US Hangs on at Home Depot Center...

The United States opened World Cup Qualifying with an emphatic 8-0 win over Barbados. It was the greatest margin of victory ever for a United States Men's team. Credit has to be given to Barbados before I go into goal summary. They showed pride in playing for their nation, and while many of their players are domestic products, and in Barbados there is no pro league meaning they are mostly amateurs, yet unlike many countries did not resort to nasty fouls and cheap dives when things went bad for them. For many of their players the United States game was the biggest of their lives. They came, they played hard and kept their heads high despite what was by all accounts a beatdown. Now from the US perspective, handling this game so easily was a bit of a statement for them after scheduling such difficult friendlies in advance of qualifyers. Other teams that were heavily favored didn't produce such results (see Mexico 2, Belize 0 including a stoppage time penalty for Mexico). Allowing some players who had been in goal scoring slumps to get on the score sheet should help build confidence for when qualifying games get more difficult. Clint Dempsey opened the scoring less than a minute in and scored later for a brace. Brian Ching's hat trick was reduced to a brace when it became clear one of his was in fact an own goal by Barbados. Eddie Johnson came on as a sub and nearly immediately scored with a well placed header. Landon Donovan scored catching the keeper setting a wall as he sent the free kick in early. Eddie Johnson scored a goal for the United States. Michael Bradley got a goal after a bit of a scrum. Eddie Johnson scored a goal outside the MLS. With such a dominating performance the US will be able to change the lineup significantly in Barbados if Bob Bradley chooses to give other players a look. If you know anything about Barbados, John Parris came on as a late sub and earned his 100th cap for his nation. And no, I'm not making this up or playing a joke, Eddie Johnson scored a goal!