Back to sound the death knell for the USMNT, which forever more will stand for US mutant ninja turtles.
A 2-1 loss to T&T combined with other results placed the US in FIFTH in the final Hex standings. See ya, Russia 2018 ... on TV. I’ll be rooting for Iceland where they know how to professionally manage a national team program.
So. Fire every body who wears a tie or a track suit to work and let’s get started fixing this mess.
It has to start with Gulati. Besides alienating the only successful national team, he hired and then extended Klinsmann and kept him longer than he should have. And giving him the Technical Director job was administrative malpractice. On the plus side, Engand and France both missed in 1994 and recovered, with France winning in 1998. It's possible, but it requires serious change and commitment.
In other qualifying news, Lionel Messi single-handedly dragged Argentina over the line. Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay also qualified from CONMEBOL. Peru plays New Zealand for another spot.
In UEFA, The Netherlands failed to qualify for their 2nd straight major tournament, having missed Euro 2016 too. Iceland qualified for their first ever World Cup, after qualifying for Euro 2016. Belgium, England, France, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Serbia and Spain were the other UEFA qualifiers. Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland are in the 2 legged playoff for the last 4 spots.
From Asia, Iran, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia qualified. Australia plays Honduras for a spot.
From Africa, Nigeria and Egypt (for the first time since 1990) qualified. There are 3 more spots open pending the last round of group play next month. Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal lead those groups.