Bruce Arena isn’t the only former US men’s national team head coach who’s confident that a 2022 FIFA World Cup berth is a lock for their old team.
Bob Bradley has also come out with a vote of confidence for the broader project as the USMNT looks to feature in Qatar two years from now.
“I one hundred percept think the team will make the World Cup,” the LAFC boss declared, according to Reuters.
Bradley led the USMNT at the 2010 World Cup, when they fell in the Round of 16 to Ghana. As for Arena, currently the head coach/sporting director of the New England Revolution, he was on the sidelines for USMNT World Cup efforts in 2002 and 2006. The latter even included a trip to the quarterfinals, where they lost to Germany.
But, with Arena in charge after replacing Jugen Klinsmann during the campaign, the USMNT missed the 2018 World Cup following a nightmare result in Trinidad & Tobago. The US will be looking to avoid successive absences since the dark ages of 1954-1986.
Now under the leadership of former Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter, Bradley acknowledged the long road ahead.
“With each World Cup cycle, the work that goes on from the beginning – identifying the right pool of players, having really good camps, playing the right matches – that work is so important,” Bradley said.
Later this year, qualifying for the 2022 World Cup is set to begin, with the USMNT a near-lock to reach the Hexagonal tournament.
