Michael Bradley scored the first goal of the game nine minutes in, Clint Dempsey added a second nine minutes later and Brian Ching put the game away as the U.S. cruised to a 3-0 win Wednesday against Trinidad & Tobago at Toyota Park in suburban Chicago.
With another shutout, the United States has not been scored upon in World Cup qualifying in the last six games, dating back to its final game against Panama back in October 2005.
But after scoring 1-0 wins at Guatemala and Cuba in the semifinal round, the United States finally found the back of the net more than once, and scored three times on only six official shots on goal.
"We had not had a game like that in a while," said Bradley, who coached across the field from the banner that signifies his membership in the Chicago Fire's Ring of Fire, the club's Hall of Fame. "It's always better to win 3-0 than to win 1-0. We did a good job finding the seams in their defense."
"People don't understand how difficult it is to score in those other countries," said the Houston Dynamo's Ching, who scored in the 57th minute. "We came out tonight with the mission of putting this game away early and scoring a lot of goals. Being in the States, I think we did a great job."
Trinidad & Tobago, which came into the game with a 1-0-1 record after the first two qualifying games in the semifinal round, played five back in an attempt to keep the game tight. But with the early goal, the U.S. changed that game plan and the game opened up from there.
"In the first half we did a good job moving the ball around, finding the opportunities," Ching said. "Clint (Dempsey), DaMarcus (Beasley) and Landon (Donovan) found those gaps between their fullbacks and halfbacks and wreaked havoc on them."
"We were excellent tonight," Donovan said. "We were good all over the field. We put pressure on them. We came out well, all over them, and it felt like it was just a matter of time."
Bob Bradley made some changes from his lineup against Cuba Sept. 6. Steve Cherundolo started at right back in place of Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), and Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA) played in the midfield instead of Maurice Edu.
With the five defenders, the Soca Warriors played with just one forward, former Major League Soccer striker Cornell Glen, but Glen did not get a touch on the ball until the 33rd minute of the game, an indication of how much stronger the U.S. effort was.
The first goal came right at the nine-minute mark on a free kick by Donovan, who was standing 25 yards out and to the far left of goal. He sent the ball to the edge of the six-yard box, where Michael Bradley broke free and pushed a right-footed shot to the right corner of the net.
"I don't know how it got through," Donovan said. "I got a good touch on it and it just went (over) body after body."
The second goal came in the 17th minute and was started by a great pass by former Fire midfielder Beasley. Beasley sent a pass through the legs of T&T defender Keyeno Thomas right to the foot of Dempsey, who had a clear shot on goal for his fourth goal in this World Cup qualifying period.
With a 2-0 lead, the U.S. began to put on a show. In the 29th minute, goalkeeper Marvin Phillip's goal kick was met at midfield by Carlos Bocanegra, who headed it sharply forward to Donovan, who snuck behind the T&T defense. Donovan placed one dribble on the ball then passed it right to Ching, whose shot went directly into Phillip's arms.
The second half saw a dramatic change in the game, as the Soca Warriors became far more aggressive offensively. Glen got off his first shot in the first minute of the second half, although he sent it far over the net.
In the first six minutes of the half, Trinidad & Tobago took three corner kicks, although it never got close to scoring.
The U.S. scored its third goal in the 57th minute. Beasley sent in a free kick from 36 yards out, and defender Oguchi Onyewu got his head on it, sending it forward to Ching, who broke free to score on a header into the right side of the net.
"That was one of the easiest goals I am going to score," Ching said. The visitors thought they had a goal in the 60th minute when Glen took a sharp shot at U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. Second-half substitute Anthony Wolfe got to the rebound and put it in the net for what would have been the first goal against the U.S. in this year's qualifying, but Wolfe was ruled offside.
Not knowing about the offside call immediately, Howard was visibly upset that the scoreless streak had been broken. After the game, he praised the defense that limited the Soca Warriors to two shots on goal.
"We haven't had a performance like that in a while," Howard said. "We put them on our terms. We had two or three guys around the ball. We really dictated the play. I don't think they were able to do what they wanted to do."
In the 67th minute, Bob Bradley substituted Eddie Johnson for Ching and Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo) for Michael Bradley. In the 78th minute, Bradley put Eddie Lewis (LA Galaxy) into the game for Dempsey.
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