Steady Eddies give USA a dream start in ‘Cup qualifying
Eddie Johnson scored on a header from Steve Cherundolo in the 30th minute and Eddie Lewis scored on a 54th minute “frozen rope from 23 yards” (see USSoccer.com’s match tracker with commentary from U-20 national team coach Sigi Schmid here) as the Men’s National Team rolled to a 2-1 win at Trinidad and Tobago to open the final round of World Cup Qualifying.
The home team scored a goal in the 89th minute to give the Americans some uneasy moments, but the USA squad professionally ran out the remainder of regulation and the three minutes of stoppage time to doggedly preserve the win. Trinidad and Tobago gave game chase in the final minutes of play, and many of their players looked thoroughly dejected after the final whistle blew. T&T’s frustration seemed to come from the fact that, no matter how much effort they put out, the American team was just too good to succumb to the late blitz.
The win gives Team USA three precious points in a road tilt. The squad has nearly seven weeks to prepare for its March 27th tilt at Mexico. They host Guatemala on March 30th in Birmingham. The last seven games of the campaign are sandwiched in between early June and mid-October.
All six teams in the pool play today; the other CONCACAF qualifying games are this evening. Panama hosts Guatemala, and, in the marquee game of the day, Costa Rica hosts Mexico in a battle of two 2002 World Cup Qualifiers.
Nathan Novak at 4:14 pm
