Chicken Lovers

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Peace of mind arrived early Tuesday night, with the sight of Clint Dempsey galloping at a full sprint across the striped grass at Mapfre Stadium, his arms spread out like airplane wings.

For four days, the United States men’s national team players and their fans were forced to confront the possibility that they might not qualify for the 2018 World Cup. That previously unthinkable notion was made far more feasible after the Americans lost to Guatemala on Friday. Another loss in their rematch Tuesday would have all but stopped them dead in the semifinal round of the qualifying tournament.

But less than 12 minutes into the game, Dempsey dispelled that angst with a swift, clean strike, igniting a deafening swell of noise, sending rounds of projectiles and liquids spraying across the stands, and putting the United States on the path to a crushing 4-0 victory.

“You’ve got to look within yourself, man,” Dempsey said of the pressure. “How bad do you want it? How bad do you want to be going to the World Cup? How bad do you want to continue progressing the game in the States? You’ve got to put that on your shoulders, man. You got to represent your country with pride.”

The United States is now in second place in Group C of the Concacaf qualifying competition’s semifinal round, in comfortable position to advance. The victory may quiet — at least until the next misstep — a crescendo of questions from fans and pundits about Coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Those questions were amplified Friday when the Americans lost to Guatemala, the world’s 95th-ranked team, for the first time since 1988.

Had the United States lost Tuesday, Guatemala would have needed just 2 points from its final two games and Trinidad and Tobago (which beat St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday, 6-0) just 1 to put themselves mathematically out of the reach of the United States, no matter what the Americans did in their final two matches.

The players grasped the stakes. “I talked yesterday about the need for every guy to understand that at different times throughout these cycles, you’re going to play a game where everything is on the line, where, if you lose, you’re done,” said Michael Bradley, the team’s captain. “And that can’t scare you.”

Klinsmann, who was criticized for positional tinkering in the previous game, deployed an attack-oriented 4-3-3 formation, inserting Kyle Beckerman into the lineup as a defensive midfielder and Steve Birnbaum as a center back. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan, midfielder Graham Zusi and forward Gyasi Zardes represented the other changes to the lineup. Aside from the five new faces, Klinsmann also shifted Geoff Cameron to central defense and DeAndre Yedlin to right back.

Beckerman, in particular, proved a steadying addition, patrolling passing lanes, interrupting Guatemalan attacking moves before they could crest and relieving pressure with his judicious distribution. But most of the players played spiritedly, in stark contrast with Friday’s game.

The first goal materialized in a flash, straight down the middle of the field. In the 12th minute, Cameron floated a ball high toward the penalty box, where Zardes was sprinting below, sandwiched between two defenders. Zardes, on the run, could do little more than let the ball glance off his body, but that proved enough. The ball took two bounces backward into the path of Dempsey, who lashed it with his right foot to send it swerving into the lower right corner.

The goal was Dempsey’s 14th in World Cup qualifying, which put him ahead of Landon Donovan for most in team history.

“It was good to test our character as a team,” Dempsey said. “You never want to be in this situation. But at the same time, we were able to deal with it and get the must-win. We learned a lot about ourselves tonight.”

Cameron was responsible for the finishing touch on the second goal in the 35th minute. As Bradley whipped a dangerously angled free kick across the box, from left to right, Cameron tiptoed in front of the goal, unbothered by any real defense, and drilled the ball with his head just beneath the crossbar.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Zusi chased down a ball that had fortuitously dribbled across the goal off Zardes’s backside and fired in the third goal, capping a forceful passing sequence down the right side.

In the 89th minute, Jozy Altidore deposited the team’s fourth tally by capitalizing on the dribbling work of Dempsey, who had drawn goalkeeper Paulo Motta out of position before unselfishly providing the assist.

The flurry of goals and the carefree win were a salve for the national team’s leadership.

Public criticism has been heaped on Klinsmann throughout his five years at the helm of the organization. There always seem to be calls for his dismissal. When he first signed on as coach, he beseeched the American public for the intense scrutiny found in other soccer-loving countries, saying the team would improve in the crucible of hand-wringing analysis.

The criticism has grown each year, yet the team has not seemed to improve.

“I’m cool with that,” said Klinsmann, who emphasized his emotional balance. “I let people say whatever they would like to say. It’s all good with me.

The win Tuesday will not push aside the negative critiques. But it did, for a night, give the team and its fans some peace of mind.