Photo by Mike Janosz/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
On a night at Sporting Park in which it seemed the U.S. Men’s National Team would settle for a scoreless draw, it was fitting that the face of Sporting Kansas City came up with the game-winning goal.
Graham Zusi helped lift the U.S. to a 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Jamaica and assured the Americans would finish atop CONCACAF’s Hexagonal round for the third straight cycle on Friday night with a memorable goal in the 77th minute of the match. Zusi came off the bench at halftime to replace Landon Donovan and he injected a burst of energy and creativity into a stale U.S. attack even before scoring, making him SBI’s USMNT Man of the Match.
Other players who enjoyed strong performances in Kansas City on Friday night were fellow substitutes Edgar Castillo and Sacha Kljestan, goalkeeper Tim Howard and starting centerbacks Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler.
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What did you think of Zusi’s performance off the bench? How much of a difference do you think his insertion made? Think someone else should have won the Man of the Match award?
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