The red warning lights that flashed in the face of the United States national team on Friday
night in Guatemala City never even flickered on Tuesday in Mapfre Stadium.
The U.S. romped to a 4-0 victory over Guatemala in front of 20,624, helping the Americans
write themselves a new lease on their World Cup qualifying lives.
In what amounted to a must-win game in the semifinal round of CONCACAF qualifying, the United
States cruised to its biggest win ever in its unofficial home stadium and moved back into prime
position to reach the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Geoff Cameron, Clint Dempsey, Graham Zusi and Jozy Altidore scored for the U.S. in a
dismantling of the world’s 95th-ranked team, helping the U.S. improve to 8-0-3 while outscoring its
opponents 19-1 in Mapfre Stadium.
Dos a Cero, doubled.
“I’m sure we’re going to play a critical game sometime somewhere else,” U.S. Soccer
Federation president Sunil Gulati told The Dispatch. “But I’m not the idiot that’s going to make
that decision.”
The four-goal margin of victory matched the largest for the U.S. in Columbus, besting that of
a 3-0 qualifying win over tiny Grenada in 2004.
It relieved the growing pressure on American coach Jürgen Klinsmann, whose team had won just
once in its previous six meaningful games. Had the U.S. lost, it likely would have failed to
qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
The Americans allowed two goals in the first 15 minutes of a shocking 2-0 loss at Guatemala
on Friday, but they had little trouble with Los Chapines on home soil.
Dempsey finished off a long ball from Cameron to stake the U.S. to a lead in the 12th minute
and surpass Landon Donovan for his nation’s all-time lead in World Cup qualifying goals. Dempsey
has scored 14 goals in 36 World Cup qualifiers.
Cameron headed in a Michael Bradley free kick to make it 2-0 before halftime, and Zusi pushed
the lead to 3-0 when tucked a shot inside the far post just 20 seconds into the second half.
“We were all over them from the start, just to let them know that this is our house,” said
forward Gyasi Zardes, who had two assists.
Klinsmann made five changes to Friday’s starting lineup and aligned the U.S. in an
attack-minded, 4-3-3 formation. The lead gave Klinsmann the leeway to make substitutions at his
leisure, and one of those led to some of the loudest roars of the night from a heavily partisan
crowd.
Crew SC midfielder Ethan Finlay made his World Cup qualifying debut in the 71st minute.
He appeared to score in the 86th, but the goal was called back because he was deemed to be offside.
“I wasn’t off,” Finlay said. “But hey, it’s all right. It’s part of the game. It was a really
special moment, one that I’ll always remember.”
Crew rookie Rodrigo Saravia made his Columbus debut, starting a second straight game for
Guatemala. He is the first non-American Crew player to play for his national team in Mapfre
Stadium.
smitchell@dispatch.com
@smitchcd
