Foot in the Door
“We’re not going to come out and try to win the game in the first five minutes,” Claudio Reyna had said.
Turns out, he was correct.
The United States got a stunning goal from Ante Razov a mere 73 seconds into Wednesday night’s World Cup qualifier and went on to defeat Trinidad and Tobago, 2-0, in front of 31,211 at Foxboro Stadium.
The result leaves the Americans in a commanding position in their quest to reach soccer’s quadrennial world championship next year in Japan and South Korea.
“We’re pretty close to being in the big dance next year,” U.S Coach Bruce Arena said.
With five games played and five to go in the final qualifying round, the U.S. (4-0-1) is in first place with 13 points, three more than second-place Costa Rica (3-1-1), which defeated Jamaica, 2-1, in Alajuela, Costa Rica, in a game interrupted by a power outage.
In Wednesday’s other match in the six-nation group, Honduras (2-1-2) added to Mexico’s misery with a 3-1 victory in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, solidifying its hold on third place with eight points.
Jamaica (1-2-2) is fourth with five points, one ahead of Mexico (1-3-1) and four ahead of Trinidad and Tobago (0-4-1).
The top three teams will go to Korea/Japan 2002, and right now the U.S. looks all but certain to be one of them.
“To have 13 points out of 15 in the first five games is a pretty outstanding accomplishment by our team,” Arena said. “The early goal obviously made things a lot easier for us tonight.”
The victory kept alive the U.S. team’s record of not having lost at home in a World Cup qualifier in 16 years and extended the Americans’ unbeaten streak in qualifying play for next summer’s tournament to nine games.
Traffic leading to the stadium was still backed up for several miles on Route 1 when Razov blasted the U.S. into a lead it never relinquished.
The move began when defender Jeff Agoos, a few yards into his own half, drove a pass downfield into the Trinidad and Tobago penalty area. Razov, beating the offside trap, raced in and caught the ball on the volley, driving it into the back of the net.
“My game is, you get a good chance to whack the ball, you whack it,” Razov said.
It was the third goal in qualifying play for the former UCLA and Chicago Fire forward who now plays for Racing de Ferrol in the Spanish second division.
His celebration was no less dynamic than his goal.
Hurdling the advertising boards, Razov stood and bowed to U.S. fans behind the net, then lifted his jersey and kissed it.
Trinidad and Tobago, meanwhile, was kissing its World Cup chances goodbye. Arena had pointed out that T&T;, as it is known, already had “one nail in the coffin” heading into the game.
Now, the lid is firmly shut.
Earnie Stewart made sure of that by doubling the U.S. advantage in the 20th minute.
Nine minutes earlier, he and Jovan Kirovski had squandered a glorious scoring opportunity when they got behind the Trinidad and Tobago defense and sprinted in on goalkeeper Clayton Ince. But Stewart, to Kirovski’s immense dismay, elected to shoot rather than pass and the ball went straight to Ince.
Given a similar opportunity a short while later, Stewart made amends.
Defender Marvin Andrews made a complete hash of clearing the ball and Stewart nipped in to steal it. He made a diagonal right-to-left run across the penalty area, drawing Ince out, then shot back across the grain and tucked the ball just inside the right post.
It was Stewart’s 13th goal for the U.S. in his 11-year national team career but, more important, his seventh in World Cup qualifying, an American record.
“I haven’t had time to think about it,” he said. “Obviously, it feels great to score goals. To be the leading scorer in qualifying, I guess later on I can tell my little daughter [Quinty] about that.”
To its credit, Trinidad and Tobago came out with a little more fire and purpose in the second 45 minutes, but the U.S. was able to weather the storm--a not altogether figurative reference since lightning from an approaching storm flashed to the west of the stadium.
The only yellow flash that had any impact, however, came in the 52nd minute, when referee Ali Bujsaim of the United Arab Emirates issued a yellow card to Reyna.
It was the midfielder’s second of this round and means he will miss the U.S. team’s next game, against Mexico at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on July 1.
Reyna’s absence will open the door for John O’Brien of Playa del Rey, but Arena didn’t want to look that far ahead just yet.
“I don’t give the lineup out the day before the game,” he said. “I doubt I’m going to give it out 10 days before.”
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CONCACAF STANDINGS
*--*
Country W L T GF GA Pts United States 4 0 1 7 1 13 Costa Rica 3 1 1 9 5 10 Honduras 2 1 2 11 8 8 Jamaica 1 2 2 3 7 5 Mexico 1 3 1 7 8 4 Trinidad 0 4 1 3 11 1
*--*
Wednesday’s Scores
At Foxboro, Mass.
United States 2, Trinidad and Tobago 0
At San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Honduras 3, Mexico 1
At Alajuela, Costa Rica
Costa Rica 2, Jamaica 1
Note: Top three teams qualify
