ST. PAUL, Minn. — The U.S. men’s national team can breathe again. It can feel its fingers and toes again, too, as a 3-0 win over Honduras in frigid conditions has the U.S.’s World Cup qualifying campaign back on track.
It’s a win that is most welcome for the players and manager Gregg Berhalter, because let’s face it, the current World Cup qualifying window had been a brutal slog. The 1-0 win against El Salvador was labored, the 2-0 loss against Canada deflating. Berhalter’s side looked to be regressing, rather than getting stronger. With the Honduras match scheduled for Minnesota in the dead of winter, it seemed an unnecessary complication for a more talented U.S. side.
Yet the U.S. regrouped thanks to goals from Weston McKennie, Walker Zimmerman and substitute Christian Pulisic.
It was a game that was about survival. Honduras may have already been eliminated, but as the 2018 cycle…
