September 9, 2009 NO SUBSTITUTE FOR WINNING Clark's goal lifts U.S. over T&T, within a win of qualifying for South Africa
Ricardo Clark scored the lone goal of the match for the U.S. in its 1-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago -- Sometimes the best moves a coach makes are the ones that he doesn't make.
Take, for instance, what happened during the U.S.'s 1-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in a World Cup qualifier Wednesday night.
Stuart Holden and Benny Feilhaber were prepping on the sidelines to enter the match, for Ricardo Clark and Jozy Altidore.
But before coach Bob Bradley could send both players into the match, Clark spoiled his plans by scoring the lone goal of the night and the coach decided on only one sub, instead of two.
The win, the Americans' first road victory in the final round, moved them closer to secure its sixth consecutive World Cup berth. The Americans need a victory in one of their final two games -- in Honduras on Oct. 10 or vs. Costa Rica in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 14.
"It was a big feat and a big step for us in qualifying for the World Cup," U.S. central defender Oguchi Onyweu said.
The Americans, who have struggled in their past two wins, find themselves atop the CONCACAF group with a 5-2-1 record and 16 points. After Wednesday night's results, they followed by Mexico (5-3-0, 15), Honduras (4-3-1, 13), Costa Rica (4-4-0, 12) and El Salvador (2-4-2, eight) and Trinidad (1-5-2, five).
"Struggling with six points, I'll take that every time rather than playing well and losing," Onyweu said, referring to the team's 2-1 win over El Salvador Saturday night.
Clark didn't play in that one. In fact, he didn't dress. Bradley wanted to rest him for Trinidad and his ploy paid off in more ways than he could have possibly imagined.
Clark admitted he didn't know he was going to be pulled Bradley right before his goal Wednesday night.
"No I didn't know at the time," he said. "When the substation came after the goal, I had a feeling that was supposed to be me. So thank God I had that opportunity to score a goal."
That happened in the 62nd minute. Landon Donovan sent Clark a pass in the middle of the field and the Houston Dynamo midfielder fired away from 25 yards, placing the ball past goalkeeper Clayton Ince to the lower right corner.
"As a center midfielder, you're running late into the attack, so the cut back is always on," Clark said. "I told Landon the first half that the cut back was on. He spotted me at the time and it was good timing. I just let it rip.
"Once it left my foot, for some reason a soccer player knows it just feels good. I was just trying to stay over it, hit on frame, hit it as hard as I can. It's a big part of my game. Once I looked up and saw it going in I was happy."
And probably relieved because the Soca Warriors had dominated the game in the first half.
"We didn't play great in the first half, but we turned it on in the second," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "It was a weird game. The crowd wasn't really into it. The stadium was half empty."
He later added: "CONCACAF at times the games seem to be so weird. There almost at times there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, which is why you really have to keep your discipline. I would rather be us than some of the other teams at the moment."
Howard certainly had his moments in the match, saving several key shots. His most important moment in goal came when he didn't even touch the ball.
That happened in the 29th minute when forward Cornell Glen, who played for the MetroStars under Bradley, beat Howard by chipping a 12-yard attempt over the crossbar. While Glen fell down to the ground in frustration, the U.S. cleared the ball out of harm's way.
"The sound of the crossbar is definitely the best sound in the world, I'm telling you," Howard said. "The grass wasn't slick. You hope some balls like that skip through, but it sat up for him. I'm just thankful we just won our luck there."
