U.S. team's Caribbean tests about more than reaching the Hex

The U.S. national team is heavily favored to win its final two World Cup qualifiers of the current round, but the upcoming quizzes are about much more than earning six points.

You may have spent the past week hearing about how important the U.S. national team's next two matches are. Yes, World Cup qualifiers are inherently important, particularly when the team playing in them hasn't qualified yet, but it might feel just a little bit phony to some who look at a game against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, then one against Trinidad and Tobago, and feel like the U.S. winning them should be a foregone conclusion.

There have been plenty of examples of seemingly easy matches winding up much…