One shining moment
Dempsey's goal lifts US in Cuba
HAVANA - With few fans in the stands and little light on the field, the United States hung on to win its first soccer game in Cuba since 1947, beating the hosts, 1-0, in a sloppy, sleepy World Cup qualifier last night.
Former Revolution star Clint Dempsey scored late in the first half and Tim Howard made two key saves to give the United States its third straight road win in qualifying from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.
"They did a pretty good job of making it hard on us," Landon Donovan said. "They never really took the chances to get back in the game so it kind of limited itself to trying to get the second goal if we could, but we felt that they weren't going to have real chances."
The US leads Group One of the CONCACAF semifinals with six points. The US, which also won at Guatemala, won at Barbados in the previous round. Cuba has lost its two games in the group stage.
The top two teams in the group that also contains Trinidad and Tobago (four points) and Guatemala (one point) will advance to the six-team finals. Three teams qualify from the region for the 2010 World Cup, and the No. 4 team meets the fifth-place team from South America for another
Half of the lights at rain-soaked Pedro Marrero Stadium went out in the 86th minute, causing a brief delay before the final minutes of the low-energy match were played out in the gloom.
In the 39th minute, Oguchi Onyewu sent a pass into the box from midfield and Dempsey jumped up with two Cuban defenders, one of whom mistakenly headed the ball straight to Brian Ching.
Ching held off a defender and dropped the ball to Dempsey, who netted from 12 yards out.
"Ching somehow ended up getting himself in front of the defender and doing a good job of shaking him and giving me a good pass that allowed me to score," Dempsey said. "Without him being there, I don't think I would have gotten that opportunity."
The US embargo meant there were almost no Americans among the roughly 8,000 in the stands, though a few officials from the US Interests Section, which Washington maintains in Havana instead of an embassy, organized a special trip to the game.
A thunderstorm soaked the field two hours before kickoff, making for swampy conditions. Footing and ball control was difficult for both teams.
Cuba began the second half with a flurry of chances but failed to put a shot on goal until the 56th minute, when Pedro Silvio fed unmarked substitute Aliani Cervantes on the left side for a hard shot that Howard dived to stop with two Cuban players nearby, awaiting a rebound.
"It meant a lot to them and as a result it was a tight, difficult game," US coach Bob Bradley said. 