The Official Site of Landon Donovan

Thu, Apr 2nd 2009, 13:38

Trio of assists from Landon help the US roll over T & T

Forward Jozy Altidore became the youngest player in history to score a hat trick for the U.S. Men’s National Team, tallying all three goals tonight for the U.S. Men’s National Team in a dominating 3-0 victory against Trinidad & Tobago in front of a raucous crowd of 27,959 at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. With the victory, the U.S. continued to hold their place at the top of the hexagonal in the final round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Altidore had midfielder Landon Donovan to thank for his record-setting performance, as the USA’s all-time leading scorer set up the 19-year-old forward for all three of his strikes while increasing his record-setting tally to 35 career assists. The first connection between the two occurred in the 13th minute, and the duo hooked up two more times in the second half as the U.S. continued their dominance against Trinidad & Tobago at home, now 7-0-1 overall in World Cup qualifying.

With Mexico losing 3-1 to Honduras, and Costa Rica posting a 1-0 win against El Salvador, the USA’s seven points from three games provides them a one-point advantage over second place Costa Rica. The top two teams in the group will face off on June 3 in Matchday 4, with the U.S. traveling to Costa Rica for their second match on the road in the final round. The match is three days earlier than the rest of the hexagonal due to the need to travel to South Africa in preparation for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The second match for the U.S. on the double fixture date will be against Honduras on June 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago (tickets). Two days later, the U.S. will depart for South Africa.

“Full credit to the players,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley, who continued the team’s unblemished 6-0-0 home record in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. “After the last match we were certainly pleased with the push we made when we were behind, but there were things in that match that we felt were not indicative of what we’re all about. The players felt strongly about that, and I think you could see the response from the team from the beginning tonight.”

Altidore’s goals marked the first time in his career in which he has scored goals in consecutive games, having scored the USA’s first goal against El Salvador in the 2-2 draw on Saturday, March 28, at Estadio Cuscatlán. It also marked the first time that the U.S. has produced multiple goal scorers in three consecutive home matches, with Sacha Kljestan notching a hat trick in the 3-2 win against Sweden on Jan. 24, 2009, and Michael Bradley scoring a brace in the 2-0 win against Mexico on Feb. 11 in Columbus.

“When you have 11 guys on the field working hard and working together as a team, an individual can have a good night. That’s just how it happens, “said Altidore, who increased his tally to five goals in 2010 World Cup qualifying. “When the team plays well, individuals will shine, but at the same time we have to keep the mentality that things aren’t easy in CONCACAF. These are good teams to play against and sometimes they’re tough to break down, as you saw tonight. I just want to keep going forward and keep working hard and hopefully good things will happen.”

Continue reading….