US Drops Cuba, Advances in Qualifying

Beasley Scores Twice in 6-1 Rout

October 12, 2008

DaMarcus Beasley scored two goals, while Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu added tallies as the U.S. took full advantage of the passionate home support.

The U.S. is undefeated in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, with six consecutive wins. In what is the best ever start to a U.S. qualifying campaign, the team has set a record for the most consecutive victories in one World Cup qualifying cycle. The victory also increased the U.S. Men’s record run of qualifying wins in a row to seven, dating back to the last match in the Final Round of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

US forward Landon Donovan scored against Cuba. (Photo credit: Joyce Furia)

“Our goal was to earn a spot in the next round, and we’re very pleased we were able to accomplish that tonight,” said coach Bob Bradley. “We were also pleased with a strong team performance, especially against a Cuba team that fought hard and were difficult to break down despite coming in with no points.”

Just 10 minutes in, Beasley latched on to an excellent through ball by midfielder Sacha Kljestan. Beasley’s one-time finish, his 16th goal for the U.S., was perfectly placed to beat Cuban goalkeeper Odelin Molina to the far right post.

In the 30th minute, Donovan collected the ball on the right flank, looked to the far post and whipped in an excellent ball to Beasley, who timed his run to perfection. He controlled well with his chest, before forcing the ball past Molina with his right foot for his second goal of the night and a 2-0 U.S. lead.

Cuba’s Jenzy Muñoz pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the U.S. area, and with the outside of his foot he hit a perfectly weighted shot that barely grazed the crossbar before going in the goal over the outstretched Tim Howard to cut the lead to 2-1.

The goal was the first for a U.S. opponent in 582 minutes of action since Spain scored against the U.S. on June 4 in Santander. It also ended a shutout streak of 573 minutes during World Cup qualifying.

The U.S. made a slight tweak to their formation to start the second half, but continued to keep the pressure on Cuba, and Donovan put the proverbial nail in the coffin just three minutes in when he finished off one of the prettiest goals of the evening.

After two point-blank attempts from Dempsey and Beasley were saved by Molina, the Cuban goalkeeper was unable to keep out Ching’s goal-line header in the 63rd minute.

In the 87th minute, Altidore finally broke through when Dempsey slipped him straight up the gut of the Cuban defense and the youngster held off his defender before burying a low shot past a helpless Molina. Onyewu finished off the scoring in the 90th minute when he headed home a cross from Freddy Adu, who had replaced Kljestan in the 76th minute.

U.S. Men’s National Team Game Report:

Scoring Summary:
USA – DaMarcus Beasley (Sacha Kljestan) 10th minute
USA – DaMarcus Beasley (Landon Donovan) 30th
CUB – Jenzy Muñoz (unassisted) 32nd
USA – Landon Donovan (Heath Pearce) 48th
USA – Brian Ching (Sacha Kljestan) 63rd
USA – Jozy Altidore (Clint Dempsey) 87th
USA – Oguchi Onyewu (Freddy Adu) 90th

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.),15-Heath Pearce (4-José Torres, 68); 12-Michael Bradley 16-Sacha Kljestan (17- Freddy Adu, 76); 8-Clint Dempsey, 10-Landon Donovan; 11-Brian Ching (9-Jozy Altidore, 68)

CUB: 12-Odelín Molina; 6-Yoel Colomé, 16-Reysander Fernández, 3-Yeniel Márquez, 2-Silvio Miñoso; 14-Jaime Colomé (8-Alianas Urgelles, 72), 5-José Luis Clavelo (capt.), 7-Luis Villegas (13-Carlos Domingo, 46), 9-Alain Cervantes, 11-Jenzy Muñoz (10-Mario Ruiz, 80), 15-Leonel Duarte

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