US soccer routs Cuba to advance in world cup qualifying

The US soccer team routed Cuba 6-1 on Saturday to advance to the final round of World Cup qualifying.  The US is ranked #21 in the world, and had no trouble with a Cuban side that hasn’t been to the World Cup since 1938 and is ranked #98.

DaMarcus Beasley scored the first of his two goals just 10 minutes into the game when he beat the Cuban goaltender from about 12 yards out.  He added another tally 20 minutes later when he converted a pass from Landon Donavan to stake the US to a 2-0 lead.  Cuba scored a couple of minutes later to cut the lead to 2-1 but that was as close as they were able to get.

The American side blew the game wide open in the 2nd half, beginning with a goal by Donavan at the 48 minute mark.  Beasley just missed a hat trick when he was blocked on two shots in the 60th minute of the game.  Brian Ching would score for the Americans in the 63 minute, and Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu would add to the margin in the closing five minutes of the game.

The US will play another qualifying game on Wednesday against Trinidad and Tobago.  The result of this contest is somewhat meaningless, as they’re already through to the six-nation finals of the North and Central American and Caribbean region that will take place next year.   The top three teams in that competition will automatically qualify for a berth in the 2010 World Cup, while the 4th place finisher will compete in a “play in game” against the 5th place team from South America.

The 2010 World Cup will take place in South Africa in late June/early July.  The United States is hoping to improve on their horrible showing in 2006, where they could only muster 2 goals in three games en route to an 0-2-1 mark which wasn’t good enough to qualify for the elimination rounds.  They’re definitely happy to see the competition move off of the European continent, as a US National soccer team has never won a game in a World Cup competition held in Europe.