Night Of The Upsets

First half saw no real chances for the US, and only one for Trinidad and Tobago (T&T.) It was fairly even, though T&T had an advantage on shots of 5-1. Considering the US played with 8 players who didn't appear in the earlier Qualifiers in this round, and that they are playing on the road, I guess I shouldn't complain. Got to toss a note to the US announcers, though... don't talk about how the US is doing well with their passes. As soon as you did that, they had a spell of a couple of minutes where they couldn't get a good pass off.

Altidore, Adu, and Torres all looked good, which gives one hope for the future. Frankie Hejduk needs to learn that there's more to crossing than just sending the ball into the opponent's penalty area... there needs to be someone on the end of it. Look up and see who's available, Frankie!

Torres found Altidore early in the second half, but it was called off sides in a very questionable call. Forget that, if it was off sides, my head is made of wax, and my brain is full of bees.

T&T scored in the 61st minute, which only proved that Guzman isn't up to the task. Sure, Scotland's cross was near perfect (hey, Frankie... did you notice how he looked up before he crossed? It only took a tenth of a second, but he did look,) but Latapy's shot hit the post only to go in off of Guzman's shoulder.

Davies came in for Adu in the 69th, and frankly it was about time. While he looked good in the first half, he started to fade in the second. He looked none to happy at being removed, but Freddie has always thought more of himself than he's shown on the field at senior level. The move paid off as moments later after a bit of a scramble in the T&T penalty area Altidore found Davies all alone with only the keeper to beat
to tie things up.

And then at the 77th minute mark, the US gets called for pulling on a jersey inside their own penalty area. Dwight Yorke stepped up and made no mistake, putting his shot to Guzman's right while the keeper dove left, the net breaking open from the shot. I didn't see the foul, not even after the replay.

82nd minute the US miss a great opportunity as Altidore couldn't get all of a sure goal header. And that was pretty much the game. Aggravating, really, but not more so than Argentina losing to Chile 1-0, Canada managing a draw with Mexico, and Cuba actually winning against Guatemala 2-1.

Rack the US loss up to playing on the road, with a group of their younger players that need a little more time playing together, one bad off sides call, and perhaps a bad call on the T&T penalty... I'll have to see if I can't watch that play again some time.