The United States Men's National Soccer team concluded its 10-day visit to the nation's capital in emphatic fashion Wednesday, defeating Panama, 6-0, in a semi-final round World Cup qualifier at RFK Stadium.
While the win secures the United States a spot in the final round of North American qualifying, it also spells the end of training sessions on AU's Reeves Field.
The United States practiced on AU's field for four days before last Saturday's 2-0 win at El Salvador, and returned to Reeves on Sunday and Monday before Wednesday's win. Many AU players, coaches and interested students watched one or several of the sessions, getting the opportunity to talk with some of their idols at the sessions' conclusions.
All members of the team play professionally, either domestically in Major League Soccer or abroad in various European leagues.
AU is not new to hosting practices for high-profile soccer teams. Last September, Reeves Field was the venue for several teams' practices during the Women's World Cup. Storied international club teams such as F.C. Barcelona, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers have also practiced on Reeves Field, as has the Honduran national team.
Wednesday's match was perhaps the best the United States has looked throughout the qualifying campaign. Star forward Landon Donovan scored two goals, one in each half, before substitute forward Eddie Johnson commenced a rout, scoring a hat trick in only 17 minutes. A Panama own-goal capped the rout for the United States.
Johnson, only 20 years old, now has four goals in only two appearances with the team.
With the win, the States secured one of the top two spots in their group, with one match left to play. Currently, there are three groups playing semifinal round qualifiers. The top two teams in each group advance to a six-team final round, where teams play 10 games, once home and once away, against each team. The top three of that phase qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Among the nearly 20,000 gathered at RFK were a sizable contingent of AU students. Perhaps a couple dozen attended the match from campus via Metro. Most appeared to be U.S. supporters, but students did represent both nations.
The match was the first Washington qualifier in five tries that truly had a pro-U.S. atmosphere. Previous games against Guatemala, Honduras and Jamaica have resulted in neutral crowds at best, and pro-opposition crowds at worst.
While a few thousand Panamanians did attend Wednesday's match, American supporters far dwarfed their numbers.
