Goal, Goal, Goal For The Red, White, and Blue

Rico pulled a Babe Ruth and called his shot!

So in the end it turned out to be a pretty good night for the good old U.S. and A. Not the best performance in Port of Spain -- how badly would Spain have beaten that team? -- but combined with a couple of other results and qualification is a mere two points away at most. Here are some thoughts:

- Clint Dempsey isn’t deserving of a spot on the field right now. No matter how many times John Harkes started to call him out and then either backed away or gave an excuse, Dempsey has been the worst player for the Yanks in the past two games. Mark texted me and asked if Clint was worse than DaMarcus Beasley, to which I replied that he wasn’t, but I should’ve added that though woefully out of form, DMB at least hustled. Numerous times the camera would pan through the midfield and Dempsey would be seen walking, epitomized in the dying minutes last night when Ching sprinted past a standstill Dempsey to put pressure on T&T’s right back. All of this could be justified if he was a Fernando Torres and scoring goals left and right, but he’s not. Too often Dempsey cheaply turns the ball over in midfield putting pressure on an exposed defense and misses easy chances he can take going forward. If it’s going to come down to needing a result at RFK, I’m rooting for a yellow for Dempsey in Honduras.

- Of course the reason Dempsey played 82 minutes is because of Bob Bradley. Once again we saw no tactical changes from the head coach at half time. Shockingly the team has scored in the second half in back-to-back games, but last night the goal scorer was set to come off. At least the younger Bradley was playing well enough to merit staying on and Bradley the elder was going for a goal with offensive subs, but once again you can’t feel confident going to South Africa with BB on the bench. A good read, summing up some points I’ve made here in the past, is over at The Big Lead. I think some things are taken too far -- for instance, the Jaime Trecker thing is overblown and he deserves it to a certain extent -- but the grand point that the national team has leveled off, if not regressed, is true.

- My last bit of criticism is aimed right at John Harkes. I don’t know if ESPN has neutered him, but I want Wynalda back. At least Waldo would have called out Dempsey and Bradley and not backed away from those statements later on. It seemed like every time Dempsey made a poor play, there was an excuse given, wondering if he was exhausted or fighting a cold or forgot to take his tampon out. Ok, I made up the last one, but still. The point that stood out to me was a long shot by Dempsey taken right into four defenders late in the game when we should have been killing it off and Harkes didn’t say anything, yet when Charlie Davies had an open shot, albeit from an angle, he’s criticized for not crossing where there were multiple U.S. attackers, all marked by T&T defenders. It plays into the idea that there are untouchables for the Americans, both by the coaches and commentators.

- On a positive note, that was the best I’ve seen Tim Howard look in months. He made some big saves and, though he was nearly beaten on Cornell Glen’s chip in the first half, he did well to come out and pressure him. Much more confident in T-Ho, though it’s not like there’s a suitable second option behind him.

- Also, Landon Donovan is at his best level right now. See what happens when you’re single? He assisted all three goals and, as Grant Wahl said, he’s the only consistent offensive option right now. Granted, you wonder how that changes if Torres is given time over Dempsey. Or even Holden for that matter. As it is, I wonder if karma is gonna get him after a couple of undeserved Honda Player of the Year awards and give it to someone else the year he truly deserves.

- Having said all that, if the U.S. can clinch a spot in South Africa with draws in their past two games. Mexico squeaked by Honduras on a PK and El Salvador did the other “Big Three” a mighty favor in knocking off Costa Rica with a last minute goal. A tie at Azteca would have been better according to Bushman, but I’m not so sure. I like that Honduras will have to come out and win and allow us to counter attack. That’s the best-case scenario with Jozy and Davies up front, allowing them to use their speed. Even better for us is the fact that three Hondurans -- Amado Guevara, Danilo Turcios and Osman Chavez -- picked up their second yellows of qualifying and will miss match day 9. On this form, Mexico is going to pick up six more points and easily qualify with 21. Costa Rica hosts Trinidad & Tobago next and should get three points at home, but who knows in their current funk. Either way, a win at RFK seems likely for the Americans, though it would have been nice to have won that game in El Salvador and not needed the final game to decide things.

- The NFL kicks off tonight with Tennessee traveling to Pittsburgh for more than a case of I.C. Light. I really can’t see the Titans keeping up the level of last year and like an easy Stillers win. I might be on to something as the line opened at Pittsburgh -5 and has gone up a point or two.

As for the regular season, if Schaub -- who might be John O’Brien in disguise -- stays healthy, I really like that Houston team. But that’s not a position you want that kind of question with, especially with Rex Grossman as your backup. San Diego will easily walk away with that division -- think New England in the East two years ago -- but have no chance with Norv as their head coach. I do like LDT to have a monster year though, mainly thanks to facing the Raiders, Chiefs, and Broncos twice each.

I think the Skins could be sneaky good, but I almost feel like Jim Zorn needs to pull a Lou Brown and find a way to rally the team, especially Jason Campbell, into thinking management doesn’t believe in them. I certainly don’t want to see Mike Shanahan here next year, but it seems inevitable at this point.

As for division winners, my differences with Bushman would be Seattle over Arizona, Atlanta over New Orleans because I don’t believe the Gregg Williams hype anymore on defense, and the Giants over Philly thanks to karma.

And just because, my Super Bowl pick: Pittsburgh over Green Bay.

- Pat Walsh