TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 10:07 PM
Landon Donovan floated yet another 50-50 corner kick into that mischievous spot about eight yards in front of the Mexican goal, where keeper, forward and defender all converge into an unpredictable bundle. Eddie Johnson curled right to that nexus, rose above the others and nodded the ball past a prone Jose de Jesus Corona and into an empty net to break a scoreless tie in the 49th minute.
As he did, the noise level from 24,584 fans at Crew Stadium reached decibels reserved exactly for such a moment, when a home, national side is about to clinch one of the precious 32 spots in the next World Cup. And that is exactly what happened, eventually. After the 2-0 victory over Mexico, the American players huddled in the locker room around a single television set as Honduras drew with Panama and their fate was clear:
The U.S. will play in its seventh straight World Cup next summer in Brazil, with two qualifiers to spare.
“This is a huge, huge evening for all of us,” said Jurgen Klinsmann, after Tim Howard had popped the first of many champagne bottles, after the U.S. players had run back onto the field to celebrate with a few hundred straggler fans. “We were just waiting for this moment. It’s a huge milestone whenever you make it to the World Cup, especially a World Cup hosted in Brazil.”
The U.S., in first place, and Costa Rica, second, advanced to Brazil from CONCACAF together on Tuesday, the eighth and ninth teams to qualify. The Mexicans dropped into fifth place in the Hexagonal and will host Panama next in a match that likely will decide which side gets a chance to play off with New Zealand for a berth.
That’s their problem, now. The crowd serenaded the Mexicans with the familiar final score, “Dos a zero,” and sang, over and again, “You’re not going to Brazil.” Donovan, a long-time Mexico nemesis, naturally delighted in such developments.
“They looked relatively timid and shy throughout,” Donovan said. “I’d never seen them like that. After we scored, I figured we’d get one or two more or the game would end 1-0. I’m proud this team keeps doing it. I hope everybody realizes there’s no guarantee you get this again.”
Johnson’s nifty goal from Donovan was the winner. “I was aiming for a spot and Eddie made a tremendous play,” Donovan said. Then Donovan, player of the match, tucked in a second goal in the 78th minute on a cross down low from substitute Mix Diskerud, deflected by Clint Dempsey for an assist. Dempsey later missed a meaningless penalty kick in the final seconds of added time, ensuring the U.S. (5-2-2, 17 points) would defeat Mexico (1-2-5, 8 points) by the exact same 2-0 score in Columbus as it had done the previous three World Cup qualifying cycles.
“I was tired but I still wanted to take it. I tried to put it into the corner,” Dempsey insisted, though the way-wide miss kept the 2-0 Columbus curse alive.
It was Howard’s acrobatics in goal during the first half that really rescued this match and the momentum. Howard made four diving or leaping saves in the first 45 minutes, when the U.S. ceded too much space and too many opportunities to Mexico.
Mexico again lacked a finishing touch, which wasn’t a great surprise considering how it has played throughout the Hexagonal.
Just a year earlier, Mexico was being hailed as a singular, dominant force in CONCACAF, with young stars galore, with a gold medal at the London Olympic Games, with depth and with an attacking quality unmatched by any neighboring countries. But then the World Cup qualifiers arrived, and suddenly Mexico was flailing miserably.
The Mexican Federation fired coach Chepo De la Torre after the loss Friday to Costa Rica and replaced him with Luis Fernando Tena, simply hoping to restore a sense of stability.
“This is not the time to make decisions,” a shell-shocked Tena said after this defeat, looking ahead to the Panama match. “We’ll wait until tomorrow and see.”
If Mexico fails to qualify, ironically, it would likely hurt soccer in the U.S. That’s because America is really the Mexicans’ second home in this sport. They play exhibitions to sold-out stadiums all over the country, and they draw huge ratings on Spanish-speaking broadcasts.
“They got heavier and heavier,” Klinsmann said of the Mexicans. “They started to doubt themselves. . . . This makes it easier to plan things for Brazil, look at friendlies for November.”
Cheaper to book those flights to Rio, well in advance.
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Eddie Johnson was born on March 31st, 1984 according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Johnson_(American_soccer)
March 31st, 1984
3 + 31 +1+9+8+4 = 56 = his life lesson = Decisive.
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March 31st, 1984
March 31st
3 + 31 +2+0+1+3 = 40 = his personal year (from March 31st, 2013 to March 30th, 2014) = Assist.
40 year + 8 (August) = 48 = his personal month (from August 31st, 2013 to September 30th, 2013) = A man on a mission. Doing what he was born to do. His calling in life.
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using the number/letter grid:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Where:
A = 1 J = 1 S = 1
B = 2 K = 2 T = 2
C = 3 L = 3 U = 3
D = 4 M = 4 V = 4
E = 5 N = 5 W = 5
F = 6 O = 6 X = 6
G = 7 P = 7 Y = 7
H = 8 Q = 8 Z = 8
I = 9 R = 9
Eddie Johnson
54495 1685165 59
his path of destiny = 59 = A real saviour.
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predictions for the year 2013 are at:
http://predictionsyear2013.com/
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discover some of your own numerology for FREE at:
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learn numerology from numerologist to the world, Ed Peterson:
https://www.createspace.com/4317439
sports astrology and numerology 