US not taking Soca Warriors lightly

Scare against El Salvador has US focused on Trinidad & Tobago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Overconfident? Did someone mention complacent? No way is the U.S. national team looking at Trinidad & Tobago as a walkover entering Wednesday night's World Cup qualifying match.

Not after Saturday's 2-2 draw in El Salvador.

"Complacency? No," midfielder Michael Bradley said with a bit of a laugh. "After the game on Saturday night, there is no chance we're stepping onto the field being anything close to complacent or thinking that it's a game we can take shortcuts and come off the field with a win. These are World Cup qualifiers. There's no easy games."

The U.S. can attest to that. The first-place USA (1-0-1, four points) overcame a two-goal deficit with a pair of late goals to salvage a point in the CONCACAF final round match. More importantly, the tie also denied the home team two more points in this 10-match series.

Wednesday's game at LP Field matches teams that rallied to earn 11th-hour ties. The Soca Warriors (0-0-2, two points) scored in the 88th minute on 19-year-old Khaleem Hyland's equalizer to grab a 1-1 draw with Honduras.

"Trinidad will be riding a little bit of a high after coming from behind," said Bradley, who noted that T&T defeated U.S. last October in Trinidad, 2-1, in a game that did not matter to the USA because they already had qualified for the final round.

"We saw a little bit what Trinidad can be all about when they sort of get themselves going and start to have some confidence. At that end, there's no feeling in feeling in our group that (laughs) that this is an easier game or anything like that. I can promise that when we step onto the field on Wednesday, its time to get down to business."

Of course, it's difficult to avoid looking at the USA's dominance in this series. The Red, White and Blue are 14-2-3 overall. They're 10-0-1 at home vs. T&T and 6-0-1 on U.S. soil in qualifiers. For the record, Trinidad's lone point came in a 1-1 World Cup qualifying tie in Torrance, Calif. on May 13, 1989. The U.S. also has registered six consecutive home clean sheets, last allowing a goal to the Caribbean side in a 3-2 victory in Anaheim, Calif. on Jan. 13, 1996.

But U.S. manager Bob Bradley said to throw all that out.

"We remind the team -- World Cup qualifiers, history doesn't matter," he said. "Every night you have to step onto the field. You have to establish your team, the way you're going to play. Certainly, when you come off with a game like El Salvador that is still fresh in your mind. That's the reminder."

To goalkeeper Tim Howard, the more important game is at home. The U.S. brings in a 15-game home qualifying unbeaten streak, last losing in qualifying to Honduras, 3-2 in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 1, 2001. The last home defeat prior to that was to Costa Rica, 1-0 on May 31, 1985.

"If you know World Cup qualifying, you realize there are going to be bumps in the road," he said. "To go away from home to get a point, theoretically is pretty good." Howard said. "We didn't play as best and as well as we could. We want to put that right on Wednesday. It's important to take three points at home."

Saturday's game was a gut check for the U.S., which pulled off one of the greatest, if not greatest comebacks in national team history by overcoming a two-goal deficit. Right back Frankie Hejduk set up second-half sub Jozy Altidore on the first score ain the 77th minute and tallied the equalizer himself in the 88th minute.

"Any time you don't have your best game and come back and get a point on the road, it says a lot for the team," Hejduk said. "The guys really battled hard. We never gave up. The U.S. has a never-say-die attitude. Even at 2-0 ... we knew the game wasn't over. We believe in each other."

Michael Bradley felt it was a wakeup call to the team.

"It's a chance ... to really have a closer good look at the things that we need to bring to the table and the way we need to play every time we step onto the field," he said. "So I think over the past two years our consistency in doing that has been quite good. On Saturday night in El Salvador we got away from that a little bit. We realize the commitment and effort needs to be better all around the board."

Added Altidore: "We're all a little disappointed in ourselves. Going to El Salvador, we expected to play a little bit better. Now we have a chance to rebound."

A win would keep the U.S. in first place, regardless of the other results.

The U.S. should be more fortified for this encounter. Howard, who missed the El Salvador match due to two yellow cards, is expected to start, pushing Brad Guzan to the bench. Marcus Hahnemann was sent back to his English club Reading and Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein was brought into camp. Central defender Oguchi Onyewu, who had a right knee sprain, trained with the team on Monday.

Trinidad will be without veteran striker Dwight Yorke, serving a two-game suspension, although he trained with the team.

The Soca Warriors bring in several familiar names to MLS fans, including former Columbus Crew star striker Stern John and one-time New England Revolution defender Avery John.

"Trinidad is typically a tough team. very athletic, a lot of players who have good speed, good strength," Altidore said. "So you have to break them down in other ways. You have to be patient. You have to try to expose them in places where we feel they're vulnerable."