FAIRFAX, Va. – Thursday marked the unhappiest of anniversaries for the US men’s national team.
It’s been two years since the stunning 2-1 away loss to Trinidad & Tobago on the final day of Concacaf 2018 World Cup qualifying, which denied the United States a trip to Russia and ended their streak of participation seven straight World Cups.
It was an immensely painful and costly defeat, the repercussions of which continue to reverberate today — a disaster profound enough that fans need only hear one word to bring the night’s tortuous emotions rushing back: Couva, the small seaside town in central Trinidad that played host to one of the USMNT's darkest hours.
Understandably, those who’ve gathered in Northern Virginia to prepare for the kickoff of their inaugural Concacaf Nations League campaign with Cuba’s visit to Audi Field on Friday have limited appetite to revisit that agonizing occasion. A pivot toward youth has brought a raft of new faces into the player pool since then. There are competitive matches close at hand, and 2022 qualifying is now months, not years, away.
“I think we have made progress,” said head coach Gregg Berhalter. “When I think about the young players that have competed for the men’s national team, from the anniversary of us not qualifying we’ve gotten guys very good international experience.
“When I think about the level of the opponents that we’ve played in the past two years, it’s been preparing the guys," he continued. "When I think specifically about this group that we’ve been working with, the tactical development of our game model has improved. And it’s something we’re always looking to continue to improve with limited time together.”
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson noted on Thursday that nearly three dozen new players have received their first USMNT caps since that game, and only six players who were in uniform on that muggy Caribbean evening were called up for this month’s Nations League matches.
Still, the anniversary of that low point begs the questions: Has the program rebounded, and returned to an upward trajectory? Were the right lessons learned?
“I don’t really think of it in those terms, to be honest with you,” said defender Tim Ream, one of those veterans of Couva. “We’re so focused on what we do on the field day to day, game to game that it’s not really something that I’m focused on.
“Obviously it was a massive disappointment for everyone involved top to bottom – fans, players, staff, U.S. Soccer as a whole. But we’ve tried to move on from that.”
This summer’s Gold Cup – where they finished second to Mexico – remains the USMNT’s only competitive action since the loss in Trinidad, making the debut of CNL a welcome sight, offering players and coaches not only a trophy to target but also a preview of the qualifying grind.
“For us it’s also important in a way that we get to compete against Concacaf teams, we get to play away games, we get to prepare our group for the rhythm of what World Cup qualifying looks like,” said Berhalter, who noted that his staff “cherishes” every chance to gather their squad and described their Nations League Group A slate as “another adventure for the team, another chance for us to keep developing.”
So perhaps the ghosts of Couva have not been exorcised quite yet – and might not be until the achievement that eluded the US that night is realized in two years’ time, when the region’s three-and-a-half slots for Qatar 2022 will be filled by the reformatted Hexagonal’s top three finishers and Concacaf’s entrant in an intercontinental playoff.
“I can’t say one way or the other whether we’re better off or worse off for it,” said Ream. “I think only time will tell over the next, probably, year and a half to two years.”
