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 Nick Green

South Bay-based Los Angeles News Group soccer columnist and blogger Nick Green writes at the 100 Percent Soccer blog at www.insidesocal.com/soccer and craft beer at the Beer Goggles blog at www.insidesocal.com/beer. Cheers!