The USMNT Rallied To Pick Up A Much-Needed 2022 World Cup Qualifying Win In Honduras

For 45 minutes on Wednesday night in San Pedro Sula, the United States men’s national team really stunk. The Americans, facing about as close to a must-win match as an international team could face in game three of 14 in the final round of World Cup Qualifying, rolled out a lineup that made zero sense and looked so listless that “listless” somehow is not a strong enough word to describe things. And thanks to a goal by Brayan Moya in the 27th minute, Honduras actually stepped into the dressing room up, 1-0, on the No. 10 team in the world.

But by the time the dust settled, the United States — down a number of its top performers and relying on a hodgepodge of largely youngsters and MLS players in the second half — picked up three points in a 4-1 win that propelled them to third place in CONCACAF as this international window came to an end.

The USMNT entered the game a bit of a mess, taking two points from two matches (one of which took place on home soil) and mired in an off-the-field controversy revolving around standout midfielder Weston McKennie. Add in that a few big-name players on the roster, namely European wunderkinds Gio Reyna and Sergino Dest, left the camp with injuries, and things looked bleak entering Honduras, a famously tricky place to play.

Murphy’s law struck in a big way during the first half. The Americans could not complete passes or dribbles with any sort of consistency, as the team’s brand new 5-2-3 formation just did not work. Honduras, meanwhile, looked crisp and lively on its home soil. Both of these things were hammered home by Moya’s goal in which he got ample amounts of space to head a ball past Matt Turner.

Entering halftime, the U.S. found itself completely out of ideas and near the bottom of the table. Berhalter, who received scorn for holding onto his subs for far too long in the team’s last match against Canada, responded by taking off a trio of players who were underperforming (John Brooks, George Bello, Josh Sargent) and replacing them with players (Sebastian Lletget, Antonee Robinson, Brenden Aaronson) who let them go to a more familiar 4-3-3 formation. It took three minutes for this gamble to work, as Robinson opened his national team account with a lovely finish and a backflip to celebrate.

While the team was dealt a brutal hand several minutes later when ace winger Christian Pulisic came off due to injury, the USMNT kept chipping away until 18-year-old striker Ricardo Pepi, perhaps the best prospect at the position the United States has ever produced, got a goal in his national team debut. Another sub, DeAndre Yedlin, whipped in a ball that found Pepi’s head, and the FC Dallas star headed it right past Luis López.

Pepi was done scoring, but he wasn’t done creating opportunities. In the 86th minute, Pepi drove the ball forward after a turnover in midfield and attracted both Honduras defenders in the area. This left Aaronson totally unmarked. Pepi found him and the RB Salzburg man did the rest.

The icing on the cake came via Lletget, who pounced on a saved effort from Pepi and had a wide open net to pass the ball into.

Because of the pile-on of goals at the end, the Americans now sit in third in CONCACAF, which would send them to Qatar in 2022. Its next round of World Cup Qualifiers take place next month, as the team hosts Jamaica on Oct. 7, travels to Panama on Oct. 10, and comes home to take on Costa Rica on Oct. 13.

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