World Cup Qualifying: U.S., Mexico Win & Blanco Retires From International Futbol
The U.S. beat a clearly out of their depth Trinidad & Tobago Wednesday night, taking advantage of their opponents' obvious inexperience (and lack of leadership as ESPN commentator and former T&T goalkeeper Shaka Hislop pointed out numerous times) to comfortably win 3-0 in Chicago.
Some observations:
*Neither Brian Ching nor Eddie Johnson were particularly convincing (again) at forward. How long can the U.S. afford this luxury as they progress to the next round against better sides? How about pairing the ever more impressive Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey up top?
*Landon Donovan remains the linchpin of the U.S. attack and too often the sole and dominant creative midfield force.
*Organization rather than flair remains the strong U.S. suit, a fine way to dispatch teams you're supposed to beat, not so those who themselves possess that quality in abundance.
*Oguchi Onyewu is evolving into the dominant central defender equally comfortable in defense and on set pieces going forward we always thought Eddie Pope could become, but never quite did.
That said, although the U.S. was expected to easily reach the second round of qualifying, you do sense the U.S. is quietly building under the ultra-calm Bradley, gathering strength and accumulating experience for the campaign ahead.
Further south, on a night Cuauhtemoc Blanco announced his retirement from international football Mexico largely killed off Canada's World Cup hopes.
Here's the complete run-down of all the CONCACAF qualifying games and results from around the world.
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About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
Bob Bradley seems absolutely unwilling to try out anyone other than his predetermined group of players. What justification can there be of not even having Kenny Cooper or Edson Buddle on hand to see how they work in the line-up? And.... why does Eddie Johnson keep finding his way onto the field? He is not a what have you done for me lately kind of person... he is a what have you ever done kind of player on the Nat. team.