US Finishes World Cup Qualifying

The United States has finished World Cup qualifying. The final game was played in Washington DC against Costa Rica. The US had several opportunities to score in the first half but could not convert. Costa Rica though converted twice and both times it seemed that the US team was asleep at the switch.

In the second half Costa Rica focused on defense and the US kept attacking Micheal Bradley scored to pull the US within one. In the 83rd minute the US had a corner kick which way kicked to far but Onyewu went down with what appeared to be an injured left knee. The US had already used all three of their subs and was forced to play with ten the rest of the game.

Following this the Costa Rican manager Simoes was sent off for arguing with the fourth official. Due to costa Rica trying to milk the clock five minutes of stoppage time was added. In the fifth minute of stoppage time the US got a corner and even though they were only playing with ten men Bornstein was left completly unmarked and was able to put a header in the back of the net to tie the game.

There were several good signs from the US team. First, is the fact that they were able to finish first in the CONCACAF group. Second they played hard even after getting down by two in a game two days after Davies was in a serious car accident and already had clinched a World Cup berth against a team that desperatly needed a win. Third, even though they were only playing with ten men and the game was almost over Borstein got open and found a way to score the equalizer.

There were some negatives as well. First, Onyewu's injury depending on the severity could cost him valuble time with his club and afftect his conditioning and mindset for the World Cup. Second, there were defininate lapses in concentration and breakdowns in defense that led to the two goals.


Overall, it was a good game for US team and they showed a lot of heart and earned a draw to secure the top seed in the CONCACAF group.

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