The USMNT battled to a 1-1 draw with Mexico in the Azteca Stadium, in a rivalry match that had just about everything you’d want from a meeting of this magnitude. Coming off a vibrant win against Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. put in another energetic performance, but how did they stack up on an individual basis?
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When Jurgen Klinsmann arrived as U.S. national team coach, he promised lofty goals. He preached elevating the play to something more dynamic than defend and counter. He spoke to overhauling a broken developmental system.
Five years later, those promises remain largely unfulfilled. His U.S. sides often played ugly, and his attempts to change the system may take years to deliver any fruit — if they do at all.
But failure in the goals Klinsmann set is different from failure as U.S. coach. Despite celebrations that would indicate Klinsmann’s failure was a catastrophe to the level of the 1998 World Cup, the reality was the German coach achieved plenty of heights as U.S. boss. He also came close to achieving even more, but fell just short — a resume that puts him on the level of his predecessors Bob Bradley and Bruce Arena.
The 2014 World Cup saw the toughest group the U.S. has managed to qualify out of: The eventual champion Germany, a Portugal side that would win the European Championship two summers later and a Ghana team that perhaps played the Germans better than any team in Brazil, fighting to a 2-2 draw.
Was it pretty? No, but the U.S. arguably was considered the weakest team in that group. Just getting results should have been good enough.
If those contests were ugly, the Belgium game was nightmarish. But despite the World Cup dark horses’ gaudy shot total, the U.S. could have still walked away with a memorable win, either by Chris Wondowloski converting or the furious comeback in extra time that fell just short.
And with hopes low given a difficult group in the Copa America Centenario this past summer, Klinsmann’s side again exceeded expectations, winning its group and making the semifinals before an Argentina side that would make its third major tournament final in three years outclassed it.
There were bad moments, too. But even those moments could have gone differently with a bit more luck.
When the U.S. lost to Jamaica in the 2015 Gold Cup semifinals, it was the better side throughout — but execution errors and poor finishing let the Americans down. In the CONCACAF Cup, the U.S. was outplayed but found itself a few minutes away from penalties against a better Mexico side before surrendering a late goal.
And there were his final matches — a shellacking on the road at Costa Rica — something all too common among for a U.S. national team that has lost by at least two goals in that World Cup qualifying fixture now five straight times, and a performance against Mexico that, like the Jamaica loss, could have been a win with better execution.
If these sound like excuses, they’re not. That close losses can turn into wins and visa versa is the reality of the job and the sport itself. And its the same reality that happened to his predecessors.
Take the man he replaced, Bob Bradley. The current Swansea coach built much of his legacy on the 2009 Confederations Cup upset of No. 1-ranked Spain. It was a game that saw U.S. on the back foot for most of the contest, but the Americans nabbed opportunist strikes and held on for dear life. It wasn’t dominant, and it was lucky, but it was impressive, given the opposition.
In the final, the U.S. attempted to repeat its strategy after grabbing an early lead, but…