Wilmer Cabrera’s eyes darted from his television to his laptop – back and forth over and over Tuesday as a night full of drama unfolded on soccer fields throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.
The Dynamo coach’s computer showed the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifier between his native Colombia and Peru. The CONCACAF finale between the United States and Trinidad & Tobago was on his TV.
Once Colombia saw out the draw it needed to clinch a berth in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Cabrera spent the next half hour sweating the U.S., which inexplicably was chasing the game against a last-place team with nothing to play for.