Short-Handed U.S. Delivers Crucial Win

Just when it seemed like the U.S. was going to force itself into a pair of must-win games, Brian McBride put the Americans in position to advance to next year’s regional finals of World Cup qualifying.

With the Americans playing a man short, McBride scored off a perfect cross from Cobi Jones in the 72nd minute Sunday, and the U.S. escaped with a 1-0 victory over Guatemala.

“Sometimes, it’s not pretty,” U.S. forward Joe-Max Moore said. “It was hard to play this. But McBride got us through.”

Frustrated for nearly three-quarters of the game by Guatemala goalkeeper Edgar Estrada, the Americans were starting to worry. Then, in the 65th minute, Eddie Lewis was ejected by Mexican referee Ulises Rangel for elbowing Fabricio Benitez.

Lewis, who had entered only eight minutes earlier, went straight to the U.S. locker room, watching the rest of the game alone on television.

“All I’m thinking is we’re waiting longer and longer to get a goal,” he said, “and all I did to contribute was get thrown out. If we got down, we would have had to win our next two games. It wasn’t very comfortable.”

Before a raucous sellout crowd of 51,996 at RFK Stadium, dominated by U.S. fans in the lower deck and Guatemalan fans in the upper deck, the Americans looked to be wilting from the pressure and the heat of a sweltering afternoon.

McBride’s goal suddenly emerged when Jovan Kirovski got the ball to Jones, who came in as a sub in the 57th minute, to create a three-on-two break.

Jones, wide on the right at the top of the penalty area, had Moore streaking toward the right post and McBride running toward the left. Jones looked at Moore, then sent the ball to McBride, one of only two players from Major League Soccer in the Americans’ starting lineup.

McBride had time to extend his left foot, waited a split second for the goalkeeper to commit, then threaded the ball into the narrow space between the post and the onrushing Estrada.

For McBride, the ejection contributed to the goal.

“We actually played the ball quicker,” he said. “It wasn’t that we were playing bad before, but it might have meant we had a little more space to move the ball, and we actually had to do it.”

The U.S. (2-1-1) is second in its regional semifinal group with seven points, two behind Costa Rica (3-1), which won 3-0 at home against Barbados earlier in the day.

Guatemala (1-2-1) is third with four points, one ahead of Barbados (1-3). Only the top two teams will qualify for the six-nation regional finals.