The Official Site of Landon Donovan

Thu, Aug 21st 2008, 13:55

US defeats Guatemala in World Cup qualifier

Landon and the US Men’s National team won a rough, hard-fought game in Guatemala City, 1-0, to give them their first ever qualifying win on Guatemalan city. Playing on a wet field and in front of a loud and energetic home crowd, the Guatemalan’s had the better chances in the first half and at the start of the second. The US weathered the storm, even after Steve Cherundolo’s red card, in large part due to the Guatemalan side receiving their own ejection 3 minutes later.

“Obviously you knew they were going to get some sort of talking to at halftime and they would come out revved up,” said Landon after the match. “We didn’t do the best job in that period of playing in their end, but we got through it. After the red card it could have been difficult, but they gave it right back to us.”

The US responded after the Guatemalan red card as Carlos Bocanegra found the back of the net after breaking free from his man on a corner kick in the 69th minute. The picture perfect finish gave the US all they would need in terms of offense, and the defense held their ground for the full 90.

“It’s not always pretty, but you have to find a way,” said Landon. “The field and the atmosphere certainly didn’t help, and we weren’t always at our best, but I’m very proud of how we did.”

Match recap

USSoccer.com podcast featuring Landon