USA vs. Trinidad and Tobago Recap

I understand that United States Soccer fans are few and far between, but lasts nights world cup qualifying game was something special for all sports fans. The match featured the United States versus Trinidad and Tobago at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee where the Titans play. There are many soccer haters out there however; there was a crowd of 27,959 crazy fans in attendance. The United States men’s team will be playing ten qualifying games in CONCACAF. For everyone who does not know what that is (most people don’t) that is just the league in which the U.S. plays their games. Last night was the third game out of ten and team USA got a big 3-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago. In soccer, you get three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss, so winning a game is extremely rewarding. Jozy Altidore had all three goals in the game and Landon Donovan assisted them all. Altidore plays professionally in Spain and Donovan plays for the Los Angles Galaxy. These two men are the leaders of the team offensively and they showed it last night. Trinidad and Tobago is not known as a great team and they did not play well last night. Throughout the entire game viewers saw their goalie screaming at his defenders because they were not in their correct positions. A major difference between soccer and other professional sports is that soccer players have “country duty” This is when each player leaves their respective teams and they come together to play for their country. This is unbelievable and it would be like having the world baseball classic stretched out through the regular MLB season. You have to give the players credit considering they do not play together all year round, so it is hard to create team chemistry. With that said, there is a long way to go until the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but the United States got their first win on the long road of qualifying. Their next game is on June 3 vs. Costa Rica, so if you get a chance turn on the T.V. and support your country, considering they are not half bad. 

Daniel Weberman

NYchalktalk.com