SOC: USMNT Falls To Ireland
The United States Men's National Team had been playing pretty well since their loss to Trinidad and Tobago, which eliminated them from World Cup contention. The U.S. was 2-0-1 this year, with a pair of shutout victories over Paraguay and Bolivia. And then they came into a match with the Republic of Ireland today, and it seemed like their momentum was completely stopped. After getting off to a good start, taking a 1-0 lead from a Bobby Wood goal, the USMNT stopped being aggressive. altogether. The entire second half, Ireland was the only team pushing the ball forward consistently and looking to score. Even after Ireland tied at 1-1, due to a Graeme Burke goal, the United States still didn't turn up their energy at all.
The U.S. isn't in a very good spot right now, obviously since they're missing the World Cup, and I'm not sure if it's going to get better anytime soon. I realize that they only had four Major League Soccer players available today because of scheduling conflicts, but it still seemed like the young players looked uninterested for much of the game. Shaq Moore, who came in as a substitute during the second half, is supposed to be one of the best players in the country (and he might very well be), but certainly didn't look like it today. He only played about 20 minutes but wasn't around the ball very much at all. I expected him to come on and at least show effort but the entire team was flat for much of the match.
Alan Judge scored in the 90th minute and the United States failed again. Unfortunately for the USMNT, it's not going to get easier anytime soon. They just played (and beat) Bolivia earlier in the week, 3-0, but that's likely going to be the easiest match for them in the foreseeable future. France is set to go for the World Cup, and is one of the favorites to win it all, but they'll face off against the U.S. before heading to Russia. The game is scheduled for June 9th. It'll be the United States' fifth match of the year. After they face France, the following schedule is: Mexico, England, and Italy. The match against Mexico, their rival, is set for September 11th. The other two will happen in November. We'll see how the USMNT responds against France next week.
Photo Credit: Sporting News.
