US Men's Soccer 3, Trinidad and Tobago 0: USA Rout in World Cup Qualifying

Sure, we’d won three straight games by shutouts.

But we’d only scored three goals.

That’s great for the defense but not too promising for the offense as 2010 approaches…

But…

We finally turned it on offensively Wednesday night as the US Men's National Team easily defeated Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 in Chicago.

The offense finally looked like it was becoming a cohseive unit. In the ninth minute, Landon Donovan lofted a perfect ball into the box and Michael Bradley gently flicked the ball past the keeper for the first goal of the night. It was fast. It was gorgeous. It made me feel immediately at ease.

Shortly thereafter, Clint Dempsey basically nailed the game shut with a thrilling strike after executing a textbook give-and-go move with Beasley. Twelve minutes into the second half, Ching finalized the rout with an easy rebound goal off a set piece. Overall, the offense looked good.

Sure, they could have maybe scored more. Trindad and Tobago’s defense was bad. Really bad. And I always want more goals. What went wrong? 

Well, Klejstan looked nervous. He made some crazy, inexplicable decisions early (let's call it the Ricardo Clark Effect). But overall, the team looked more aggressive and confident on offense, and for that I am thankful.

The defense played pretty well too (as usual). We’ve needed those guys and they deserve our props, especially Gooch and Boca. And Pearce too. I guess. I’ve been hard on him, but he played better on home soil than he had abroad.

The D didn’t really have to do much in this one though as T&T looked horrible in the first half and never really got past midfield. They did create a few decent chances in the second half, but nothing spectacular. Howard was never really challenged.

Overall though, it has to pump us up a little that we gave up absoultely no goals during the last three games. You can say what you want about our offense underproducing prior to this game, but we finished with a flurry of goals at home and we are looking like we are certain to qualify for the final round.

Only time will tell whether tonight’s game was an aberration for our offense or an indicator of our future success. For now, I will just be happy with the three goals.

And yet another shutout.