8 is Great

That’ll do.

A few factoids of note from the drubbing…

-The eight goal win made the largest margin of victory ever for a USA Men’s National Team.
-Deuce’s goal 58 seconds after kick was the fastest in USA qualifying history.
-Eddie Johnson scored a goal.
-11 seconds of stoppage time from head referee Marco Antonio Rodriguez of Mexico. Leave it to a member of El Tri to rain on the USA’s goal parade.

Quite a weird game to try and analyze. For a lot of parts I thought we actually didn’t look that good if that makes any sense, but I guess that is understandable when the defense is constantly giving you 10 feet of space. It’s hard to one-two or skin a defender who is too far away to even see. I guess Johnny Harkes summed it up when he said 800 times to J.P. Dellacamera that these types of games are about just an exercise in getting on the score sheet and building confidence. It was a cool feeling to see the World Cup Qualifying patch on the sleeves of all of the players though, kinda reminded you of what you’re playing for and what is so close yet so far away.

All in all these games are just awkward for everybody in association. You can’t expect Dellacamera to go all Ray Hudson on us after the USA goes up 5-0 off of another rebound goal. Or for anybody to point out the uneasy largeness of the Barbados uniforms in comparison to the players wearing them. Felt like third grade rec. league all over again when you’re the last to pick your uniform. Awkwardly large sleeves don’t help with the chicks on the touchline. Taylor Twellman could never suit up for Barbados. Goal celebrations are a trip too. Everyone knows that only the first scorer in a game like this can have some kind of a celebration, as Dempsey did with his first minute opener. Everyone seemed to be following the rules until EJ came on and looked giddier than a little school girl after he notched his first goal since the roman ages. That’s just awkward. It’s all just very awkward.

Get ready to do it again next Sunday.

Your thoughts on the first match on the road to 2010?