USMNT’s World Cup draw in Mexico a positive but missed chances at Azteca could yet prove costly

MEXICO CITY — The number of times that the United States men’s national team has walked out of Estadio Azteca seething, on the wrong end of a scoreline, are too many to count. Usually it was because the visitors had been subjected to death by 1,000 passes, no match for Mexico’s methodical possession game, and taunted by the “Ole!” calls of the crowd. And, on the rare occasions when the U.S. left Mexico City with a draw, it was with the feeling that it had survived rather than thrived.

On Thursday, the U.S. team’s 0-0 draw came from a much different place. It was the visitors that carved out the better chances at the Azteca, especially in the first half. It was Mexico that rode the hot hands of a goalkeeper, in this case Memo Ochoa, to survive. Mexico’s xG of 0.55 was its lowest in its qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup.

Yes, the U.S. limped across the finish line, taking an anywhere-will-do approach to passing over the last 15 minutes. Manager Gregg Berhalter threw on just about every available defender he had — both Erik Palmer-Brown and Aaron Long earned their first appearances in a World Cup qualifier. It was enough for the U.S. to secure a valuable point on the road.

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So it’s difficult to know exactly how to feel about the result and its impact in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying standings. Heading into this fixture window, four points seemed sufficient to get the U.S. to Qatar. This result sets Berhalter’s side up well to achieve that goal. That it did so missing a quartet of important players in Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson, Matt Turner and Sergino Dest…