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Ricardo Clark Revels In First WCQ Goal
Ricardo Clark scored the game's only goal as the U.S. beat Trinidad & Tobago. After the match he talked about his strike.
Sep 10, 2009 12:31:06 AM
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--Ricardo Clark probably couldn't have picked a better goal to open his World Cup qualifying account if he'd tried.
In the second half of the United States - Trinidad and Tobago match, with the dire game looking like it was heading towards a 0-0 draw, Clark received a cutback pass from Landon Donovan. He took a touch to set himself up, then slammed a swerving effort through two defenders and into the corner of the net. That goal stood up as the game winner.
Clark said after the match that he talked to Donovan about making passes such as those.
"I told him in the first half that the cutback was on," Clark said. "He spotted me that time, and had good timing, and I just let it rip and scored a goal."
As a holding midfielder, Clark doesn't score too many goals. The strike against the Soca Warriors marked his first in World Cup qualifying. In 19 games with his club team, the Houston Dynamo, this season, Clark has notched only one goal.
However, the 26-year-old said he knew it was a goal as soon as he struck it.
"Once it left my foot," he asserted, when asked at what point he knew it was a goal. "For some reason, soccer players know, it just feels good. I was just trying to stay over it, hit the ball clean, hit it as hard as I can because I feel that’s a good part of my game. And once I looked up and saw it going in I was happy."
As the scorer of the lone goal, Clark will be the hero of the T&T match, but he was left out of the gameday roster entirely five days ago when the U.S. beat El Slavador. Benny Feilhaber was preferred in the middle to offer more creativity and local hero Kyle Beckerman made the bench ahead of Clark.
"It’s one of those things where you just have to accept it and move on and make the most of the opportunity the next time that you get it, and I did," said Clark. He also admitted that the rest might have helped his performance. "I did feel good today. I felt great, so I guess it did work."
Allen Ramsey, Goal.com with assistance from Zac Lee Rigg in Los Angeles
If you follow the U.S. Men's National Team, you'll love the dedicated page on Goal.com
In the second half of the United States - Trinidad and Tobago match, with the dire game looking like it was heading towards a 0-0 draw, Clark received a cutback pass from Landon Donovan. He took a touch to set himself up, then slammed a swerving effort through two defenders and into the corner of the net. That goal stood up as the game winner.
Clark said after the match that he talked to Donovan about making passes such as those.
"I told him in the first half that the cutback was on," Clark said. "He spotted me that time, and had good timing, and I just let it rip and scored a goal."
As a holding midfielder, Clark doesn't score too many goals. The strike against the Soca Warriors marked his first in World Cup qualifying. In 19 games with his club team, the Houston Dynamo, this season, Clark has notched only one goal.
However, the 26-year-old said he knew it was a goal as soon as he struck it.
"Once it left my foot," he asserted, when asked at what point he knew it was a goal. "For some reason, soccer players know, it just feels good. I was just trying to stay over it, hit the ball clean, hit it as hard as I can because I feel that’s a good part of my game. And once I looked up and saw it going in I was happy."
As the scorer of the lone goal, Clark will be the hero of the T&T match, but he was left out of the gameday roster entirely five days ago when the U.S. beat El Slavador. Benny Feilhaber was preferred in the middle to offer more creativity and local hero Kyle Beckerman made the bench ahead of Clark.
"It’s one of those things where you just have to accept it and move on and make the most of the opportunity the next time that you get it, and I did," said Clark. He also admitted that the rest might have helped his performance. "I did feel good today. I felt great, so I guess it did work."
Allen Ramsey, Goal.com with assistance from Zac Lee Rigg in Los Angeles
If you follow the U.S. Men's National Team, you'll love the dedicated page on Goal.com
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