Americans Rout Barbados

Walk Away with 8-0 Win

June 16, 2008

And just what did he and his American counterparts do against the small island nation Sunday? Only set a US men’s soccer record for largest margin of victory with a 8-0 victory over Barbados.

The eight strikes also ties the record for the most goals scored by the U.S. in a match. Former Rev Clint Dempsey started the rout when he tallied the quickest goal ever scored by the U.S. in World Cup qualifying, when he finished a fantastic service from Carlos Bocanegra only 53 seconds into the match.

Landon Donovan and the US men's soccer team routed Barbados Sunday.

Michael Bradley and Brian Ching added goals in the first half before the U.S. wore down a tired Barbados defense in the second half to score five more goals, including three in the final nine minutes of the game. Dempsey and Ching both ended up with two-goal performances with goals in the second half, while an own goal and strikes from Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson provided the U.S. with the record performance.

"It's good to get the whole thing underway,” said U.S. coach Bob Bradley. “We spent a lot of time thinking about just getting off on the right foot, and a goal early like that certainly is getting off on the right foot. From there, it's just an exercise of staying sharp, trying to play the right ball, the right timing, and finish off some of plays so we could have a margin. We were able to do that, so in those ways it was a definite success."

The second leg of the two-game series against Barbados will be played on Sunday, June 22 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The first record of the day was started by Bocanegra who drove a long ball from the left side of the midfield stripe into the right side of the penalty area, perfectly dropping the ball over the head of a Barbados defender and finding his former club teammate. Dempsey chested the ball down and then drove a low strike into the left corner past goalkeeper Alvin Rouse.

It took the U.S. a little less than 11 minutes to get their next goal, this effort not coming as cleanly as the record breaker. Right back Steve Cherundolo streaked down the sideline and swung a cross into the penalty area towards both Ching and Dempsey who were crashing in on goal. With a defender attempting to cover both U.S. players inside the six yard box, the ball bounced around before popping out for Ching to take a strike on goal, but Rouse made the save. The deflection landed in the middle of the penalty area where Bradley was able to pounce on the rebound and rip a crushing left-footed strike into the right side of the net to record a goal in his first-ever FIFA World Cup qualifier.

After just missing on the earlier sequence, Ching got some help from midfielder Pablo Mastroeni to earn his first goal since the 2007 Gold Cup. A short corner kick by Donovan to DaMarcus Beasley started the sequence, and Beasley then fed it back to Donovan who had run to the top of the penalty area. Donovan quickly slipped the ball to his right for a wide-open Mastroeni, and the two-time World Cup veteran unleashed a blast towards the mash of players in the box where it deflected off Ching and found the back of the net.

Donovan started the second half scoring frenzy when he struck a free kick in the 59th minute, surprising Barbados by alertly taking a 30-yard shot while the defense was attempting to organize. Almost standing directly over the ball, Donovan took just one step before hitting a looping shot that found the lower left corner of the goal.

Four minutes later, Bradley slipped Ching through down the middle of the Barbados defense with a deft chip. Ching collected the ball and struck a point-blank attempt, only to be thwarted by Rouse once again, but the deflection fell to Dempsey and he easily tapped the loose ball into the wide-open net.

Eddie Johnson came on in the 81st minute and didn’t hesitate to get in on the record-breaking goal performance as he scored just a minute later on his first touch of the game. Heath Pearce provided the assist on the goal, streaking down the left flank and whipping in the cross for Johnson, who nodded it home from eight yards out.

Up 6-0, Barbados inadvertently provided the U.S. with their seventh goal when defender Daryl Ferguson accidentally knocked in a cross from Eddie Lewis while trying to stave off a poaching Ching.

Ching finished off the rout with the USA’s third goal in nine minutes when he latched onto a low cross from Cherundolo on the right sideline.

U.S. Men’s National Team Game Report

Scoring Summary:
USA – Clint Dempsey (Carlos Bocanegra) 1st
USA – Michael Bradley 12th
USA – Brian Ching (Pablo Mastroeni) 20th
USA – Landon Donovan (free kick) 59th
USA – Clint Dempsey 63rd
USA – Eddie Johnson (Heath Pearce) 82nd
USA – Own goal (Daryl Ferguson) 86th
USA – Brian Ching (Steve Cherundolo) 89th

Lineups:
USA: 18-Brad Guzan; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra, 15-Heath Pearce; 10-Landon Donovan (9-Eddie Jonson, 81), 12-Michael Bradley, 4-Pablo Mastroeni (16-Freddy Adu, 26), 17-DaMarcus Beasley; 11-Brian Ching, 8-Clint Dempsey (7-Eddie Lewis, 72)

BRB: 1-Alvin Rouse; 2-Dyson James, 3-Daryl Ferguson, 4-Greg Belle, 5-Bryan Neblett; 8-Jonathan Forte (13-Riviere Williams, 69), 10-Norman Forde (Capt.) (12-Malcolm Marshall, 72), 11-Jonathon Nurse (17-John Parris, 76), 15-Rommelle Burgess; 7-Paul Ifill, 9-Mark McCammon.

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