Almost four years have passed since the United States played a semifinal-round World Cup qualifier in Mapfre Stadium.
Little has changed.
The Americans arrived in Columbus to prepare for tonight’s qualifier against Guatemala fresh off a 2-0 loss in Guatemala City and in the same dire straits as in September 2012, when they won a must-win game over Jamaica to keep them in the thick of the race to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
In 2012, the U.S. was coming off its first-ever loss to Jamaica. On Friday, the U.S. lost to Guatemala for the first time since 1988, and their current standing in CONCACAF qualifying is pretty much the same.