NASHVILLE — This was supposed to be a different U.S. men’s national soccer team, stuffed with rising stars from overseas and fresh ideas that would extinguish unpleasant memories haunting the program for four years.
Qualifying for the World Cup would not be easy, because it almost never is. But with the influx of talent and the momentum from a prosperous summer, the Americans aimed for a fast start in Concacaf’s eight-nation rumble.
Through two matches, though, the United States has looked more like the older, predictable team from the last cycle than a new contrivance.
“We haven’t lost yet.