Herculez Gomez scored the winning goal in the USA's victory over Jamaica on September 11. Photo Credit: John Todd/isiphotos.com and U.S. Soccer

U.S. Soccer News: U.S. MNT Closes Out Semifinal Round of 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Against Guatemala

Win or Draw Puts U.S. through to the Hexagonal 

The U.S. Men's National Team, coming off a 2-1 victory against Antigua & Barbuda on Friday, looks to advance to the Final Round of 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying when it hosts Guatemala at 6:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, October 16, at sold-out LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. Coverage of the USA's final Group A match on ESPN2 begins at 5:30 p.m., and the match will also be shown live on WatchESPN and TeleFutura. Fans can follow the match on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and via Twitter @ussoccer.

The top two teams in Group A qualify for the Final Round and the U.S. can guarantee advancement with a win or a draw against Guatemala, and could also advance with a loss. The USA and Guatemala are atop Group A with 3-1-1 records, 10 points and are tied in goal differential and goals scored.

Jamaica is still alive with seven points, while the Reggae Boyz final opponent, Antigua & Barbuda, was eliminated after Friday's loss to the U.S. Below are the qualifying scenarios for the United States:

Final Round Qualifying Scenarios

U.S. Win

• U.S. wins Group A with 13 points and qualifies for Final Round
• Guatemala finishes with 10 points and must await result of Jamaica-Antigua

U.S.  Tie

• U.S. finishes tied with Guatemala atop Group A with 11 points and both countries qualify for Final Round

U.S. Loss AND Jamaica Tie or Loss

• Guatemala wins Group A with 13 points and qualifies for Final Round
• U.S. finishes in second place in Group A with 10 points and qualifies for Final Round
• Jamaica finishes in third place (with 7 or 8 points) and does not qualify for Final Round

U.S. Loss AND Jamaica Win

• Guatemala wins Group A with 13 points and qualifies for Final Round
• U.S. and Jamaica finish tied on points with 10 each and qualified team is determined with tiebreakers (see below)

Tiebreaker Scenarios

Here are the tiebreakers if two teams are equal in points:

a) Greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) Goal difference in all group matches; 
c) Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches; 

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings shall be determined as follows:

d) Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned; 
e) Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned; 
f) Greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned; 
g) The goals scored away from home count double between the teams concerned (if the tie is only between two teams).

Group A Standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Guatemala	5	3	1	1	8	5	+3	10
USA	5	3	1	1	8	5	+3	10
Jamaica	5	2	2	1	4	4	0	7
Antigua & Barbuda	5	0	4	1	3	9	-6	1

U.S. Roster by Position - Detailed Roster 
GOALKEEPERS (3) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) 
DEFENDERS (6) : Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Maurice Edu (Stoke City), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland) 
MIDFIELDERS (6) : Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) 
FORWARDS (4) : Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos Laguna), Alan Gordon (San Jose Earthquakes), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)

Roster Notes

• Fabian Johnson will not join the team in Kansas City as previously planned, as the defender has not fully recovered from a recent bout with the flu.
• Jermaine Jones is not available for the match against Guatemala due to yellow card accumulation. Jones traveled back to Germany on Saturday.
• Eddie Johnson posted the USA's second individual multi-goal effort of the year with both tallies in the 2-1 win against Antigua & Barbuda on Friday. The team's other multi-goal performance was Landon Donovan's hat trick on May 25 in the team's 5-1 win against Scotland in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Michael Bradley returned to the starting lineup against Antigua & Barbuda after missing the previous two qualifiers against Jamaica because of a muscle injury that sidelined him for four weeks.
• U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra started at left back against Antigua & Barbuda. He played that spot in the final 30 minutes of the teams' first meeting in June.
• Alan Gordon earned his first international cap with the U.S. when he came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute against Antigua & Barbuda. Gordon also earned his first points for the MNT when he provided the assist on Johnson's game-winning goal.
• The U.S. improved to 4-0-0 playing at cricket ground since 2000.
• Clint Dempsey has scored in three of five World Cup qualifiers in this round, with two of the goals coming on the road. Herculez Gomez has scored two goals, including the game-winner against Jamaica on September 11 in Columbus.
• Four players have appeared in all five World Cup Qualifiers in this round: Dempsey, Gomez, Tim Howard and Jermaine Jones.
• Howard sits in second place all-time for victories among U.S. goalkeepers (34) and third in shutouts (29). He has nine clean sheets in 21 World Cup Qualifying appearances.
• Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi is in first place in assists in Major League Soccer (MLS) this season with 15. Zusi's assist on Eddie Johnson's first goal against Antigua on Friday was his first with the National Team.
• With his appearance in the World Cup qualifier against Jamaica on September 11, Danny Williams officially became tied to U.S. Soccer.
• Donovan, Brek Shea and Edgar Castillo, who were originally named to the 24-player roster, were ruled out of both World Cup qualifiers against Antigua & Barbuda and Guatemala. Donovan has a knee injury and Shea an abdominal strain, both suffered prior to joining camp in Miami. Castillo is out with a foot injury following an MRI evaluation last Wednesday. No replacements were named to the roster.
• Four players on the roster are currently involved in European competition. Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht) and Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland) are in the Champions League, while Steve Cherundolo (Hannover) and Dempsey (Tottenham) are in the Europa League.

By the Numbers: 
  3           Goals by Clint Dempsey to lead the USA in Semifinal Round qualifying
  6           Shutouts by the USA in 2012 for a 5-0-1 record 
  7           One-goal decisions for the U.S. in 2012 (6-0-1) 
10           Career goals in World Cup qualifying for Eddie Johnson 
30           Career caps in World Cup qualifying for Carlos Bocanegra, fourth on the USA's all-time list 
32           USA's current FIFA ranking 
81           Guatemala's current FIFA ranking

For full further information and Guatemala notes, please visit ussoccer.com

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