US Men's National Team Hosts Honduras in World Cup Qualuifying

Entering their third game of the hex, The US men’s national team are looking for their first points in world cup qualifying

The Ins and Outs: US men’s national team (0-2-0) vs. Honduras (1-1-0)

Where to watch: FS1 and Univision Deportes

Streaming: Fox Soccer2Go and fuboTV

Coaches: Bruce Arena (USA) – Jorge Luis Pinto (Honduras).

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The Victories Start Now:

It’s a new era… well sorta… Bruce Arena is back in the building. The difference this time is that it isn’t playtime and puppies. He enters into a tenuous situation as the US men’s national team has lost their firs two games of qualifying costing manager Jurgen Klinsmann his job. The USA returned to a known quantity in Arena to get through qualifying and World Cup 2018. So what this means is that today, it’s time for Arena to put up or shut up, the stakes are high and the team needs points. The fate of the US men’s national team’s qualification for World Cup 2018 rests in his hands but, no pressure, right?

On the best of days, Honduras is a challenge for the US but to make matters worse, the US will be playing without Fabian Jonson, DeAndre Yedlin, Bobby Wood, and others. It won’t be a walk in the park for the United states but there is enough talent on the roster to see off Honduras in this qualifying match.

Honduras will be fine with a draw in this one so don’t be surprised to see them sit back and try to counter the US men’s national team when they attempt to get on the break. It’s a patented style for Honduras and one that they use a lot in away matches.

Possible Lineups:

With the injury to Bobby Wood and the question of Jordan Morris’ health it only leaves Bruce Arena with three healthy strikers for his patented 4-4-2 formation. Adding in the Injury to Fabian Johnson and the Suspension to Jermaine Jones and a significant amount of Arena regulars will be missing in this game. This makes picking a lineup almost a crapshoot but I took my best shot at one below:

Keys to Victory

Christian Pulisic and Darlington Nagbe must provide space to operate– With Honduras expected to bunker in this game, space will be at a premium tonight. That means that it will be up to the two most creative players on the team to spread the field with their exploits out wide. Pulisic has shown that he can handle this responsibility on the club level with his massive rise as Dourtmund but Darlington Nagbe still has much to prove for the US Men’s National Team. While patrolling much of the field he looks like the tricky winger that the team needs but once he gets into the final third, the wheels fall off. If the US wants to win tonight, that can’t happen again.
Hold your line – Thanks to injuries the US Men’s National Team will be playing a makeshift backline. While they have plenty of experience in these types of games, they’re lacking pretty heavily in the speed department. Playing against a Honduras team that loves to get on the break and counter, the US backline will have to keep a watchful eye making sure that they don’t allow the Honduras attackers to play on their back shoulder. If the US allows an early goal, Honduras will immediately transition into park the bus mode making their job 100 times harder.
Play without pressure– While this is easier said than done, the US Men’s National Team must forget the standings. Everyone knows where they are right now but if they step on the pitch in San Jose playing not to lose instead of playing to win, this could be a rough result for the Yanks. The past two games are out the window and if they play to win while showing no fear, the rough start to the Hex will soon enough be a distant memory.

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US Men’s National Team Hosts Honduras in World Cup Qualuifying

By Chuck Booth | Mar 24, 2017

Entering their third game of the hex, The US men’s national team are looking for their first points in world cup qualifying