United States coach Bruce Arena keeps saying that Eddie Johnson has not yet arrived as a soccer player. Perhaps, but Johnson is insistently on the way to early prominence with superb finishing skills.
He will not turn 21 until next month, but Johnson already has become the only player to score a goal in his first four appearances with the United States national team.
In the 30th minute on Wednesday, Johnson headed a long cross from Steve Cherundolo into the net from 12 yards out. Then in the 54th minute, Johnson started a passing sequence to the captain Landon Donovan, whose short cross to midfielder Eddie Lewis set up a second goal for the United States in a 2-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago to open the final round of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
Johnson, who grew up in Daytona Beach, Fla., and joined Dallas of Major League Soccer out of high school, has now delivered six goals in those four appearances with the national team, all in World Cup qualifying matches. He has scored furiously, at a pace of once every 27 minutes.
The U.S. eventually grew tired in the 90-degree heat, and Trinidad and Tobago played with desperate revival, scoring in the 89th minute on a sharp, angling shot by Angus Eve that bounced off the hand of goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
Still, the United States played with superior professionalism. Victories on the road in World Cup qualifying are hard to come by, and prospects for the Americans had been a bit uncertain, given that players based in MLS had missed three weeks of training in a labor dispute with the national soccer federation.
“It’s massive, so big, especially with all the drama around the team,” Keller said of the victory.
The United States has not lost to a Caribbean team since 1994. The Americans have not lost to any opponent in the region since a 2-0 defeat in Costa Rica on Sept. 5, 2001, and are 22-0-7 in the region since then.
Trinidad and Tobago became frustrated by the United States’ offside trap, fatigued by the heat and an early deficit, and obstructed by the excellent positioning of Keller, who pushed two shots over the crossbar in the first half and cradled two other less-threatening headers.
The United States kept stalking forward, and, in the 30th minute Cherundolo pushed up from his position at right back and chipped a pass to Johnson, who was unmarked in the penalty area. He headed the ball sharply inside the right post.
“I think I caught the keeper off guard,” Johnson said.
Taking into account the enervating heat, Arena had brought in 10 European-based players for the match, eight of whom started. They are in the middle of their seasons, thus fitter than the MLS players, who are getting back into training camp after their season ended in the fall.
Although he is inexperienced, Johnson, who was one of the three starters from MLS, played with expert anticipation, speed and confidence from having been brought unhurriedly into the national team over the past six months.
“Bruce told me it’s only going to get harder,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to score in every game. It’s about taking advantage of the chances you get. I didn’t get many chances today.”
