Clark strike gives US vital three points in Trinidad
Dynamo midfielder helps US secure top-four finish in World Cup qualifying
Just imagine if there was a stoppage in play in the 61st minute Wednesday night of what was then a scoreless tie between the United States and Trinidad & Tobago.
There was a good chance that Stuart Holden would have replaced Ricardo Clark at midfield and that the latter Houston Dynamo standout would not have gotten a chance to strike for the winning goal a minute later in the USA's 1-0 World Cup qualifying victory.
Holden was preparing to come into the match along with Benny Feilhaber, who replaced Jozy Altidore in the 63rd minute at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Who knows what would have happened? Perhaps someone else would have found the back of the net to play hero for the USA. But it was Clark who saved the day, as the U.S. had struggled in the first half against a team that was on its way to being eliminated from the World Cup sweepstakes.
The win moved the U.S. closer to securing its sixth consecutive World Cup berth. The USA need a victory in one of their final two games -- in Honduras on Oct. 10 or vs. Costa Rica in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 14.
The victory also ensured the U.S. at least a fourth-place finish in the final round hexagonal. That means if the USA don't finish among the top three teams to earn an automatic berth to South Africa, they will play the fifth-place South American side in a home-and-home playoff in October.
During the post-match interviews, neither Clark or his teammates knew of the later results -- Mexico's 1-0 triumph over Honduras and El Salvador's 1-0 upset of Costa Rica -- to make a comment on how close the U.S. was to qualifying.
While the U.S.'s play of late hasn't been that fabulous, the USA find themselves atop the CONCACAF group with a 5-2-1 record and 16 points. After Wednesday night's results, they are followed by Mexico (5-3-0, 15), Honduras (4-3-1, 13), Costa Rica (4-4-0, 12), El Salvador (2-4-2, eight) and Trinidad (1-5-2, five).
"Struggling with six points, I'll take that every time rather than playing well and losing," central defender Oguchi Onyewu said, referring to the team's 2-1 win over El Salvador Saturday night.
Clark admitted he didn't know he was going to be pulled by coach Bob Bradley.
"No I didn't know at the time," he said. "When the substitution came after the goal, I had a feeling that was supposed to be me. So thank God I had that opportunity to score a goal."
Clark's first international goal since a 3-1 loss to Paraguay in Venezuela in Copa America on July 2, 2007 came in front of his father, Lance, a Trinidian by birth who came in to watch his son play.
"It's special to score a goal with him watching," Clark said. "He's been a big part of my life, big part of my soccer career. It's a blessing to score in front of him."
Clark, 26, has family -- distant relatives -- here on the island.
"We don't keep in touch with them too much," he said, adding that he saw one of his father's cousins during the team's short stay.
"It was one of those get-in, get-out things," Clark said. "I saw my dad this morning, got him some tickets, then it was bye-bye. I don't think I'm going to see him after the game. So that's the life of a soccer player."
So is sitting and not playing in big matches, which Clark discovered on Saturday. He didn't even dress for the El Salvador encounter.
Bradley wanted to rest Clark. "We felt that by resting him for the first game and bringing him back for this game his energy, combined with a little bit of rest, would help us, especially knowing the kind of game we'd have against Trinidad and Tobago," he said.
Added Clark: "It was more of a strategic thing. I had been playing a lot of games in Houston. Because of the card situation with a lot of the players I think he wanted to rest me to make sure I was available for this game, which was huge."
Clark didn't necessarily like the fact he didn't play Saturday, although he understood why.
"Of course, everybody wants to play," he said. "I want to play every single game, be a part of every single game. But it was one of those things where you have to accept it and move on and make the most of your opportunity the next time you get it and I did.
For Clark, opportunity knocked in the 62nd minute when Landon Donovan gave him the ball on the right side, some 25 yards out from the goal.
"Clint [Dempsey] did a good job getting in the middle of the field, creating some space and being patient and letting me come into the play," Donovan said. "My first instinct was to put a cross across the goal but I waited and Ricardo made a good late run. Kind of similar to Michael [Bradley's] goal on the first day of qualifying [against Mexico]. Great shot and a great goal."
Clark saw an opening and decided to let loose with his right foot.
"As a center midfielder, you're running late into the attack, so the cutback is always on," Clark said. "I told Landon the first half that the cutback was on. He spotted me at the time and it was good timing. I just let it rip."
The ball ended up in the lower right corner past goalkeeper Clayton Ince.
"Once it left my foot, for some reason a soccer player knows it just feels good," Clark said. "I was just trying to stay over it, hit on frame, hit it as hard as I can. It's a big part of my game. Once I looked up and saw it going in I was happy."
And the left the USA probably relieved. The game did not start well for the U.S., which was outplayed in the first half in warm and muggy conditions.
"That's going to happen, especially when you're away from home," Clark said. "It's tough to adapt to the environment. I think the team showed a lot of character as we have had throughout this whole stretch. Even ... the [FIFA] Confederations Cup gave us a lot of experience playing away from home."
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
