This week in US Soccer: USMNT sitting pretty in World Cup qualifying

Michael Bradley is back and Bruce Arena is a genius as the USMNT inch closer to World Cup qualification.

USMNT are right back on track to qualify for the World Cup

The U.S. Men’s National team beat Trinidad and Tobago at home and drew with Mexico at the Azteca in back-to-back World Cup qualifiers this past week. But you already knew that.

The USMNT are currently in third place in the Hexagonal. They have an 83 percent chance of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But you already knew that.

I have just one thing to say. OK, I have a lot of things to say. But the first thing I want to say is this:

MB90 is back, baby!

U.S. captain Michael Bradley put in two stellar performances. And against Mexico he went all Yasiel Puig on his haters, scoring what was possibly the best USMNT World Cup qualifier goal of all time.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/874064214179979264

I want that played on a loop at my funeral. Bradley pick-sixed the hell out of Mexico before, with his very next touch, chipping the keeper from 40 damn yards out. The skill. The awareness. The audacity. The huevos.

I watched the USA-Mexico game at sports book in Las Vegas. I was in town for my little brother’s bachelor party. I’m very happy for him, but there was no way I wasn’t watching this game (obviously).

So anyway, as Bradley intercepted the pass and picked up his head I began to rise out of my seat without realizing it. When he hit the shot I began to raise my arms. As it floated over the outstretched hand of the keeper, just under the bar, and into the net I let loose with a primal roar followed by a string of expletives that would’ve made Ralphie’s dad blush.

After I finally came to, I looked around to find that I was the only one standing and screaming. I couldn’t have cared less. What a moment. Thank you, Michael.

Of course Bradley wasn’t the only one who put in a great shift at the Dreadfort, I mean Azteca Stadium. Geoff Cameron was immense — he probably had a better game than even Bradley — in the middle of a three-man backline.

Which brings me to the other main thing I have to say: shouts to Bruce Arena. He throws out a crazy 3-4-3 lineup that included Tim Ream, Brad Guzan, Paul Arriola and 100-year-old DaMarcus Beasley. Clint Dempsey didn’t play a single minute. Neither did Fabian Johnson or Tim Howard. Did I mention the game was against Mexico at the Azteca?

And the Yanks were still a Kellyn Acosta missed tackle on Chicharito away from winning the thing. But Arena’s lineup wasn’t actually that crazy, at least not as crazy as Jurgen Klinsmann’s attempt at a three-man defense, because Arena actually prepared his team to play it.

Apparently the U.S. manager had been drilling his squad and defining responsibilities in this setup since January. There isn’t much more you need to know when assessing why Arena is succeeding where Klinsmann didn’t.

The USMNT created chances when they had the ball, which wasn’t often, and dug in when Mexico attacked. The most astonishing stat was, even though El Tri had the lion’s share of the possession, they only managed one shot on target. Yeah, it was a goal, but still. That’s almost unbelievable.

Arena now has the Gold Cup to explore the depth of his squad. And, seeing as Christian Pulisic probably won’t be on the final roster, the lineups next month should look quite a bit different. But that’s mostly a good thing. Younger players will get a chance to make their case and Arena has the chance to experiment and tweak.

Next: Confederations Cup 2017 power rankings

The next World Cup qualifiers aren’t until September. The Yanks will face their last great hurdle to qualification as they take on second-place Costa Rica at home on Sept. 1. They follow that up away to Honduras four days later.

Considering the past four results, it’s hard to imagine any USMNT fan not being confident about the U.S.’s chances. Bruce Arena, to this point, has proven to be the exact right choice.

No extras this time around. Let’s just bask in the glory of four more gigantic World Cup Qualifying points.

See y’all next week.