Für unsere Gäste » about his big day.ZAYS BIG DAY

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jozy Altidore made U.S. history. So did Christian Pulisic.Altidore scored twice in a three-minute span of the second half, Sacha Kljestan and Paul Arriola had goals and the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 4-0 on Tuesday night to reach the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.The Americans (4-1-1) finished atop Group C of the semifinal round in the North and Central American and Caribbean region and open the hexagonal on Nov. 11 against Mexico. That match almost certainly will be in Columbus, Ohio, where the U.S. has won four straight qualifiers over El Tri by 2-0 scores.No doubt in my mind, coach Jurgen Klinsmann said of the site.U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati later tweeted: Guerra Fria?After U.S. hosts Mexico, it plays four days later at Costa Rica.Altidore, who missed most of the 2014 World Cup and all of this years Copa America because of hamstring injuries, hopes to remain on the field.Im just trying to stay healthy, man, he said. I know I have a lot to give if Im healthy. But thats the key. For me, its just trying to stay on the field, and I know if I do that, I can help the team.Altidore etched his name in the record book by becoming the United States leader with 16 qualifying goals, two more than Clint Dempsey.Pulisic made his first U.S. start after seven appearances as a substitute, and at 17 years, 353 days, became the youngest American to start a qualifier. Landon Donovan had set the mark of 18 years, 184 days against Honduras in 2001 -- the last home qualifier the Americans lost.Pulisic, who had two goals and an assist against St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week, showed pace and an ability to take on defenders down the left flank. He assisted on Altidores second goal.Pulisic also had a memorable miss when his sliding shot in the first half hit the left post, ricocheted across the face of the goal and bounced off the right post.I dont think Ive ever seen anything like that, he said. After that, I didnt think I was going to score because theres no way after something like that. Disappointing.Coaches and teammates raved about the teenagers poise.Its crazy, Altidore said. Seventeen years old and he has a calmness when he gets the ball. He can glide by people almost effortlessly. The challenge for him is to stay hungry and keep improving and for you guys to leave him alone. He doesnt need to be reading about himself too much right now. He just needs to keep his head and keep working.Added Klinsmann: I dont want to give him too many compliments. Got to keep him down on the ground.Trinidad (3-1-2) already had clinched a final-round berth and finished two points back, one ahead of Guatemala (3-2-1), which was eliminated despite a 9-3 rout of St. Vincent that included five goals by Carlos Ruiz.Kljestan put the U.S. ahead in the 44th minute, and Altidore doubled the lead off Fabian Johnsons cross in the 59th. Altidore got his 37th international goal three minutes later, and with the chance for a hat trick chipped over the crossbar after Pulisic helped him break in as injury time started.We were flowing, Altidore said. It was good. Guys were moving and creating space and being crafty. When were like that, were on our game and were at our most dangerous.Kljestan scored with a toe shot from 10 yards out. After a throw in, Johnson played the ball to Kljestan, who flicked it back to the left back. He passed to Pulisic, whose cross was knocked out by Khaleem Hyland to teammate Radanfah Abu Bakr. His clearance hit Kljestans midsection, and Kljestan scored for the second straight game since his return to the national team, his sixth goal in 48 international appearances.Johnson set up the second goal with a cross to Altidore, who juked MeKeil Williams, turned and scored from 13 yards.His second goal was even niftier. Pulisic used a give-and-go with Kljestan to get open and then crossed to Altidore for a tap-in near the far post.Arriola was making his second appearance. He scored in an exhibition win at Puerto Rico on May 22.Were a little bit more dynamic, said Tim Howard, who made his 32nd World Cup qualifying appearance and passed Kasey Keller for the most among American goalkeepers. We added some young players to the fold. Well, maybe they were part of it but theyre getting opportunities now. They make us a little more dynamic. Were shifty. Were able to press. Its been a good change for us.They can only hope it continues against Mexico.Now going into hexagonal with a big chest, saying, `OK, lets take on Mexico in the first game, with a lot of confidence and respect, obviously, Klinsmann said. We see ourselves on the right path.Game notes Canada, which hasnt played in the World Cup since 1986, was eliminated from Group A defeating visiting El Salvador 3-1 on goals by Clyle Larin, Nikolas Ledgerwood and David Edgar. Honduras (2-2-2) finished second, one point ahead of the Canadians (2-3-1), with a 0-0 draw at already qualified Mexico (5-0-1). ... Costa Rica won Group B, beating second-place Panama 3-1 on two goals by Christian Bolanos and one from Ronald Matarrita. Luis Tejada converted a 90th-minute penalty kick for the visitors. Both teams already had clinched. Custom Ray Allen Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Custom Thunder Jersey China . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. http://www.customthunderjersey.com/ . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Wholesale Custom Thunder Shirts . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Custom Thunder T-shirts .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina `s defense accepted coach Will Muschamps challenge and his freshman quarterback made his coachs decision to start him look good as the Gamecocks beat East Carolina 20-15 on Saturday.After last weeks loss, Muschamp said he had to find players who could tackle. His defense did him even better, picking off a pass and recovering a fumble in its own end zone and had another interception at the Gamecocks 1. The Pirates only scored on two of six trips into the red zone and didnt have a play longer than 28 yards.All that was enough to take the pressure off Brandon McIlwain in his first start. It wont be his last. Muschamp is turning the Gamecocks (2-1) over to the freshman.Hes got a lot of poise about him, said Muschamp, who decided it was McIlwains time after the Gamecocks offense looked listless in a 27-14 loss to Mississippi State last week. Hes got a lot of the `it factor you look for at that position.McIlwain ran for 34 yards and two touchdowns and was 16-for-28 for 195 yards passing.And dont go telling Muschamp how East Carolina (2-1) gained 519 yards to South Carolinas 312 yards or how Zay Jones caught 22 passes for the Pirates, setting a school record and finishing just one reception away from the Football Bowl Subdivision record.I dont look at the stat sheet and see how many yards they have. I only care about the score, said Muschamp, emphasizing what he thought were even more important statistics for Jones -- the senior had 190 yards receiving and his longest catch was for 15 yards.The Pirates turned the ball over four times and, after committing just seven penalties in their first two games, committed eight penalties Saturday.What I saw in this game is too many penalties. What I saw was too many turnovers. I saw a team that outgained another and a defense that outplayed the other defense. We didnt pull it through at the end, East Carolina coach Scottie Montgomery said.THE TAKEAWAYEAST CAROLINA: The Pirates have no one to blame but themselves. They allowed a South Carolina team that hadnt scored a point in the first half in its first two games to jump to a 17-0 lead after an 80-yard kickoff return by A.ddddddddddddJ. Turner to set up the game-opening score and an 84-yard drive on the Gamecocks second possession. Philip Nelson was 44-for-58 for 400 yards, but South Carolina had four sacks as he sometimes stayed in the pocket too long.We dont look at moral victories. Were going back to work, said Montgomery, hired at the end of last season.SOUTH CAROLINA: McIlwain looked like a freshman at times with several underthrows and overthrows. But he put two passes in just the right spots on a key fourth-quarter drive that ended with a 39-yard field goal from Elliot Fry -- South Carolinas only points in the final 52 minutes of the game. The freshman also made a key choice, pitching to David Williams on a fourth-and-1 option that sealed the win.Muschamp isnt letting his freshman quarterback talk to the media, so we dont know what he thought about his big day.ZAYS BIG DAYEast Carolina lined Jones up all over the field and he got open wherever he was. But after the game, he said he had no idea how many catches he had or how close to the record he was. Instead, he couldnt believe all the chances his team blew.It hurts to put great drives together and you get to where the money is and you cant cash it in, Jones said.Jones came into the game needing 130 catches to break East Carolinas career record held by Justin Hardy. That seems more likely to be obtainable after Saturdays performance.UP NEXTEAST CAROLINA: The Pirates finish a run of three straight games against Power 5 opponents by traveling to Virginia Tech. East Carolina has beaten the Hokies the past two years and Montgomery expects his team to shake off this loss quickly.We dont look at moral victories. Were going back to work, said Montgomery, hired at the end of last season.SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks play at Kentucky. Its likely the loser ends up near the bottom of the Southeastern Conferences Eastern Division.---AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '