The United States suffered their worst result in recent years in the difficult conditions at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Trinidad, bringing to an end their World Cup hopes and a wholly uncomfortable qualifying campaign.
Panama are in the hat for the World Cup finals for the first time in their history after a triumphant victory against Costa Rica in Panama City, while Honduras’ win in San Pedro Sula saw them clinch a play-off spot and become the only side to defeat Mexico in this mini-league.
The United States’ under pressure manager, Bruce Arena, was feeling the strain prior to the game, defending his performance until that point by the suggestion that European “hotshots” would struggle in the region’s qualifying process.
This campaign had already seen the back of one USMNT manager, Jurgen Klinsmann, after the German’s incarnation of the team opened with a loss at home Mexico and a 4-0 defeat in Costa Rica, and the former LA Galaxy manager is now also likely to be replaced after a woeful end to a far from convincing run of games.
"I would love to see one of these hotshot teams from Europe come here and play in our CONCACAF qualifying, and really get a taste of this and see what that's about," Arena had said. "This is very challenging, it's like survival of the fittest. They could do one of those TV shows on this. Who will survive in the end, that's basically what this is."
It reflected similar comments from Klinsmann back in 2012, who also believed that the environment these games are played in, and not necessarily the strength of the competition, provide a tough test for any side.
"European coaches tell me you should qualify no problem, and I tell them, ‘Why don’t you come over and I’ll take you to Guatemala and Costa Rica and Jamaica and you’ll see.' It would be an eye-opener for a lot of people in Europe to see our qualifying campaign.”
Mexico and Costa Rica seem to have managed it easily enough this time around, though. A last minute goal from Kendall Waston was enough to see the latter through to the finals with a round to spare, and this point at home to Honduras in the penultimate match secured a second place finish behind Mexico.
Had the United States qualified on the back of expected wins from Mexico and Costa Rica in this final round, then this would merely have papered over the cracks in their current setup. As it is, with Panama and Honduras both winning against the odds, there is nowhere to hide this poor performance, and Arena’s side have finished in a position which reflects their displays throughout. That they were beaten by a side who’d only won one other game and lost all their others in the six-team league, was a fitting end to an unfit showing.
But for Honduras, who have the chance to head to their fourth consecutive World Cup, and Panama have already booked a place in Russia for their first-ever appearance in the tournament, the adventure starts here.
The fallout for the USA's failure to qualify will take some time to settle, but they are now certain that changes need to be made. It will be interesting to see which direction they go in, as there's no doubt that a new one is needed.
