The U.S. Men’s National Team extended their unbeaten streak in home World Cup Qualifiers to 24 straight games and took sole possession of first place in the Final Round with a 2-0 win against Panama Tuesday night in Seattle in front of 40,847 fans at CenturyLink Field.
Altidore tallied the game-winner in the 36th minute off a perfectly placed cross from Fabian Johnson, giving the striker his third goal in as many games. Altidore now has 16 international goals in his career, putting him ninth on the MNT all-time scoring list ahead of Cobi Jones. The goal was also his seventh in the Final Round of World Cup Qualifying, tying him with Landon Donovan for the most in MNT history.
Less than 20 minutes into the second half, Seattle Sounders FC striker Eddie Johnson gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead in front of his home crowd, with a deft finish after a long pass from Geoff Cameron. The goal was his 11th in 16 career World Cup Qualifying games, and puts him one behind all-time leaders Clint Dempsey and Donovan.
With a 3-1-1 record and three shutouts, the U.S. sits alone atop the Hexagonal with 10 points, two points clear of both Costa Rica and Mexico. This is the first time the U.S. has led the Final Round of World Cup Qualifying at the halfway mark since the 2002 qualifying cycle, and just the second time in the last five cycles.
In the 80th minute, DaMarcus Beasley nearly made it 3-0 when he took off on a remarkable 60-yard run down the left flank and received a perfect through ball from Altidore, but his shot nicked the left post and went wide.
The U.S. will complete the trio of World Cup Qualifiers when they host Honduras on June 18 in Sandy, Utah. Kickoff at sold-out Rio Tinto Stadium is set for 7 p.m. MT (9 p.m. ET), and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN, WatchESPN and UniMas. Fans can also follow live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and Twitter @ussoccer.
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