It was a very long and somber plane ride home for the United States men's national team after losing 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 10, 2017 in their final World Cup qualifier for Russia 2018. It was a result that meant the U.S. would miss its first World Cup since 1986. Dave Sarachan, then an assistant under head coach Bruce Arena, was sitting next to Arena on the flight when U.S. Soccer managing director of administration Tom King appeared.
"Tom King said, 'By the way, Bruce, we have this friendly coming up against Portugal,'" Sarachan recounted to ESPN.