LEIRIA, Portugal — It may be some time yet before the United States men’s national team can outrun the memories of Oct. 11, when a rash of ineptitude, a stunning defeat and an unlikely confluence of unfortunate external events cost it a place in next summer’s World Cup.
However long that process lasts, it will have to unfold in a sequence of diffident baby steps, very much like the ones achieved here Tuesday night, when the Americans fought to a 1-1 draw in an exhibition match against Portugal.
For the American players, the game itself held little competitive meaning, besides as a starting gun of sorts for the monumental task of rebuilding the program.