ST. LOUIS -- Rarely is a 3-0 victory accompanied by the kind of emotions that were present in Saturday's win by the United States men's national team over Uzbekistan.
Typically it's the kind of margin that induces backslaps and high-fives. Three goals? Check. Clean sheet? Also a check. And it's the kind of scoreline that one would expect given that the U.S.is 11th in FIFA's World Ranking of men's national teams, playing against 74th.
If only it were that simple.
The way the U.S. went about the victory was reminiscent of its performances at last December's World Cup in Qatar.