A convincing win for USA: they were just too strong for their Caribbean visitors, that early scare notwithstanding. USA with too much quality, and Wood, Altidore, Bradley and Zardes did well.
Thanks for reading. Goodnight.
Full-time: USA 6-1 St Vincent
That’s it.
90 min: Two minutes of stoppage time. Altidore almost on the end of Ream’s cross, but he’s just eased off it.
89 min: It’s cleared well. Not sure how much stoppage time there’s going to be, but there’s not much point in prolonging this unduly.
88 min: Bradley with a lovely ball to Ream, and his cross is cut out for a corner.
87 min: Jones hasn’t gone off, but he’s slotted back into central defence where there’s not much to do.
85 min: I missed an earlier substitution, so apologies for that: Jordan Morris has been on for Bobby Wood.
84 min: Corner to USA, but Jermaine Jones has gone down. He’s grabbing his hamstring.
82 min: Tonight’s attendance in St Louis: 43, 433.
81 min: Bradley’s crossfield pass is just too strong for Altidore, and McDowall collects. St Vincent are still extremely deep; they haven’t really attacked much in this second half.
79 min: USA’s biggest margin of victory, incidentally, is 8-0 against Barbados in 2008. They’ve got 11 minutes to better that.
77 min: Nagbe shoots from 20 yards, but it’s wide.
75 min: That’s Altidore’s 31st goal for USA.
Change for St Vincent: Edwards on for Bowens.
GOAL: USA 6-1 St Vincent (Altidore 74)
Altidore twists and turns on the penalty spot after good work from Jones and Zardes, and Altidore’s shot is deflected past McDowall.
70 min: Corner from the left from Bradley, and Besler’s header is off the crossbar.
68 min: St Vincent come forward, but they can’t make it stick, and they’re quickly back to defend.
65 min: Almost another goal for Zardes: his shot from the edge of the area was mishit, but it went through McDowall’s hands … fortunately for the keeper it bobbled wide of the post. Corner: it’s cleared.
63 min: Double change for USA: Darlington Nagbe in for his debut, and Matt Miazga makes his debut, too, meaning he’s committed to USA, and can’t play international football for Poland.
Cameron and Johnson make way.
60 min: Altidore’s slipped past finds Zardes running on to it, and his low shot is through McDowall’s legs from 15 yards. It’s rather too easy, I’m afraid.
Double change for St Vincent: Solomon and Ledger on for McBernette and James.
Updated
GOAL: USA 5-1 St Vincent (Zardes 58)
Zardes makes it five.
Updated
54 min: This has become a bit of a training exercise. St Vincent are really pinned back in their half.
GOAL: USA 4-1 St Vincent (Cameron 52)
USA’s third set piece goal. Johnson’s corner was flicked on at the near post, and Cameron planted a firm header past McDowall.
51 min: Splendid save from McDowall. Wood took on two on the edge of the box, and had a go from 18 yards, but the keeper did well to palm over.
49 min: Besler goes close from a set piece: it’s just wide.
Second half begins
46 min: No changes for either team, I don’t think. Mistake by Yedlin, and Anderson is in again, but his cross is well held by Guzan.
Updated
Half-time: USA 3-1 St Vincent
USA on top after that early scare. I’ll see you shortly.
45 min: Prescott, who’s making his international debut aged 30, does well to clear. St Vincent have stemmed the tide a little, these past few minutes.
44 min: Bradley looks for Zardes in a dangerous position, but the LA man can’t collect.
42 min: Bowens takes, but it’s disappointing, and Zardes clears.
41 min: A rare attack for St Vincent, and Anderson does really well to beat Yedlin and win a corner.
39 min: St Vincent are struggling to get out of their penalty area. Slater and James, their two attackers, are defending almost exclusively. Chance for Wood … but that’s straight at the goalkeeper.
37 min: St Vincent clear, but USA are camped in their half.
36 min: Bradley shoots after some nice control from Altidore. It’s deflected wide.
33 min: USA are imposing their will from set pieces. Jones has a go from outside the area, and it’s just wide.
GOAL: USA 3-1 St Vincent (Altidore 32)
And now it’s three. Johnson’s corner is flicked on by Jones, and Altidore is free at the back post. He couldn’t miss.
GOAL: USA 2-1 St Vincent (Johnson 30)
Johnson curled the free-kick, and it took a deflection, which diverted it past the keeper. No chance McDowall.
28 min: Altidore is brought down on the edge of the box. Chance here.
26 min: And that was an even better chance: Altidore found Wood, whose back-flick fell to Johnson … but he put it wide. Actually, it was offside anyway. It wouldn’t have counted.
25 min: Chance for Zardes, but he snatched at it: Yedlin found Wood, whose touch for Zardes was cushioned nicely, but the LA striker dragged it wide.
22 min: Great feet from Michael Bradley, a lovely feint, too, and a hard shot with his left – but McDowall does well to beat it away.
20 min: Obviously they didn’t have the lead for long, but what a great goal that was from Oalex Anderson. Shades of Thierry Henry, the way he cut in from the left to bend it round the keeper. Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago, the other two teams in this four-strong group, are probably playing for the second spot in the hex, but St Vincent might be able to cause a headache or two.
19 min: Altidore’s been quiet so far – he’s been crowded out by a posse of yellow shirts.
17 min: Oh, just wide from Bobby Wood. Fabian Johnson drove forward well from midfield, fed Wood, who just pulled off the defender, but he tried to dink it over McDowall as the goalkeeper came out, and it went just the other side of the post. Unlucky.
14 min: St Vincent have held up pretty well so far. They’re quick to fall back into defence.
12 min: Bradley plays in Yedlin down the right, and Wood does very well to crane his neck and head past McDowall.
GOAL: USA 1-1 St Vincent (Wood 10)
Bobby Wood levels.
8 min: USA move forward but McDowall does just about enough to punch clear.
6 min: Well, how about that. Oalex Anderson, who plays in Seattle’s second team, has quietened Busch Stadium completely. It was just a long ball down the left, and Anderson raced on to it, cut inside on to his right foot, beat Geoff Cameron, and bent a lovely shot past Guzan. Really good goal, and what a surprise start.
Updated
GOAL: USA 0-1 St Vincent (Anderson 5)
St Vincent lead!
Updated
2 min: St Vincent in yellow shirts and green shorts. USA all in blue. Anderson breaks down the left as USA were short for a moment, but his cross is harmless.
Kick off
1 min: And we’re away.
Now the players and spectators are holding a minute’s silence for the victims and their families in Paris. Beautifully observed.
Ian Darke on ESPN commentary has just reiterated that “all our thoughts and prayers are with Paris.” He’s on the call with former USA striker Taylor Twellman.
How did St Vincent, nicknamed Vincy Heat, get to this semi-final Concacaf stage?
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines arrived in the semifinal round by advancing through two home-and-away qualifying series. First, Vincy Heat played to a 6-6 deadlock with Guyana before advancing on away goals in January’s second round. In September, St. Vincent dispatched Aruba 3-2 over two legs to land in the semifinals.
The game tonight’s being played at Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals. US Soccer and St Louis Cardinals have just released this statement:
We are aware of the current situation in France. U.S. Soccer and the St. Louis Cardinals express our condolences to the victims and their loved ones. There is no greater priority for us than the safety and security of our fans. Here at Busch Stadium, security measures for this match have been and continue to be at the highest level consistent with the national profile of this event.
Here’s the St Vincent lineup:
22-Winslow Mc Dowall; 3-Roy Richards, 18-Reginal Richardson, 15-Kevin Francis (capt.), 8-Dorren Hamlet; 17-Seinard Bowens, 16-Million Prescott, 10-Oalex Anderson, 7-Nazir McBernette; 12-Tevin Slater, 13-Gavin James.
Available Subs: 1-Kenyan Lynch, 2-Danroy Edwards, 4-Akeem Williams, 5-Glenford Ashton, 9-Shandel Samuel, 11-Azinho Solomon, 19-Vasbert Ledger
Updated
Argentina are playing Brazil in Buenos Aires after Thursday night’s game was postponed by rain. You can follow that match here with Luis Miguel Echegaray:
There’s some pressure on Jürgen Klinsmann after an uneven recent run, but they should win comfortably here tonight.
#USMNT Starting XI: Guzan; Yedlin, Cameron, Besler, Ream; Zardes, Jones, Bradley ©, Johnson; Wood, Altidore #USAvVIN #RoadToRussia #1N1T
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) November 13, 2015
The New York Times has a primer on St Vincent:
Currently ranked 129th in the world by FIFA, St. Vincent encounters the kind of difficulties no major nation — or any of its current opponents in qualifying — will endure. The team, a collection of part-time players, does not even have a training field of its own. Its best-performing striker is a fisherman. The captain is a member of the coast guard.
“You cannot be jealous of what others have, like the United States,” Cornelius Huggins said in an interview last week. “It’s been a struggle for us. We don’t have the resources. We don’t have the finances. We just thank God for helping us reach this point.”
For his tiny Caribbean country to have reached this moment is special. The 103,000 people who inhabit St. Vincent, a 16-mile-long, economically ravaged island at the southern end of the Caribbean, would fit inside Penn State’s Beaver Stadium with room to spare. But triumphs over Guyana and Aruba in the earlier rounds have given fans, and Huggins’s team, a chance to dream.
St. Vincent has never won a match at this level. In fact, it is only the fifth time a team from the island has reached the main qualifying tournament. Trinidad and Tobago and Guatemala make up the rest of its group, but meeting the United States is the main event.
“Life here is hard,” said Huggins, the country’s most celebrated player.
Lineups
Here’s some team news from AP:
Tim Ream, DeAndre Yedlin, Bobby Wood and Gyasi Zardes are making their first World Cup qualifying starts for the United States, which starts the road to Russia against St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Brad Guzan starts at goalkeeper for Friday night’s game at Busch Stadium. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said Thursday that Tim Howard likely will be in goal Tuesday at Trinidad and Tobago.
Klinsmann kept just four starters from last month’s exhibition loss to Costa Rica: Geoff Cameron in central defense, Ream at left back, and Jermaine Jones and Zardes in midfield.
Yedlin was at right back and Matt Besler joined Cameron in the middle of the back line. Captain Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson are in the midfield, and Wood and Jozy Altidore up front.
Hello and welcome
Good evening. We’re obviously digesting the news from Paris, where a state of emergency has been declared across France after a series of gun and bomb attacks in the capital. If you’d like more information on what’s happening, follow our live blog here.
Here, we’ll be keeping watch on the soccer. Kick off in St Louis is 7.10pm ET. US Soccer tweeted earlier:
Thoughts and prayers of the U.S. Soccer family are with all those affected by the tragic events in Paris.
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) November 13, 2015
Updated
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a piece from Eight by Eight magazine about Darlington Nagbe of the Portland Timbers:
