The benefit of time and space will apply an undeserved gloss to the United States' 2-1 victory at Antigua and Barbuda.
Only the final stats matter: three points collected, two goals (including the saving grace in the 90th minute) from the recalled Eddie Johnson and one place secured in the Hexagonal with a draw or better against Guatemala in Kansas City on Tuesday night.
But the record won't reflect what this dismal and unacceptable performance showed. And on that count, the Americans failed by every possible measure.
No possible excuse – not the injuries, not the narrow pitch and not the wet conditions – can even begin to provide cover for the Americans' general ineptitude and tactical confusion against a overmatched Caribbean minnow with a decent defensive shape.
It could have – and should have – been much, much different. Johnson scored the opener after 20 minutes by rising above the out-of-sorts home defense to head home a tempting cross from Graham Zusi. Scoring the first goal should have given the Americans all they needed to push the game onwards and secure the points in straightforward manner. Good teams usually do just that against poor opposition.
Not this group, and not on this soggy night. Instead of seizing control of the game, the USA permitted Antigua to restore parity. Peter Byers took advantage of some truly calamitous defending down the left side to square toward Dexter Blackstock. Clarence Goodson's slip on the slick surface allowed Blackstock to tap home from six yards. The USA would then struggle for much of the next 65 minutes.
This moment could have registered as a blip en route to a comprehensive win. It didn't. The USA never mustered a response, dithering in possession in the middle third, passing the ball around without purpose and showing little, if any, desire to engineer a reply.
It looked as if U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann sent his team out with a flimsy set of directives in a 4-4-2 setup that bizarrely included Johnson on the left flank. More troubling, the Americans again allowed the conditions and the opposition to dictate their approach to the game. Its efforts toward Molvin James' goal were rare as Antigua was allowed to comfortably pack its own half. The wide play, promised during the week by Klinsmann, disappeared after Zusi's cross with few, if any, options on the admittedly modest flanks. The work in possession wasn't ambitious enough or sharp enough to pull apart or stretch the compact Antiguans. Clint Dempsey and Herculez Gómez starved for service — as the dropped Jozy Altidore did before them.
The Americans’ staggeringly passive display continued in the second half as the dire match threatened to turn in favor of the home side. Antigua asked a few questions on the break and it was fortunate for the USA that they simply didn't have the quality to produce a goal. Klinsmann finally sent Alan Gordon and Sacha Kljestan into the fray to freshen up a group that lodged just one shot on goal in the first 81 minutes.
The changes created a spark and some desperation. Kljestan waited just three minutes to force James to parry away his shot at the near post. Michael Bradley remonstrated after a hard tackle and smashed a header toward goal that James parried onto the crossbar.
Klinsmann's two surprising choices for this squad combined to salvage the points and partially spare the Americans some blushes as stoppage time beckoned. Gordon drifted out toward the right and floated a cross to the back post. Johnson, as he did on the first goal, climbed high, nodded home and peeled away to celebrate the winner. Relief swept through the US camp when the whistle blew to sound full time.
These three points will likely secure safe passage to the Hexagonal, but they arrive in a laborious and slipshod manner that should inspire deep introspection about what the Americans can do once they arrive there. This performance represents the latest and worst in a series of underwhelming performances in a group that should have offered little trouble for one of the two best sides in CONCACAF. Instead of proceeding through this set of tasks in a composed and professional manner, the Americans have sputtered through with one decent half in the books (the first stanza in the 1-0 home win over Jamaica) and a host of questions about the direction of the team.
Fortunately for Klinsmann and his players, there is still time to rectify matters given their fundamental success. Sometimes, these sorts of troubles can lead to substantial improvement during the qualifying process. But that improvement must come quickly indeed to answer the increasingly loud questions about the direction of the team and dispel the increasing doubts ahead of the truly difficult challenges looming next year in the Hexagonal.
