Next week the USMNT will play a pair of friendlies under the tutelage of new manager Mauricio Pochettino. The first game will be against Panama and is a fitting rematch for the new skipper. In the Copa America the sides met and Panama got the better of the Stars and Stripes. It would be one more game before Gregg Berhalter’s last, but truly the loss to a team that nobody ever really knows is good or not or is just so Panama that they win sometimes should have sealed his fate.
There will be some discussion about expectations for playing Panama but every single preview or pre-match analysis could bastardize the ole Alex Ferguson line about Pochettino’s former club – Lads, it’s Panama. They don’t have a consistent goal threat, their best player is a right back who plays at an OK team in France and the captain is a Godoy. They have a wealth of Godoys.
One of my fondest memories of a Panamanian player was Jaime Pinedo moving an advertising rug that was in the way of his goal kick run up at the Georgia Dome during the 2015 Gold Cup. What a dang gamer.
Of course we have to mention Roman Torres who scored the MLS Cup winning penalty in what was perhaps the worst MLS Cup ever played in 2016. It was truly fitting that a player so skilled in the dark arts of Concacafing would not only help secure a 0-0 draw but would also win the game for the Sounders. Then there’s Blas Perez Luis Tejada – arguably the same guy. Combined they played for 40 seasons and 44 clubs. They are first and second in all time scoring for Los Canaleros with 43 and 42 goals. Were they good? Nobody knows, they scored goals sometimes and were probably not fun to defend, but good? The answer is Concacaf.
It’s Panama, it won’t be fun. It won’t be good. There will be fights. Pochettino brought Spurs to Stoke plenty of times and had the kind of game we can expect against Panama. The second game has more potential, a game against Mexico in Mexico. I’m salivating. A match against Mexico will be a really good chance for the team to show that it can play with the kind of Arrogance-Confidence-Without-Disrespect that he wants to instill. That said, it’s Mexico so there should be a caveat that Disrespect is integral to the game plan.
The game will provide fans with the most vital aspect of supporting a team: hope. USA vs. El Tri is a rivalry of cliches wrapped in fights, national borders, and moments of ecstasy plus dread in equal measure and occasionally at the same time. An Arrogant-Confident side should play with hope bursting out of its very being. Christian Pulisic is hitting his prime, Antonee Robinson is shaping up to be a top 5 Premier League right back, the manager has been able to do more with less in the past, maybe someone else will score goals. Expectations are upper-mid if not low-high and the belief that the team can succeed is warranted. Regardless of the opponent, the USMNT should be the kind of team that can beat any nation in the world. Short of that the team can cause enough trouble to make opponents fearful enough that they could become the next Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup. How they conduct themselves against Mexico in Mexico will either feed that hope or let it wither on the vine.
