New-look U.S. squad opens World Cup qualifying, 4 years after flop

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — They landed connected a charter flight, conscionable 3 veterans of the devastating decision 4 years earlier on with 20 caller faces and a caller coaching staff.

Christian Pulisic and Zack Steffen were near behind.

Rebuilding over, the U.S. opens 2022 World Cup qualifying astatine El Salvador’s Estadio Cuscatlán connected Thursday nighttime missing 2 of its apical starters, 1 due to the fact that of COVID-19 and the different backmost spasms. It volition beryllium the commencement of an unprecedented docket that features 3 matches successful the archetypal week and 14 successful a 210-day span that for immoderate volition see 5 trans-Atlantic interruptions to their European nine seasons.

This aboriginal could not person been imagined erstwhile dejected U.S. players trudged disconnected the tract pursuing the ignominious nighttime successful Trinidad that ended a streak of 7 consecutive World Cup appearances.

“I retrieve wherever I was erstwhile the U.S. failed to suffice backmost successful 2017,” said Matt Turner, who volition commencement successful goal. “And to deliberation astir that infinitesimal from my sofa and to beryllium present present to, to person the accidental to person a accidental successful righting the vessel is genuinely an honor.”

Turner, who watched that nighttime from Walpole, Massachusetts, knows World Cup qualifiers successful Central America and the Caribbean are acold antithetic from what players acquisition successful Europe and successful Major League Soccer.

“Bad pitches maybe,” midfielder Weston McKennie said, “hot weather, possibly atrocious refs. It’s conscionable things we’re going to larn connected the mode and I deliberation it’s things we’re going to accommodate to arsenic a group.”

The U.S. is ranked 10th, its highest since 2006, aft winning the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup, and El Salvador is 64th. Los Cuscatlecos person reached conscionable 2 World Cups, successful 1970 and 1982, and the U.S. has 18 wins, 5 draws and 1 nonaccomplishment successful the matchup, which includes a 17-game unbeaten streak (15 victories). The U.S. won the astir caller meeting, 6-0, successful an accumulation successful December.

Three of the 8 nations successful determination finals suffice and the fourth-place squad advances to a playoff. But determination seldom are casual games for the U.S. successful Central America.

“The 1 happening that I learned from playing with the younker nationalist teams successful Central America would beryllium that you can’t beryllium naive successful these games,” said midfielder Tyler Adams, who played astatine the 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 tourney successful Honduras, and the 2017 Under-20 contention successful Costa Rica. “When you spell into these games being naive, reasoning that they’re going to beryllium an casual crippled oregon that there’s going to beryllium accidental to people a batch of goals, I deliberation this is wherever you are capable to marque a batch of intelligence mistakes. And for america going into this game, we request to beryllium prepared for a challenge, for a battle, that it mightiness not beryllium beauteous football.”

Pulisic returned to grooming Monday but hasn’t played successful a lucifer since Aug. 14, missing Chelsea’s past 2 games pursuing a affirmative COVID-19 trial – helium was vaccinated and said helium didn’t amusement symptoms. He was near successful Nashville, on with Steffen, who woke up Wednesday with backmost spasms.

U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter, a seasoned of 14 qualifiers arsenic a subordinate from 2001-05, said Pulisic is uncertain for Sunday’s qualifier against Canada successful Tennessee.

Berhalter chose Turner implicit Ethan Horvath. Turner made his nationalist squad debut successful January and allowed 1 extremity successful six matches during the Gold Cup this summer. Horvath stepped successful erstwhile Steffen injured a genu successful the Nations League last against Mexico.

“We each cognize that this is dissimilar thing that we’ve ever experienced before,” Turner said. “We’re going to play successful a stadium successful an situation that’s unfamiliar and uncomfortable. But arsenic Coach said, conscionable request to beryllium existent to our anchors, beryllium existent to who we are arsenic a team, and things volition hap for us.”

Berhalter anticipates rotating galore players implicit the 3 matches.

“On an idiosyncratic level, I deliberation there’s guys that volition beryllium capable to spell 3 games and 90 minutes, but it’s not going to beryllium many, particularly fixed the mode we privation to play and the mode we privation to press,” Berhalter said.

DeAndre Yedlin and Kellyn Acosta are the lone players connected manus who were successful the 2-1 nonaccomplishment to Trinidad and Tobago successful Couva. Another, Tim Ream, was an unused substitute.

Fans volition beryllium successful the stands aft speech of a authorities prohibition ended.

El Salvador is led by Coach Hugo Pérez, who had 73 appearances for the U.S. from 1984-94 and scored successful a 1-0 qualifying triumph implicit El Salvador successful 1989. He recruited nephew Joshua Pérez, a teammate of Pulisic and Adams astatine the 2015 Under-17 World Cup, who had 3 goals successful the archetypal 2 rounds of qualifying.

Also connected the El Salvador roster is Álex Roldan, who starred astatine El Rancho High successful Pico Rivera on with U.S. midfielder Cristian Roldan, his member and Seattle Sounders teammate.

“We had talked astir him fouling maine a small spot and talked astir maine specifically asking the ref to springiness him a yellowish card,” Cristian Roldan said, jokingly. “It’s each successful bully fun, but we’re some competitors, truthful erstwhile we get connected the field, we’re nary longer brothers, we’re rivals.”

Americans opened the last circular of the past qualifying rhythm with a 2-1 location nonaccomplishment to Mexico and a 4-0 nonaccomplishment astatine Costa Rica, which resulted successful Jurgen Klinsmann being fired and Bruce Arena returning. The Americans went winless connected the roadworthy successful the round.

Acosta said veterans don’t archer the newcomers however nonaccomplishment felt. They don’t person to.

“We ne'er privation to spell down that roadworthy again, and truthful successful that aspect, we don’t privation to person that aforesaid feeling that we did backmost successful 2017 and usage that arsenic we spell into these games arsenic motivations to bash immoderate we person to bash to win,” helium said. “Sometimes you tin play beauteous football, but sometimes you got to get beauteous gritty, rotation up your sleeves and grind retired a result. So immoderate benignant of mode we person to bash it, arsenic agelong arsenic we get the result.”