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Mon, Jun 16th 2008, 14:11

US crushes Barbados 8-0

The U.S. Men’s National Team opened 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying and took a commanding lead in first leg of their Second Round two-game series against Barbados this afternoon with a historic 8-0 victory at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

The eight-goal win is the largest margin of victory ever in U.S. Men’s National Team history, and ties the record for the most goals scored by the U.S. in a match. The U.S. scored eight goals in a friendly against the Cayman Islands on Nov. 14, 1993, but also allowed a goal in the 8-1 victory.

Clint Dempsey started the rout when he tallied the quickest goal ever scored by the U.S. in World Cup qualifying, when he finished a fantastic service from Carlos Bocanegra only 53 seconds into the match. Michael Bradley and Brian Ching added goals in the first half before the U.S. wore down a tired Barbados defense in the second half to score five more goals, including three in the final nine minutes of the game. Dempsey and Ching both ended up with two-goal performances with goals in the second half, while an own goal and strikes from Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson provided the U.S. with the record performance.

“It’s good to get the whole thing underway,” said U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley. “We spent a lot of time thinking about just getting off on the right foot, and a goal early like that certainly is getting off on the right foot. From there, it’s just an exercise of staying sharp, trying to play the right ball, the right timing, and finish off some of plays so we could have a margin. We were able to do that, so in those ways it was a definite success.”

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