ORLANDO, Fla. – The US men’s national team readily admit they are worn and weary, and when that happens, you can bet the fatigue is quite substantial.
Their final window of Concacaf Octagonal World Cup qualifying is barely halfway over and the Yanks have logged hefty mileage on the pitch and in the air, first gathering in Houston, then jetting to Mexico City for an exhausting high-altitude 0-0 rivalry clash with Mexico, then on to central Florida ahead of Sunday’s vital home match vs. Panama (7 pm ET | FS1, UniMas, TUDN).
“I feel like I do second day after every game I play; pretty tired,” left back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson told reporters in Saturday’s matchday-1 press conference when asked about his physical state. “In terms of recovery, we've been given as much resources as been available. The boys are doing cryo[therapy], they’re getting on with the physio, so everyone's doing as much as they can to put themselves in the best condition going into the game tomorrow. But you can't take away from the fact that we played two days ago.”
This COVID-disrupted qualifying cycle’s three-game windows are unprecedented and as USA Today’s Emily Olsen noted, Robinson has logged the lion’s share of those minutes.
There is ready consolation in the fact that it’s the same for the rest of the Octagonal field – and the USMNT’s reward for taking all three points off Los Canaleros at Orlando City SC’s Exploria Stadium is enormous.
Depending on results elsewhere, it could well be the result that clinches them a trip to Qatar 2022.
“People are going to be tired going into games tomorrow and it's the same for the opposition. Everyone's in the same boat,” continued Robinson. “So it's just going to be one of them that you've got to kind of forget that you’re tired, put it to one side, give your all and know that we've got five subs available to come on if you're pushed to your limit.”
In another sign of the management of those heavy legs, head coach Gregg Berhalter and his staff elected to hold their only training session in Orlando – one he said will inevitably be a very light one – at a facility near their hotel in the region’s outer suburbs on Saturday evening, rather than spend extra time and effort on a bus trekking back and forth to the match venue.
“We did exert a lot of energy with the high altitude and the [Estadio Azteca] field and then travel,” said goalkeeper Zack Steffen. “But I think we're all in a good place. We've done a good job to recover and get our bodies back and get our minds back. And we'll have training, get our legs moving, kind of get the flight out of us a little bit more and then the show gets started again tomorrow.”
Panama are also fighting for their World Cup lives, having just been passed in the standings by Costa Rica after Los Canaleros dropped two points at home vs. Honduras on Thursday, and will “put up big resistance,” in Berhalter’s words.
The US must also cope with a range of absences inflicted by injuries and suspensions, most glaringly at right back, where Shaq Moore was flown in from Spain on Thursday and could well step straight into the starting XI with Sergino Dest injured, Reggie Cannon testing positive for COVID and DeAndre Yedlin suspended due to a yellow card against Mexico.
But the USMNT can practically smell the finish line they’ve been working towards and dreaming about for the past few years.
“It's been a long road,” said Steffen. “Qualifying’s a lot of games and a lot of different camps and guys have injuries, and different guys are called in all the time. I think we have a very good camaraderie in terms of whoever gets called steps up and does their job. And we have a lot of that, and you guys have seen that in the qualifying games. It’s exactly what we need, and that's exactly why we're here.”
Notably, Berhalter has a huge choice to make at the striker spot.
Ricardo Pepi has lacked top form for both club and country for months, and looked it vs. El Tri. When Berhalter named this roster, he specifically cited Jordan Pefok’s physicality and aerial ability as a useful weapon vs. Panama, and the Swiss-based target man came off the bench to spell Pepi in Mexico City and promptly missed the target on that game’s clearest scoring chance.
Meanwhile, Jesus Ferreira arrived in camp off the back of a blistering hat-trick outing for FC Dallas, but brings a distinctly different toolkit as a false-ish No. 9 that may or may not be what Berhalter wants vs. the rugged, organized Canaleros, who inflicted one of the USMNT’s two Ocho losses in the reverse fixture in Panama City back in October.
“All three forwards are in contention to start the game tomorrow. They all bring different elements that could help the team be successful,” said Berhalter. “Jordan certainly is good on crosses, good in the penalty box. It was a difficult night for him in Azteca, there's no question about that. But players bounce back. Pepi, I think I talked after the game about his work rate, I thought was outstanding. I thought his defensive pressure was very good.
“So overall, these guys all put themselves in contention to play again and we'll have to make the decision tonight.”
Exploria was a deafening house of horrors for Panama in the 2018 cycle, when the USMNT thumped them 4-0 at OCSC’s home. The hosts expect similar noise and atmosphere on Sunday, which the federation announced will be a sellout crowd.
“We're so excited to play in Orlando in front of the fans. That stadium, in my opinion, is one of the best stadiums in America for getting a crazy atmosphere,” said Berhalter. “And we want to use that atmosphere, but it's still going to be a difficult game and we need to bring the intensity if we want to win.”
