US Men Earn First Road Win

Americans Take Down T&T, 1-0

September 10, 2009

The win was the United States first on the road in qualifying and just the CONCACAF tournament’s third road win overall.

With the three points, the U.S. sits in first place of the six-team group with 16 points on the strength of a 5-2-1 record. The U.S. has clinched a top four position, which guarantees at least a playoff with the fifth-place team from South America for a berth in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. With one more win, the Americans can clinch their sixth straight World Cup appearance.

"For us it was a very important three points,“ said U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley. “We felt that it was well earned because tonight was a difficult game. A lot of credit goes to Trinidad & Tobago. I felt they put a great effort out tonight and made it very hard. We spoke at halftime and we understood the game we were in. We felt we could raise the level in the second half and we're pleased with the win.”

There are scenarios in which the U.S. could advance without earning any points over the final two games, however the U.S. controls its own destiny and can clinch a top three position and an automatic berth by earning at least two points from their last two matches. The first chance to clinch a berth will come on Oct 10 when the U.S. travels to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, before returning home to close out the final round on Oct. 14 against Costa Rica in Washington, D.C.

The first chance of a sloppy first half came for the U.S., as former Rev Clint Dempsey blasted a free kick wide in the fifth minute, and 15 minutes later former Boston College star Charlie Davies hit a low shot on goal from 20 yards out that was easily stopped by Trinidad & Tobago goalkeeper Clayton Ince.

Trinidad & Tobago adjusted personnel slightly, moving Carlos Edwards to the right wing and it nearly paid immediate dividends. In the 27th minute, Edwards dropped a short pass to Cornell Glen on the right side, and he played a cross to the far post where Kenwyne Jones faded away from Onyewu to head the ball down to the feet of Tim Howard.

Two minutes later, Glen injected himself again when he caught a napping U.S. defense standing and turned his defender off a throw-in and chipped Howard, only to have his effort hit the crossbar. Off Trinidad & Tobago’s heart-stopping chance, the U.S. countered with Jonathan Bornstein playing the ball up the left for Landon Donovan. Altidore received the ball from Donovan, and after holding off a defender cracked a 22-yard shot that Ince parried out to his right.

A pair of Trent Noel free kicks from just outside the area were the final two Soca Warrior shots of the half, and each was dangerous after questionable fouls called on Onyewu. In the 37th minute, Howard was called to dive to his right post to push away a shot that almost found the bottom corner, and five minutes later Noel’s effort called on Howard to dive the same way but the ball sailed wide of the post.

In the second half, just as Bradley was prepared to go to his bench, the U.S. finally broke through with the goal. Bornstein challenged for a 50-50 throw-in and the ball landed at the feet of Bradley, who took a good first touch and played the ball into space for Dempsey in the middle. Dempsey found Donovan on the left just outside the 18-yard box and as Dempsey and others ran through, he found Clark trailing the play. Clark blasted a 26-yard shot that tailed away from Ince and into the net.

The U.S. twice had clear chances to increase the margin of victory to two goals for the first time in Trinidad & Tobago, with a Dempsey shot saved by a diving Ince in the 78th minute and in the 89th minute.

Howard was on task three times down the stretch, first punching away a long-range line-drive off the foot of Edwards in the 64th minute and later scooping up another soft header from Jones. Then, in second-half stoppage time, an Edwards cross deflected off Bornstein’s foot and Howard dove to keep the ball off his left post. Howard earned his sixth shutout in 11 qualifying appearances and his goals against average dropped to 0.73. He also earned career win number 28 to pass Brad Friedel for third place on the all-time list.

In other CONCACAF action on Wednesday night the home teams posted 1-0 victories, with Mexico besting Honduras and El Salvador remaining undefeated at home against Costa Rica. With four consecutive victories, Mexico is now in second place with 15 points. Honduras falls to third with 13 points and Costa Rica has 12 points and is in fourth. El Salvador, with eight points, is still hanging on with a chance of finishing as high as third-place, and Trinidad & Tobago has been eliminated.

United States Men's National Team Match Report

Scoring Summary:
USA - Ricardo Clark (Landon Donovan) 62nd minute

Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 2-Jonathan Spector, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 12-Jonathan Bornstein; 8-Clint Dempsey (7-Stuart Holden, 82), 13-Ricardo Clark, 4-Michael Bradley, 10-Landon Donovan; 9-Charlie Davies (11-Brian Ching, 77), 17-Jozy Altidore (16-Benny Feilhaber, 63)

TRI: 1-Clayton Ince; 11-Carlos Edwards, 3-Radanfa Abu Bakr, 6-Dennis Lawrence (capt.), 4-Jlloyd Samuel; 10-Hayden Tinto (12-Keon Daniel, 66), 2-Clyde Leon, 8-Trent Noel (9-Jason Scotland, 84), 16-Silvio Spann (14-Kerry Baptiste, 72); 13-Cornell Glen, 17-Kenwyne Jones Subs not used: 5-Keyeno Thomas, 7-Densil Theobald, 15-Lyndon Andrews, 18-Marvin Philip

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