19 Years Old and April Fool's Day

With the U.S. salvaging a 2-2 draw in El Salvador earlier in the week, the third match of the final round of qualifying found the home team at LP Field in Nashville, for a match with Trinidad & Tobago, on Wednesday, April 1st.

The Americans were sitting in second place in the group after taking four of the possible six points in the first two matches. The need was for a strong effort, and more importantly, to secure the win, and three points, to keep pace with the front runners of the group.

With Helen, and the kids; Katie, Will, and Hunter (center, above), having never been to a USMNT match, we road-tripped the three-and-a-half hours up from Atlanta, and made a family outing of the event. Another 27,955 folks were on hand on a perfect spring evening, and the U.S. got to work early, taking a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

It was not the first good chance at goal, however, as in the eighth minute, midfielder Clint Dempsey nodded down a header into the path of forward Brian Ching's run. The high-energy Houston Dynamo forward then broke the right flank, beating goalkeeper, Clayton Ince, but narrowly sliding the ball past the far post (above).

It wouldn't take much longer for the U.S. to go on top, as Ching received a long ball from the back line, off the foot of defender Carlos Bocanegra. Ching directed the knock-down header to team captain Landon Donovan, who quickly settled the ball off his chest, and slid a pass across the six-yard box to 19-year old forward Jozy Altidore, who buried the one-touch ball into the net.

Altidore almost got a second goal in the 27th minute, but his deftly weighted chip, off a pass from midfielder Michael Bradley, dipped just over the crossbar. The visitors would have one of their best chances to equalize in the 33rd minute when MLS and Premier League veteran, Stern John, volleyed a hard shot wide of the goal to keeper Tim Howard's right.

Despite a couple more great chances to expand the lead just before halftime, the Americans went to intermission up 1-0, which nonetheless, bode well for the home team, as under coach bob Bradley, the USMNT, was at that time, 15-0-1 when leading at half.

It would take until the 71st minuute before the home team could breathe a bit easier. Donovan took a pass from DaMarcus Beasley, spinning past a defender out to the left flank before centering the ball to Altidore. The teenager calmy cut past the last defender, then curled a far post shot into the far side netting for a 2-0 lead.

Fresh legs came off the bench in the 81st and 84th minutes; first Francisco Torres for Ching, then Sacha Kljestan for Dempsey. The energy level increased, sparking the attack for the match's final minutes. With one minute left in regulation, Bradley received a long ball up the right flank from defender Frankie Hejduk. Bradley drove towards goal, then laid the ball off to an unmarked Donovan on the left side of the box. Instead of shooting, Donovan laid the ball back to the top of the box, and after one touch, Altidore slipped his third goal under a diving Ince to complete the hat trick.

The win moved the U.S. to the top of the CONCACAF standings, as Mexico fell to Honduras, 3-1, and Costa Rica kept pace but was one point behind following a win against El Salvador. Man of the Match Altidore scored in consecutive games for the first time in his U.S. career, and with all three assists, Donovan extended his team record career assists total to 35. The U.S., remained undefeated in home qualifying matches in their drive towards 2010 and South Africa.

As with all the content of this blog, written and photographic, Copyrighted 2009-10, All Rights Reserved, Perry McIntyre, Atlanta, GA - USA.

A Cold and Rainy Night in Columbus

The final round of the USMNT's qualification journey began last February 11th, as the home team took on region rival, Mexico, at Columbus Crew Stadium.

Not really unexpected was the chilly weather, after all, that's one of the reasons U.S. Soccer chose to play the match in that venue, where the team had a distinct advantage over a Mexican team, which really doesn't like to play in cold weather. What was a bit unexpected, were the lines of severe thunderstorms moving through the area, both before, and immediately after, the match. The photo illustrates the pre-match prep necessary by the grounds crew after one line of rain dumped well over an inch in the area.

After an exceptional job by the Crew Stadium staff, the match went on, as scheduled, and the national TV audience was treated to typical U.S.-Mexico showdown, the winner of which, would have an early advantage in the CONCACAF group.

The match didn't really suffer as a result of the soggy pitch, and as usual, there were some hard hits from both sides, setting up both injury stoppages, and potentially dangerous restarts. The first break in the home team's favor came a couple minutes before halftime. American defender Frankie Hejduk worked hard well up the field, from his post at right back, to earn a corner kick. Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley lofted a looping serve to the back post, which captain Landon Donovan headed back across goal to towering U.S. defender, Oguchi "Gooch" Onyewu, who drove a header with net intent towards goal. A reaction save by the Mexican goalkeeper was not possessed cleanly, leaving a ball on the doorstep for midfielder Michael Bradley, who pounced on the gift, and buried it for a 1-0 lead right before intermission. The goal sent Sam's Army in that end of the stadium, as well as the rest of the stadium, into a celebratory frenzy. In Mexican minds, it was 'here we go again'.

American netminder Tim Howard, of England's Everton in the Premier League, then took the early lead in the second half. After stonewalling a point-blank Mexican shot, a few minutes later, in the 65th minute, Howard was maliciously spiked in the thigh by a frustrated Rafael Marquez, who was immediately sent off with a red card.

Playing a man down, and using all three of their allowed substitutes, the Mexicans kept fighting to equalize, and there were several other hard tackles that drew yellow from the Guatemalan referee's pocket. Another example of the intensity of the match is the attempted tackle on forward Jozy Altidore's dribble into the final third, pictured below. Not much ball, and a lot of cleats, amigo.....

In the end, however, the weather, the long stretch of playing short-handed, and the inevitability of the outcome caught up to the visitors. As the U.S. maintained possession of the ball well into stoppage time, a flashing run off the left side by Donovan was rewarded by an Altidore pass, the American captain slid the ball across the top of the box, into the path of a hard-charging Bradley. The young midfielder ran onto a hard shot, which ended up in the back of the Mexican net, and finalized the 2-0 scoreline, securing the first three points of the final round of qualifying for the home team. For his two-goal performance, Bradley was named 'Man of the Match'.

As with all the content of this blog, written and photographic, Copyrighted 2009-10, All Rights Reserved, Perry McIntyre, Atlanta, GA - USA.

And So We Begin (Again)

For those of you who followed my World Cup blog throughout the 2006 World Cup, welcome back. If you're new to my postings, I hope you will come back often, take note of my observations, and enjoy the photos posted.

Our U.S. Mens National Team (henceforth, USMNT), has qualified for their sixth consecutive FIFA World Cup finals. This is truly a commendable feat, as only a handful of the world's elite soccer nations can boast a similar record. Now that qualifying is fait accompli, and the World Cup draw has been set, both a retrospective of that process, and previews of the coming attractions can commence.

The FIFA World Cup draw on December 4th landed the United States in an exciting, and favorable group, as well as in one of the most compelling opening matches  in recent World Cup history.

On June 12th, our 'lads' will take on 'the mother country', England, in a match at Rustenberg's Royal Bafokeng Stadium. This 42,000-seat venue is located west of Johannesburg, and is the first of three venues in Group C, where the U.S. will play in the Group Stage of the 2010 World Cup. The second match for the home team will be June 18th, at Johannesburg's Ellis Park against Slovenia. The final Group match will be June 23rd, in Pretoria, against Algeria, and will be the last match of group play for Group C, potentially setting up some world-class drama. Most likely, the top two teams from the group will advance to the 'knockout stage', beginning in the Round of 16.

But play begins with England, and it is truly interesting that 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of one of the historic moments in World Cup history. In 1950, England, playing in their first World Cup Final, with a group of seasoned professionals, suffered their biggest upset on the world stage, when Joe Gaetjens' first-half goal earned a ragtag American team a 1-0 victory in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The American side is no longer a 'ragtag' bunch, as it is led by a group of seasoned veterans, many of whom participated in the stunning win over #1-ranked Spain, as the U.S. advanced to the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup, also held in South Africa. Through the final round of qualifying, the U.S. emerged on top of their six-team CONCACAF group, and seem both excited, and ready, to take on the challenge of the hand dealt them in the 2010 World Cup.

For now, will leave you a brief geography lesson, posting a map of South Africa, illustrating the favorable travel scenario the U.S. also drew. The three U.S. venues are all within a 90--minute drive of each other, negating one of the biggest potential concerns, the extensive travel distances that can exist across a large country such as South Africa.

In the next few postings, will take a  retrospective of the Americans final round home qualifying matches, all of which, I was able to cover, with an eye towards South Africa.

As with all the content of this blog, written and photographic, Copyrighted 2009-10, All Rights Reserved, Perry McIntyre, Atlanta, GA - USA.