In CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, task is twofold for U.S. Coach Juergen Klinsmann
United States forward Jozy Altidore and Dorren Hamlet of St. Vincent and the Grenadines compete for a ball during a World Cup qualifying match.
Juergen Klinsmann faces two challenges in World Cup qualifying. The coach needs to put the U.S. national team on the path to qualify for the World Cup while fielding a younger team with an eye toward Russia 2018.
He did both last week, giving six players their qualifying debuts while ended a three-game losing streak with a decisive win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Whether that proves to be an exception or the start of a trend will be known Tuesday when the Americans return to the semifinal round of qualifying against Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain (3:25 p.m. PST, beIN Sports, NBC Universo).
“Those are the experiences that our younger players need,” said Klinsmann, who used six players younger than 26 against St. Vincent. “It’s also about getting a sense of the atmosphere of World Cup qualifiers.
“The learning curve for our younger players or those that haven’t gone through that process yet is very important, no matter if they step on the field or even if they’re on the bench and experience the atmospheres in the stadiums and the circumstances they’re thrown into. This is big for us, and I’m glad it worked out.”
It worked out better than Klinsmann had reason to expect, in fact, with Bobby Wood and Gyasi Zardes scoring goals in their qualifying debuts and Darlington Nagbe and Matt Miazga coming off the bench to make their first national team appearances. Defenders DeAndre Yedlin and Tim Ream also played in their first World Cup qualifiers.
“What was nice to see was that the younger players settled with the game and they felt more confident and positive,” Klinsmann said.
Trinidad and Tobago figures to provide a far more difficult challenge. While St. Vincent is the lowest-ranked country to make the semifinal round of CONCACAF qualifying, Trinidad is the region’s fourth-best team, according to FIFA. And that was before it opened qualifying with a win in Guatemala.
“You have to give Trinidad and Tobago a lot of respect,” Klinsmann said of a team that won its group in last summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. “They’re known for their physical game and known for being strong. A lot of their players play in the English Championship and obviously playing at home they have a lot of confidence.”
They’ve already proven they can give the U.S. trouble, especially in Port of Spain, where they beat the Americans in the semifinal round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Of the nine games the two countries have played there since 1982, none have been decided by more than a goal. Trinidad won two and two were draws.
Another win or draw Tuesday would keep Trinidad atop its four-team group heading into a four-month break in qualifying. For the U.S., another win would provide the team with an added shot of confidence and give the embattled Klinsmann a bit more job security.
Following U.S. soccer’s worst summer in at least 15 years, federation President Sunil Gulati met with the coach three times over the last two months before breaking his public silence with a lukewarm vote of confidence last week, saying that he expects the U.S. to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and expects Klinsmann to coach the team in Russia.
But he didn’t make any promises.
“No one has got that kind of job security,” Gulati told reporters.
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