First World Cup qualifier will test U.S. team's focus

By Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Sharks one week, minnows another.

That's one of the many beguiling features of soccer, the democratic notion of sharing the pitch, and attempting to thwart David Beckham, and doing the same a few weeks later against folks coming off back-to-back losses to Bermuda.

Yes, Bermuda.

That's the key difference in looking at the first step along the road to the 2010 World Cup, starting with today's qualifier between the U.S. men's national team and Barbados at the Home Depot Center in Carson. It is the first of a home-and-home series between the teams.

The U.S. may have gone without a goal in its last three games, but those contests (all in friendlies) were against the likes of powerhouses Argentina, Spain and England. The 121st-ranked Barbados squad tuned up for qualifying with consecutive defeats to Bermuda, getting outscored, 5-1, and has given up 11 goals in two meetings against the Americans.

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