By halftime of the 2022 World Cup qualifier in Honduras on Wednesday, the U.S. men’s national soccer team was in big trouble. Coach Gregg Berhalter had gotten the tactics wrong. The players seemed as detached from the match as they were disconnected from each other.
The deficit was just one goal, but the match had the markings of the 4-0 qualifying defeat in Costa Rica almost five years ago that ended Jurgen Klinsmann’s coaching tenure.
With four probable starters absent, the odds were already stacked against the U.S. squad. The Hondurans were flying, and the Americans seemed they would crumble.