After draw with England, all that matters now is for the USA to beat Iran

AL KHOR, Qatar -- First came the deflating decorativeness against Wales. Then came the not-quite-sure-how-to-feel-about-it stalemate with England.

Now comes the lone crippled that matters.

That was the lone happening to instrumentality distant from Friday's scoreless gully with the Three Lions here, the lone genuinely meaningful talking point. Tactics? Personnel? All amusive to debate, of course, but portion it each distant and there's lone this: On Tuesday, the United States men's nationalist squad volition play a lucifer against Iran that successful galore ways volition specify Gregg Berhalter's tenure successful summation to sending this young halfway of American players connected a corporate trajectory of precocious occurrence oregon disheartening failure.

- World Cup 2022: News and features | Schedule | Squads

Is that a brutal reality? Maybe. But truthful it goes successful planetary soccer, wherever sometimes -- often, adjacent -- a team's communicative takes years to scope a climax that consists of a bare 90 minutes. For this US team, it is that simple: Win and they spell to the knockout rounds. Lose and they spell home.

"It's wide now," Berhalter said afterward. "I deliberation anytime you're successful a World Cup and you get to spell into the past radical crippled controlling your destiny, that's a bully thing."

He added: "We privation to seizure the public's attention. We privation to execute astatine a precocious level, we privation to springiness them thing to beryllium arrogant of. A nighttime similar contiguous helps, but determination has to beryllium much to come. And that's the absorption arsenic of close now."

That has been Berhalter's mantra since taking implicit successful 2018, erstwhile helium assumed work for a floundering programme mired successful embarrassment aft failing to suffice for the past World Cup. He has talked astir changing perceptions, some successful the United States and abroad. He has talked astir making an impact. About making history.

In immoderate ways, helium has already done that. He has nurtured (and successful galore cases, recruited) a procreation of young stars. He has developed a playing style. He has recovered a mode to bring the champion retired of his players, asking for -- and receiving -- their champion efforts.

Look astatine Friday: When Berhalter changed things up tactically against England, going to a 4-4-2 that would necessitate Christian Pulisic to support much than accustomed connected the wing, it was a hazard -- but 1 that Pulisic paid disconnected by moving and digging successful with grit and determination.

"It's astonishing to spot our biggest superstar being 1 of the hardest moving guys connected the field," Berhalter said. "When you person that, something's going close connected the team."

He is right. But that benignant of performance, connected its own, isn't enough. Neither is the assurance that the US players intelligibly feel. US midfielder Weston McKennie said aft the lucifer that "we're not truly acrophobic of playing against top-tier teams" due to the fact that the players "know the endowment and combat and spirit" that they person and, to beryllium sure, each of that matters.

Yet still: the US has played 2 matches astatine this World Cup and scored 1 goal. It hasn't won a crippled extracurricular the United States successful 14 months. It fto a pb gaffe distant successful its archetypal lucifer that could person made a monolithic quality and present it faces an Iran squad that, successful summation to being buoyed by the governmental uprising it represents wrong its ain country, will besides beryllium lifted by a melodramatic 2-0 victory implicit Wales earlier Friday that puts it a bully effect distant from the Round of 16 too.

The US tin bash this. If it plays similar it did successful the archetypal fractional against Wales oregon (most of) the archetypal fractional against England, the chances volition beryllium there. McKennie was dynamic against England. Tyler Adams was everywhere. Pulisic was up and back. Sergino Dest made runs. Tim Ream and Walker Zimmerman were stout successful defense. Matt Turner had a beardown manus successful extremity erstwhile helium needed it.

The pieces are there. And arsenic overmuch arsenic the effect means to the players, it is hard to ideate Berhalter having a compelling lawsuit for managing this squad astatine the 2026 World Cup successful North America without astatine slightest making it retired of the radical signifier here. Again, that whitethorn not beryllium just but, arsenic Berhalter said himself erstwhile asked astir the comparatively fewer games that planetary managers are judged on, "It's what I signed up for."

It is. It is besides what truthful galore expected erstwhile the gully for this tourney archetypal came out, adjacent if the preamble hasn't gone precisely the mode astir assumed. The US was expected to bushed Wales, suffer to England and past play for it each against Iran. Instead, they did neither of those things successful the archetypal 2 matches and person to play for it each against Iran anyway.

There's an elimination crippled present connected Tuesday. A crippled that holds wrong it each that Berhalter has been preaching to his squad for years. An accidental to alteration those perceptions, if lone they tin prehend it.

"For us, we're not done," Berhalter said. "Our absorption is to support going. And hopefully by the extremity of the tourney we'll springiness radical thing to speech about."