but Klinnsman isn't that great of a manager and left them barely better off than he found them. Arena is not that good of a manager and his time came and went arguable a decade ago--and yet when he was brought in it was just assumed the US would qualify. Why? His teams sometimes underperrformed in qualifying and he's spent a decade+ in MLS since then. What's he done to improve himself?
The team are average, and some of the standout and even better players have chosen to come back to MLS in recent years. Some are aging, but you could argue all of their careers: Dempsey, Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Diskruud, have gone backward, with the one exception of Jozy Altidore who, shock surprise, can score against North American opposition and literally nowhere else.
There's also an element of bad luck in addition to bad decision making by US Soccer. To start with the latter, I could have told them Klinnsman is a snake oil salesman and not a man tactically adept to coach even the most basic of U-13s. Because he's smart and charming and handsome he keeps getting jobs he is not qualified for. And on top of that his ego and aloofness meant he fell out with most of the non-German players.
As to the bad luck, there is a generation coming through who look like talented players who, very notably, and this isn't an accident, have spent a lot of time at European academies, but who aren't quite there yet. Pulisic, at 19, is a wonderful player but he cannot lead a team by himself, especially with the shoddy service he gets. Luca De La Torre still can't break into the Fulham team. Gideon Zalalem hasn't matured anywhere near to his potential. Carters-Vicker and the FC KC lad whose name escapes me aren't quite ready yet. Same with Josh Sargent. And as such, the defense and midfield are made up of aging mediocre journeymen.
Also, somehow Tim Howard still gets picked in goal which is...weird.
USA weren’t good enough,can’t blame the pitches or travel!
Comments
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2016/m=11/news=bolivia-sanctioned-for-fielding-ineligible-player-2847422.html
Had the actual results stood, Chile would have finished 5th.
Honduras will face Australia in the play off match.
Germany
Portugal
Belgium
Poland
France
Spain
England
Iceland
Serbia
plus four of Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Rep. Ireland and Greece
Brazil
Argentina
Colombia
Uruguay
Peru or New Zealand
Iran
Japan
South Korea
Saudi Arabia
Australia or Honduras
Mexico
Costa Rica
Panama
Nigeria
Egypt
Tunisia or DR Congo
Morocco or Ivory Coast
Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde or South Africa
Two intercontinental play offs.
Four European play offs.
Three African qualifying groups.
There will be a lot of picking over the bones of this US team, but Klinnsman isn't that great of a manager and left them barely better off than he found them. Arena is not that good of a manager and his time came and went arguable a decade ago--and yet when he was brought in it was just assumed the US would qualify. Why? His teams sometimes underperrformed in qualifying and he's spent a decade+ in MLS since then. What's he done to improve himself?
The team are average, and some of the standout and even better players have chosen to come back to MLS in recent years. Some are aging, but you could argue all of their careers: Dempsey, Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Diskruud, have gone backward, with the one exception of Jozy Altidore who, shock surprise, can score against North American opposition and literally nowhere else.
There's also an element of bad luck in addition to bad decision making by US Soccer. To start with the latter, I could have told them Klinnsman is a snake oil salesman and not a man tactically adept to coach even the most basic of U-13s. Because he's smart and charming and handsome he keeps getting jobs he is not qualified for. And on top of that his ego and aloofness meant he fell out with most of the non-German players.
As to the bad luck, there is a generation coming through who look like talented players who, very notably, and this isn't an accident, have spent a lot of time at European academies, but who aren't quite there yet. Pulisic, at 19, is a wonderful player but he cannot lead a team by himself, especially with the shoddy service he gets. Luca De La Torre still can't break into the Fulham team. Gideon Zalalem hasn't matured anywhere near to his potential. Carters-Vicker and the FC KC lad whose name escapes me aren't quite ready yet. Same with Josh Sargent. And as such, the defense and midfield are made up of aging mediocre journeymen.
Also, somehow Tim Howard still gets picked in goal which is...weird.
Somewhat ironically, Aron Johansson declared for the US despite being a part of that Icelandic golden generation that came through together--Gunnarson, Sigurdsson, JBG, Finbogasson, Sigthornson, etc. He's had a terrible time with injuries the last couple years but I suspect if he'd made different choices he's be in with a shot of getting into a World Cup squad.
Fox paid $400m for the TV rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. Poor Mr Murdoch
Agree it is a big shame about Chile.