A Cup Qualifying Victory Lacks Quality

By JOHN GODFREY

Published: June 9, 2012TAMPA, Fla. — Strange things often happen on the road to World Cup qualification, and for a few tense minutes on Friday night, it looked as if the tiny twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda was going to seriously challenge the United States.Despite seemingly endless waves of attacks from the Americans, a plucky but overmatched Antigua and Barbuda squad fought hard before eventually losing to the United States, 3-1, at rain-soaked Raymond James Stadium.

“Antigua did a very good job defending,” United States Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “They made it very tight. They made it difficult for us.”

If not for some brilliant saves by Antigua and Barbuda’s goalkeeper, Molvin James, the final score would have been much more lopsided. Klinsmann sent out his team in an aggressive 4-3-3 formation, and the Americans played with zeal and abandon. Forwards tracked back on defense. Defenders pushed into the attack. And anytime the United States surrendered possession, it scrambled quickly to get the ball back. The constant pressure clearly overwhelmed Antigua and Barbuda.

“There were enough chances to score more goals, but you have to be clinical enough to put them in,” Klinsmann said. “I mentioned it at halftime. I said, ‘Guys, you’ve got to shoot more often.’ ”

The Americans’ aggressive play paid dividends in the eighth minute when Hérculez Gomez headed a Landon Donovan corner kick toward the goal. James parried the ball away, but the rebound fell to the American captain Carlos Bocanegra, who trundled the rebound into the net. It was Bocanegra’s 13th goal for the national team, tying him with Marcelo Balboa for the most by a defender.

Antigua and Barbuda were on their heels, but a half-hour into the game they were still only one goal behind — a dream situation for the tiny Caribbean nation.

The United States scored the goal it was looking for in the 44th minute. After a nifty give-and-go exchange between Donovan and Clint Dempsey, a defender tripped Donovan as he caught up to the ball in the penalty area. On the resulting penalty kick, Dempsey fired a shot straight down the middle and put the United States ahead, 2-0.

The pace of the game slowed somewhat after halftime, but the Americans shifted into higher gear seemingly at will, flummoxing the Antigua and Barbuda defense. Working the left flank repeatedly, the Americans continued to generate chances that were either deflected, saved or, in the case of Gomez’s 59th-minute strike, clanged off the crossbar.

Just when the United States seemed ready to cruise to victory, however, a defensive gaffe by the substitute defender Oguchi Onyewu freed striker Peter Byers, who went in alone on goal. Goalkeeper Tim Howard could not stop Byers’s close-range shot, and Antigua and Barbuda found itself trailing by a single goal deep into the second half.

A hush fell over the crowd as it considered the possibility that the 105th-ranked team in the world might be rallying. Shaky defending from the United States only added to the drama.

But the silence turned to cheers when Gomez pounced on a deflected shot and sent a right-footed blast into the net. That goal gave the Americans a 3-1 lead, and deflated their opponents.

The final score was not a true indication of how much the Americans dominated the action, though it was an indictment of the team’s inability to finish its chances and its vulnerability on the back line.

The Americans’ next qualifier is Tuesday night in Guatemala.

“Three points is the starting point we wanted to have, and we have that,” Klinsmann said of the win. “We know we have to step it up a lot when we go to Guatemala, which we will do. We have to give Guatemala a real fight.”