The ball glanced off Zimmerman’s left leg, and he kicked it in with his right from 5 yards for his third international goal. Zimmerman had on the captain’s armband for the night, and the Americans have four wins and one loss when he wears it.
“That comes naturally for me. I take a lot of pride in representing this country,” Zimmerman said.
Politic scored about three minutes after entering. Acosta's corner kick was headed by Ricardo Pepe to Zimmerman, and the ball bounced off a leg to the right foot of Politic. He scored from near the penalty spot with his second touch of the game — his 18th international goal.
“Soccer shouldn’t be endured this way. I've got all my players getting treatment, some players getting an IV,” said Hernán Darío Gómez, who has taken three nations to the World Cup.
Berhalter defended the USSR decision to play here, pointing to the thermal head coverings the Americans provided to Honduras before the match.
“When we go down to those countries it’s 90 degrees 90% dew point it is unbearable humidity and guys are getting dehydrated and cramping up and getting heat exhaustion, that’s the nature of our competition,” Berhalter said.
McKenzie had on two sets of gloves, peeling off one pair as he came to the bench after being replaced in the 84th. The star midfielder scored on a header in the eighth minute, fittingly after joking on a video interview the day before that his big head ought to minimize any discomfort from a frozen ball in the February chill.
That was McKenzie’s ninth international goal, his second in World Cup qualifying, and it proved to be enough for the Americans on this night.
“He brings a lot of swagger to the team,” Zimmerman said.
Canada leads North and Central America and the Caribbean with 25 points, followed by the US (21), which is ahead of Mexico on goal difference. Panama (17) is fourth and Costa Rica (16) fifth.
The top three nations qualify for this year’s tournament in Qatar, and fourth place advances to a playoff against the Oceania champion, likely New Zealand.
After no goals off set pieces in the first 10 qualifiers, the US scored three in this one.
The second goal was set up by Kelly Acosta, who started in the defensive midfield for the first time since the October loss at Panama. Acosta's free kick whizzed past the head of a leaping Jordan Morris, and Zimmerman pivoted around defender Denial Maldonado in the 37th minute.
The ball glanced off Zimmerman’s left leg, and he kicked it in with his right from 5 yards for his third international goal. Zimmerman had on the captain’s armband for the night, and the Americans have four wins and one loss when he wears it.
“That comes naturally for me. I take a lot of pride in representing this country,” Zimmerman said.
Politic scored about three minutes after entering. Acosta's corner kick was headed by Ricardo Pepsi to Zimmerman, and the ball bounced off a leg to the right foot of Politic. He scored from near the penalty spot with his second touch of the game — his 18th international goal.
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