During the qualifying rounds of the world cup set to be in Russia during this summer, the United States National Team seemed to have a pretty easy spot set for them, having to win or tie against Trinidad and Tobago as well as losses or ties by Panama and Honduras. But this is far from what happened. They lost the game and hadn’t qualified for the first time in 30 years. It was a 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago.

“It was more than a wake up call, time for a revolution.” Said Donna Shalala, a member of the U.S Men’s Soccer board of directors.

Jurgen Klinsmann was seen at fault for this because of his unorthodox and impulsive coaching styles. He uses weird formations and puts central defenders at left back which isn’t really a strong formation whatsoever.

‘’There was no urgency, no competitive edge.’’

Says Triton teacher Mr.Galante, he wasn’t able to watch the game on T.V but he was able to stream it on his phone. Galante says, as he was watching, he saw the loss coming, and that the game was so frustrating to watch because they’d counted themselves out too quickly.  Then came the Honduras and Costa Rica games, they had both won and the U.S needed to win to qualify, but they fell short. Galante says,

“I’m happy to see what they can do in the future.”

The U.S national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, will not be returning to coach anymore, and hopefully it will open up some opportunities for the team as a whole. As well as Galante, another person who wasn’t happy about the game was Triton school teacher and soccer coach, Mr Smith.

‘’You win as a team, you lose as a team.”

Said Smith. Smith  said that the performance was pitiful and the group effort was very bad, and that if they are going to do better, they need to up their efforts. They also need to change their formula, formations, and how the national soccer team is picked, because it isn’t working right now. Smith also says.

“Soccer is more pay to play in the U.S’’

He explains that some talent is missed out on because players can’t afford to go to clubs, and how countries like Brazil have a system much like our more popular sports and it makes that talent easier to find.