Antigua and Barbuda is opponent in opener It took just 53 seconds for the United States to score its first goal in 2010 World Cup qualifying. It wasn’t surprising, given the road to South Africa began with a home-and-away series against lowly Barbados in June 2008, essentially a warmup for the 18-month marathon that followed.
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The United States will find itself in a similar situation at the beginning of the road to Brazil in 2014 against Antigua and Barbuda in Tampa, Fla., on Friday. In the first of a six-game draw in a group that also includes Guatemala and Jamaica, the United States faces a team representing a nation with a population in the vicinity of 90,000, less than half the number of people living in Arlington County.
| World Cup qualifying |
| U.S. vs. Antigua and Barbuda |
| When » Friday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » Raymond James |
| Stadium, Tampa, Fla. |
| TV » ESPN |
The Benna Boys have never advanced this far before, and their roster is built largely with players who ply their trade for Antigua Barracuda FC in USL PRO, the pro soccer division two tiers below Major League Soccer.
While Englishman Tom Curtis has the familiarity of coaching the Antiguan club and country’s squads, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann has plenty of questions to answer after his team was superb in a 5-1 thrashing of Scotland but then got beaten 4-1 by Brazil and was lackluster in a scoreless draw against Canada.
Lineup decisions start with who among Oguchi Onyewu, Clarence Goodson and Geoff Cameron pairs with Carlos Bocanegra in the center of the back line.
At forward, Herculez Gomez, Jozy Altidore and Terrence Boyd each offer something different. The impact may not be crucial Friday, but the stakes will rise dramatically when Klinsmann takes his squad to Guatemala City for the second qualifying match June 11. It will be the German coach’s first taste of the dicey, tense and hostile conditions the United States faces in Central America.
“Going away for qualifying is always difficult, so that will be a big challenge for us against Guatemala,” U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard told reporters after the tie against Canada. “For Antigua, we’re at home, so we need to win that game. We need to really put a lot of pressure on them and make them feel like they’re going to be in a really difficult game.”
