The United States took the lead in Group A of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying with a 1-0 win over Jamaica at Crew Stadium in Columbus. After hitting the frame of the goal three times in the first-half, Herculez Gomez scored from a free kick in the 55th minute. US coach Jurgen Klinsmann made several changes to his starting lineup, with the US dominating possession for large stretches of the game. The US, Jamaica, and Guatemala are now level with seven points with the US holding the tiebreaker on goals scored over Guatemala.
“I think that energy was transmitted to us throughout the week,” Gomez said of the fan support the US received in Columbus. “We knew how important they thought it was. We have a lot of experience on this team. I don’t think anybody here took Jamaica for granted. We knew what we were getting into. We weren’t pleased with our performance on Friday and because we weren’t pleased with that performance we were all really excited and chomping at the bit to get at them tonight.”
— GAME REPORT —
Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Jamaica
Date: Sept. 11, 2012
Competition: 2012 FIFA World Cup Qualifying; Group A
Venue: Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, Ohio
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Attendance: 23,881
Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 1 1
JAM 0 0 0
USA – Herculez Gomez 55th minute
Lineups:
USA : 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 20-Geoff Cameron, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 23-Fabian Johnson; 14-Danny Williams; 19-Graham Zusi (7-Maurice Edu, 72), 13-Jermaine Jones, 16-Jose Torres (11-Brek Shea, 67); 8-Clint Dempsey, 9-Herculez Gomez (17-Jozy Altidore, 80)
Subs not used: 2-Jonathan Spector, 5-Kyle Beckerman, 12-Brad Guzan, 15-Michael Parkhurst, 18-Terrence Boyd
Head Coach: Jurgen Klinsmann
JAM : 13-Dwayne Miller; 19-Arian Mariappa, 2-Nyron Nosworthy, 14-Lovel Palmer; 15-Je-Vaughn Watson (20-Tremaine Stewart, 75), 17-Rodolph Austin, 7-Jason Morrison, 6-Jermaine Taylor; 21-Luton Shelton (capt.) (18-Kavin Bryan, 66); 10-Omar Cummings (11-Dane Richards, 76), 9-Ryan Johnson
Subs not used: 1-Duwayne Kerr, 3-Dicoy Williams, 4-Shavar Thomas, 5-Darren Mattocks, 8-Joel Senior, 12-Andrae Williams, 16-O’Brian Woodbine, 22-Ewan Grandison, 23-Jacomeno Barrett
Head coach: Theodore Whitmore
Stats Summary: USA / JAM
Shots: 10 / 3
Shots on Goal: 2 / 1
Saves: 1 / 1
Corner Kicks: 2 / 5
Fouls: 11 / 19
Offside: 2 / 3
Misconduct Summary:
JAM – Lovel Palmer (caution) 17th minute
USA – Graham Zusi (caution) 62
Officials:
Referee: Jose Pineda (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Oscar Velasquez (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Melvyn Cruz (HON)
Fourth Official: Raul Castro (HON)
