Sat Sep 6 22:10:56 2008

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Dempsey helps USA earn win in Cuba

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Havana, Cuba (Sports Network) - Clint Dempsey's goal in the 40th minute was enough to lead the United States to a 1-0 win over Cuba in World Cup qualifying on Saturday.

The match marked the first time in 61 years that the Americans played a game in Cuba, which has now lost its first two matches in qualifying.

The Americans, meanwhile, have now won their first two games, a pair of 1-0 wins away from home. They lead their qualifying group with six points from two games and will return home on Wednesday to meet second-place Trinidad and Tobago, which drew 1-1 with Guatemala on Saturday.

The Americans started very cautiously and were slow to put any real pressure on the Cuban defense. Things started to open up towards the end of the half and a long ball from midfield by Oguchi Onyewu led to the team's opening goal.

The ball was played into the box where it took a deflection off of a Cuban defender and fell to the feet of Brian Ching. The Houston Dynamo striker had his back to the goal, and he laid the ball off to Dempsey, who smacked it low inside the left post to put the Americans ahead 1-0 at halftime.

Cuba tested American goalkeeper Tim Howard shortly after the restart when Alain Cervantes got the ball inside the box on the left and ripped a hard shot that Howard did well to hold on to.

The U.S. had a chance in the 62nd minute when DaMarcus Beasley touched the ball around Cuba goalkeeper Odelin Molina, but he was unable to find the back of the net from a tough angle and smacked it well wide of the far post.

The Cubans began to gain more possession and appeared to grow more confident in the second half as they hung around and refused to let the Americans put them away.

They almost grabbed a late equalizer from a free kick in the 90th minute when the ball was played into the box from the right and Yeniel Marquez got his head to it, sending it off the foot of American defender Carlos Bocanegra and towards the bottom left corner. However, Howard saved the day with a good diving stop to keep it out.