Guatemala Vs. USA: Marco Pappa’s Stunner Makes USMNT Settle For Draw

Jurgen Klinsmann and the USMNT won’t be very pleased with their play, and there will be plenty for the team to work on when they get back together at the end of the summer, but a draw in Guatemala isn’t an awful result, and they’re still heavy favorites to win the group and comfortably advance to the hexagonal round of qualifying.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

The foul was one of many that the U.S. has given away and Guatemala finally took advantage. The free kick was from a tick outside of 20 yards and it was a gem. Pappa should be on every highlight video for that one because it was as well hit as it could have been.

Meanwhile, the U.S. can’t feel too hard done. Guatemala has had more chances, has looked more confident and has been the all-around better side. For Guatemala to lose would have been harsh and now they aren’t. With seven minutes plus extra time to go now, the U.S. needs to regroup because if any team is going to score a winner it looks like it would be Guatemala.

If Guatemala scores, this one is going to sting for the U.S. They should be up 2-0 and instead are just up 1-0.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

There are 15 minutes left for the U.S. to hold on. They don’t need to be good and they don’t need to impress. They just need to hold on.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

This is hardly the first time Howard has saved the U.S. He has made a career of saving his team time and time again, especially on the road in CONCACAF and he has done it again.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

For Altidore this is a chance to re-establish himself as the best striker in the U.S. pool. He has been struggling to get fit for the last three weeks and hasn’t started for the U.S. as a result. Meanwhile, Gomez has played well, becoming the top striker option. That means Altidore has been pushed aside. A good final 26 minutes might push him back atop the U.S. striker pool.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

The danger here for Guatemala is if someone gets hurt. They are out of subs and would then have to play down a man the rest of the way.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Update: USA 1-1 Guatemala, Final Score

The usual shenanigans that plague the United States and other big teams away in CONCACAF like poor pitch conditions, bad officiating and fans throwing things onto the field have not plagued this match thus far. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, if those things aren’t problems, the United States should probably be playing much better football than they are. Other than the goal, Guatemala goalkeeper Ricardo Jerez has only been seriously tested on one other occasion.

The shaky U.S. defense came undone and Ruiz got the ball in the box. He turned and found the goal, but his shot curled just wide of the post. Tim Howard did well to come off his line and cut off the angle, but the U.S. have to feel lucky that they are not behind and they will have to get it together in defense or Ruiz will beat them eventually.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Johnson’s run and Dempsey’s goal was the first real attack of the match for the U.S., who have been poor. But poor or not, they are up 1-0 thanks to their best player who came through again.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

What is also progress is that the shot came after a couple completed passes and from some space in the center. Neither of those things were happening earlier in the match so the U.S. is getting better. It is not good, but there was passing, space and a shot. Things are getting better.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

In mild seriousness, besides your everyday yellow counting as action in this bore of a match, this has actual importance. Goodson is not always the quickest and could be susceptible to picking up another card, putting the Americans down a man. Playing away in CONCACAF, you do not want to pick up a yellow card and be at the mercy of referees who aren’t particularly good. They will give away yellow cards just because and now Goodson can be off because the referee just decided to.

Elsewhere in the match, nothing. There is nothing happening.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Guatemala are going in hard on tackles and are looking to mix it up, sticking with the uglier the better plan. The U.S. hasn’t been able to get free and create much of anything from it. They haven’t even controlled possession as well as they hoped they would.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

The crowd isn’t quite as lively as it has been in the past down in Guatemala so this is a nice intro to road qualifying for the U.S. Things could be much worse all the way around.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Tonight the U.S. will face much of the same. The crowd will be just as wild, the pitch will be just as bad and Guatemala will not hesitate to fly into a tackle. They could be bloodied, but they cannot be beaten. With Guatemala struggling, they need to get three points however it takes. If that means getting the piss beaten out of you while the ref looks the other way then managing a header to squeak out a win, so be it.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

On Tuesday, the Americans will get their first taste of road qualifying in three years when they play Guatemala. Several of their players have never played in a road qualifier and manager Jurgen Klinsmann has never been a part of a road CONCACAF qualifier as a player or manager.

The crowds throughout Central America are hostile, packing stadiums beyond capacity and leave police without much recourse of things being thrown on the pitch. Players are woken up at all hours of the night by calls to the hotel room by opposing fans and fire alarms are pulled. The pitches are usually in terrible shape and referees have no interest in helping out the visitors. Heavy tackles are often unpunished and little knicks on the home team can result in red cards.

The current scandal in Guatemala leaves their national team without three of their regulars - Gustavo Cabrera, Yoni Flores and Guillermo Ramirez. Cabrera and Ramirez are among the most senior members of the team, with 100 and 102 caps apiece, with both serving as captain at one point. Now neither will be available until FIFA’s investigation is complete.

Check out our Guatemala vs. USA StoryStream for all of your preview, live and post-match coverage. For more on this match and the entire world of soccer, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

This a massive match for the U.S. in their quest to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. The Americans did pick up three points against Antigua and Barbuda, but if they lost to Guatemala then they are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to beat Jamaica at home and get a result on the road. Those are two results they should get, but they don’t want to have to get them. If they lose to Guatemala then they will have to get them or risk not making the final round of qualifying for the World Cup.

Unfortunately for U.S. fans, many will not get to watch this match. Per CONCACAF rules, the home country holds the TV rights for the match and Guatemala sold the rights to a company that will show it on pay-per view only in the U.S. Unless you live near a bar that was willing to pay the $750 to purchase the match or you want to pay $30 to watch it at home, you are out of luck.

If Johnson cannot play, Klinsmann would have turned to Castillo to play left back, but he is out. He injured his hamstring in training before the Antigua and Barbuda match an will not play against Guatemala.

Klinsmann was without both Johnson and Castillo against Antigua and Barbuda and tapped Jose Francisco to Torres to play left back, but after a forgettable start to the match, he was also injured and will not play in Guatemala. That leaves Klinsmann in a bind.

When it comes to World Cup qualifying all that matters is the result. Style, entertainment value, margin of victory? Toss them out the window. Get a win and you have done your job.

On its own, a disappointing performance against Antigua and Barbuda wouldn’t be much of a problem, but that was not the Americans’ only problem. They were dreadful in their previous match -- a friendly against Canada -- and have been very inconsistent under Jurgen Klinsmann in general, struggling to adapt to the possession-oriented system that he has been trying to implement.