Bradley's Bomb Nets USA a Precious Hex Point in Mexico

Bruce Arena was a vanilla choice to replace Jürgen Klinsmann when USA Soccer decided to make a change.

Since then, though, vanilla's been flavor of the month, every month.

Dude's guided the USA to a four-match unbeaten run in the Hex -- and in seven matches overall -- which has put them back in the running for a 2018 World Cup berth.

The latest of that string just happened in Mexico City when Michael Bradley, of all people, caught yet another roaming goalkeeper off his line in a crucial match for the Americans:

The USA advancing to any World Cup outta Concacaf should be a given.

However, until their recent change of fortunes, things were beginning to look dicey. Now, this 1-1 away draw seems to have righted the ship:

The top three teams earn automatic berths in the 2018 World Cup. The fourth-place finisher needs to win a two-leg playoff against an Asian side to advance.

The circumstances in this particular match were beyond interesting.

For example, the USA had just come from a 2-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in mile-high Denver, where das Wunderkind des Augenblicks -- 18-year-old Christian Pusilic -- added to the excitement surrounding his presence:

Yes. Yes, you do.

Now, three days later in the high-altitude but not-so-daunting-anymore Azteca -- the Americans have rung up a win and two draws there in their last three visits -- Arena switched out seven players from his starting XI and didn't miss a beat.

These days, only two of El Tri's regulars play in the Azteca; everyone else earn paychecks in foreign lands. Toss in the pollution amidst the thin air, and it's why Mexico is toying with moving some of their games elsewhere.

Right now, Bradley doesn't care where he plays.

The American captain is back to his aggressive ways under the laissez-faire Arena. His decisive play in the midfield, especially, has allowed him to do what he does best: read a game and react accordingly.

Here's the USA's remaining Hex schedule:

Fri 1 Sep ...	USA v Costa Rica	TBD
Tue 5 Sep ...	Honduras v USA	San Pedro Sula
Fri 6 Oct ...	USA v Panama	Orlando
Tue 10 Oct ...	Trinidad & Tobago v USA	Port of Spain

Odds are the USA Soccer poobahs are waiting for the coldest venue they can find for the Costa Rica tilt; Concacaf probably won't allow them to consider Barrow, Alaska.

Honduras is always tough at home, both on the pitch and off.

Once those matches are in the books, the Americans will know if they merely need to hold serve in their final two.