Whew was my feeling after the match. Felt we should’ve had more goals but the 3 points are what matter. Great response by the team after the Panama letdown. Props to the excellent midfield play, Miles Robinson’s speed & Bryan Ruiz’s lack of it.
Dest’s golazo was as awesome as it was timely. How he connected like he did with the untied laces could be a whole other story—how on earth did his boot stay on?
Glad we got the big W & looking forward to the Mexico match—hopefully with Pulisic & Reyna back.
Regarding your point about the crowded qualifying cycle, I agree that is too much. Do you think this 3-games-in-a-week will be the standard going forward in future WCQ cycles Grant? It must be more onerous for UEFA countries as they also play in Euro qualifiers.
"Bringing a Barcelona starter to Estadio Cuscatlán felt like taking a bottle of Mouton Rothschild to a Jägermeister-drenched freshman dorm party." ..That's journalistic poetry. 🤯
I don't think the US would have gotten a red card even if a penalty was called as that was a clear attempt to play ball. Also, I am pretty sure the the Costa Rica chance with Ruiz would have given them the lead as I believe it occurred prior to Weah's goal.
Grant, great story. This is the best (or my favorite at least) work you’ve done on the newsletter so far. Looking forward to hopefully another three-point story in Cincy!
You mention the US having an advantage with charter flights and such, but aren’t most of the other countries playing domestic (or at least Americas-based) players, thus getting some advantage in not having players fly across the Atlantic before the windows?
Great piece. Thinking about home field advantage going forward, any rumblings on where the January home games versus Honduras and El Salvador will be, or where Canada will host the US in that window? Some real potential for some snow classicos in that window, both home and away.
Whew was my feeling after the match. Felt we should’ve had more goals but the 3 points are what matter. Great response by the team after the Panama letdown. Props to the excellent midfield play, Miles Robinson’s speed & Bryan Ruiz’s lack of it.
Dest’s golazo was as awesome as it was timely. How he connected like he did with the untied laces could be a whole other story—how on earth did his boot stay on?
Glad we got the big W & looking forward to the Mexico match—hopefully with Pulisic & Reyna back.
Regarding your point about the crowded qualifying cycle, I agree that is too much. Do you think this 3-games-in-a-week will be the standard going forward in future WCQ cycles Grant? It must be more onerous for UEFA countries as they also play in Euro qualifiers.
However, the 3-game windows have been an advantage for a deeper US squad. Honduras and Costa Rica totally ran out of gas.
"Bringing a Barcelona starter to Estadio Cuscatlán felt like taking a bottle of Mouton Rothschild to a Jägermeister-drenched freshman dorm party." ..That's journalistic poetry. 🤯
Very good piece.
I don't think the US would have gotten a red card even if a penalty was called as that was a clear attempt to play ball. Also, I am pretty sure the the Costa Rica chance with Ruiz would have given them the lead as I believe it occurred prior to Weah's goal.
Good points. Fixed!
Grant, great story. This is the best (or my favorite at least) work you’ve done on the newsletter so far. Looking forward to hopefully another three-point story in Cincy!
Thank you!
Great writing, Grant. Always providing us with things we didn’t know.
You mention the US having an advantage with charter flights and such, but aren’t most of the other countries playing domestic (or at least Americas-based) players, thus getting some advantage in not having players fly across the Atlantic before the windows?
Great piece. Thinking about home field advantage going forward, any rumblings on where the January home games versus Honduras and El Salvador will be, or where Canada will host the US in that window? Some real potential for some snow classicos in that window, both home and away.
Word is the Canada game will be in Vancouver. Curious to see if that has any impact on where the USA-based games take place that window.