Fans are singing Take Me Home, Country Roads like it’s You’ll Never Walk Alone, Australia and Paraguay fell to our feet so helplessly that they scored on their own goals, and the United States of America Men’s National Soccer Team has already advanced to the second round of the World Cup by winning its group. In two games. Without its best player for 3/4 of the tournament.
The world should be worried. There may be no force in recent world history more unstoppable than a group of Americans fueled by
self-belief under a common goal. Some foolishness comes from this and much blood and treasure has been shed, spent, and built in extravagant exercises. At times this has led to opportunities capitalized upon and others resulted in haunting quagmires. The lesson is clear from these moments – humble us when you have the chance lest the tides of history wash upon your shores clad in Red, White, and Blue DRINKING COCA-COLA AND… OK… ok… that’s enough self-indulgence for now.
Whatever comes next for the USMNT, the job is far from done. Now comes Türkiye and the unknown unknowns that come with a game where the score is possibly of secondary importance to the greater goal the team has in its sights. Aside from Ricardo Pepi coming in for the injured Christian Pulisic, Mauricio Pochettino has not made changes to his starting XI in the first two matches. Surely, he will be wanting to keep players fresh for the knockout rounds with the potential of 120 minute matches, penalty shootouts, and the like facing the team.
He’ll want more than just pickle juice preserving players like Tyler Adams, Tim Ream, Weston McKennie, Folarin Balogun, and well, everyone. Banking rest for those players will be the greatest guarantee that they will be ready for what’s ahead. However, Poch may also want to give Pulisic some minutes after he re-joined the team in training on Monday so his lineup is very much at the mercy of his priorities going into the Round of 32.
As far as what to expect in the match, the USA played very well against Australia but there were some errors that better teams – teams with players with more than 14 international goals on the roster – would humble the team for. With the Stars and Stripes being successful with its attack first mindset, it will need to tighten up not only the defense, but also raise the intensity of the focus the team brings to avoid mistakes. Even if the starting lineup is largely rotated, that is a quality that the entire team should reflect going into a game where keeping the momentum that’s been started in the first two matches is critical for that aforementioned unstoppable mindset.
Türkiye, on the other hand, has been a disappointment in this World Cup having been eliminated from the tournament. As of now, manager Vincenzo Montella has been assured that he will be keeping his job. In the world of international soccer, that guarantee may well have been delivered in Jell-o but a team playing for pride and with nothing to lose can be a real nightmare for a team playing for staying healthy and trying to keep momentum going.
The Italian manager doesn’t exactly set his team up in a Catenaccio style, but there are elements of it in the team’s approach. That may explain why they struggled against Australia and Paraguay. Both teams ceded possession and capitalized on the counter or took advantage of their opponent’s lack of organization defensively to pull off upsets. However, Türkiye also folded under pressure and could not find their footing in either match and especially seemed unable to bounce back once falling behind.
It does not seem likely that Poch will want his team to change its mentality so this game should be more open and back and forth than Türkiye’s first two matches. That change should play into Türkiye’s strengths and give the team a chance to redeem themselves in their final World Cup match. With no pressure, to advance at least, the team may also enter the game with a relaxed mindset. However, if the USA rotates, players coming into the game who didn’t start or see the pitch in the opening games will want to show they can meet the rising expectations that are being placed on the team.
The past has been considered and symbols analyzed to contemplate the future. This is a task that is typically fraught with peril due to hyper-complex variables such as player health, number of Instagram followers, breakfast, the temperature, sleep, referee fitness, how wet the grass is, luck, the alignment of the stars, and so on. The final group game for the Americans adds more chaos to this system because of the added variables around Türkiye’s early ticket home and the USA’s early ticket forward. Regardless of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the future can’t be predicted but it can be rehearsed. So far, things are shaping up well for the USMNT to continue their success to finish up the group and what’s unknown will be known late on a warm summer’s evening in Inglewood, California.
