Woeful USA fail to make 2018 World Cup after loss to Trinidad & Tobago

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/10/usa-trinidad-and-tobago-world-cup-2018-qualifier-soccer?CMP=share_btn_tw Opting not to refresh the line-up proved a misjudgment. Prior to Tuesday, T&T had scored only five times in their previous nine Hex fixtures. But they were 2-0 up before the break as the US started like a team who believed the job was done last Friday, when the win over Panama seemingly relaxed Arena’s men into a state of stupefaction in Trinidad. Sluggish and subdued, the conventional wisdom that playing for a draw is dangerous was born out by the US’s dismal first-half performance. The match was held at Ato Boldon Stadium in the small town of Couva, where the running track ringing the field was so inundated with water on Monday that had the heavy rain continued it might have been necessary to issue the substitutes with snorkels. 'It’s only working for the white kids': American soccer's diversity problem Read more But the lake had cleared by kick off, and any moat analogies were best resisted, despite the final score: here was no fortress but a largely quiet and empty 10,000-capacity arena, with the hosts picking an inexperienced line-up. And this a nation that before Tuesday had delivered one win and eight losses in the Hexagonal qualifying round, good for last place.