2010 World Cup Qualifying | USA National Team

April 15, 2008

United States captain Landon Donovan has admitted to feeling nervous as he prepares for the start of his third FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

The USA will be overwhelming favourites when they face Barbados over two legs in June, but the Los Angeles Galaxy forward is well aware that nothing can be taken for granted in football and that Barbados are not to be taken lightly.

“It doesn’t seem fair that we (USA) have to play a home-and-home series just to qualify for the region’s group stages,” said the Southern California native, who is one game away from becoming the youngest American to hit the 100-cap mark. “If you look at our recent history in the qualifying rounds, and Mexico’s too, it seems like we should be given direct passage to the groups. Anyway, the system is what it is and we just need to make sure that we are ready.”

11 sides have already been eliminated from the North American qualifying section as the race to reach South Africa in 2010 heats up. The second round sees the confederations heavyweights including USA and Mexico enter the qualifying draw.

Although USA do seem to have a fairly safe passage through, Donovan is aware anything can happen. Recent shocks have seen Chelsea lose to Barnsley and England eliminated from the EURO 2008 qualifiers.

“When you meet one of the so-called smaller teams, nothing is going to be given to you. You still have to go out there and beat them. Who knows, we could hit the crossbar eight times and they could have the game of their lives. We could find ourselves out of contention before the real competition even begins,” Donovan added. “This is soccer, man, and it’s not played on paper.”

Although the US are still overwhelming favourites, Barbados are one of the trickier “lesser” teams remaining in the competition. Relative newcomers to the competition, they sit over 100 places behind USA in the FIFA World rankings, but coach Eyre Sealy has a decent squad to choose from, featuring no less than 11 based English players.

The biggest names in the squad are Wigan Athletic star Emerson Boyce who played in last months victory over Dominican Republic, while Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood and Crystal Palace duo Tom Soares and Paul Ifill are also eligible to play for Barbados.

“If Barbados want to call in their big guns from Europe, and it’s all fair and legal, then more power to them,” Donovan continued with an air of confidence. “We (the US) have naturalized players in the past and it’s something everyone does nowadays. We can only worry about the things we can control.”

Donovan insists USA cannot afford to underestimate Barbados and must take advantage of the home leg in early June to give themselves a lead before travelling to an undoubtedly passionate atmosphere in the second leg.

“We need to make sure we go out with a sense of urgency,” said the American, who is expected to lead the line in upcoming friendlies against Argentina and England.

“You need to worry about things and go out looking to get two or three goals as quickly as you possibly can. The more time goes by at 0-0, the more they (Barbados) will begin to believe and we could find ourselves in big trouble.”

USA - the current CONCACAF champions - have qualified for the last five FIFA World Cup Finals and have never lost to Barbados. The last time they met was in the qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup with USA running out 8-0 winners over two legs.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.