"I didn't think he'd cry as much as he did today"

On Saturday night, the United States defeated Mexico 2-0 and consequently qualified for its fifth straight World Cup. United States defender Oguchi Onyewu (pictured above) had this to say about Mexican forward Jared Borgetti (also pictured):

"I didn't think he'd cry as much as he did today. I think he cussed me out a couple times in Spanish, but whatever. You just laugh at that. When you're up, 2-0, it can't really hurt you."

Player ratings:

Kasey Keller - 7: Keller made the few saves that he needed to, but other than one quality chance near the end of the first half of play, Mexico never really troubled Kasey in goal.

Frankie Hedjuk - 5: Frankie defended well and as always, he left everything he had on the field. However, he was very fortunate not to get a yellow card, and was caught too far forward on a few occasions, leaving the already weakened right side exposed. But he continues to demonstrate why he's an Arena favorite and why he'll likely be Cherundolo's back-up in Germany, workrate and heart.

Greg Berhalter - 6: Greg played solid, if not unspectacular, defense on Saturday. His solid play of late might mean that he's at most the fourth choice center back behind Gibbs, Onyewu, and Bocanegra.

Oguchi Onyewu - 9 (MOTM): Onyewu learned from the mistakes he made against Mexico in Azteca. Never intimidated, he used his size and strength to his advantage, completely marking Jared Borgetti out of the game. While he had a few suspect back-passes early on, his defense was consistent throughout, and it was his initial header that led to Steve Ralston's goal, the first of the game.

Eddie Lewis - 7: Eddie looked comfortable out on the left, and played a beautiful ball into the box on the first goal. He was good on set pieces, defended well, made smart forays into the offensive third, and combined very well with DaMarcus Beasley. Bruce is looking like a genius now with this move.

Steve Ralston - 5: Yes, Ralston scored the United States' first goal, but any U.S. player not named Jimmy Conrad (sorry Jimmy, loved your celebration outfit post-game) scores that goal. He played decent defense, but he contributed little or nothing offensively. Hopefully, Bruce will use the next few qualifiers to bleed in Santino Quaranta, and perhaps call-ups for Brian Mullan, Chris Klein (again), and Eddie Gaven are in order. This team needs speed and youth on the wings.

Claudio Reyna - 7: Even after the unjustified yellow card, Claudio never stopped playing his game. He controlled central midfield, playing intelligent balls forward and controlling the run of play. It's no coincidence that Mexico could do nothing in the center of the pitch. A great game for Claudio, who should probably get a rest now that we've wrapped up qualification.

Chris Armas - 5: Chris Armas probably gets something of an unfair rap. Too many people expect Chris to play a Reyna-like game. He doesn't. His job is to disrupt central midfield, win balls, and shadow players. He did a decent job of that Saturday night, but where Armas fails is offensively. His passing is suspect and he has a bad tendency to play the ball back. I'll give him some credit for our defensive success Saturday, but our offense suffered as a consequence of his inclusion in the starting eleven.

DaMarcus Beasley - 8: Ah, DaMarcus. He used his speed to his advantage, took defenders on the dribble, and finished one hell of a shot. Sure, he should have buried that chip late in the game, but DaMarcus was the main reason for our success. He drew yellow cards (how does he survive all those hits?), drew fouls in dangerous areas, and was integral to the U.S. attack. If it weren't for Gooch's monster game, Beasley would have easily been MOTM.

Landon Donovan - 5: A very poor outing from the U.S. player that talked the most pre-game smack. Perhaps he should have realized that there's a reason why no other U.S. player said anything bad about Mexico before the game. You know what they say, "If you can't walk the walk..." He needed to finish that one v. one with Oswaldo Sanchez. The relief was visible on his face when Beasley scored that second goal, but Landon didn't finish his one big chance of the game, and on other days it might've cost us.

Brian McBride - 6: A quiet game from Brian, but he won the aerial challenges that he needed to, and worked hard the entire game. It also wasn't as though Landon was giving him a lot of help. I'm sure he wants Eddie Johnson back just as much as we do.

MLS Power Rankings:

1. San Jose Earthquakes: A huge road win over Dallas means that San Jose currently has an eleven point lead over the Hoops in the West and a twelve point lead over the Galaxy. Oh yeah, and they beat Dallas without Dwayne DeRosario, and who was that who came in as a second-half substitute? Oh, Brian Ching? Scary.

2. New England Revolution: Not nearly as convincing a win as San Jose's, but New England always finds a way to win. Once Ricardo Phillips joins the team, as well as the return of players like Twellman and Ralston, this team should really start to pick up steam heading into the offseason.

3. Kansas City Wizards: One measley point against the Metrostars, but they did it without a plethora of their starters including Gutierrez, Conrad, and Sealy. That's a big road point, not only making it that much harder for the Metrostars to qualify for the playoffs, but keeping them in the hunt for second place in the East.

4. D.C. United: Another tought loss against a Colorado team that was missing it's top goal-scorer and a key defensive player. Perhaps that champion talk was a bit premature now, eh?

5. Chicago Fire: Did you see Justin Mapp's slalom run through the Galaxy defense? How can one player be so great one minute and so pedestrian the next? Either way, it was a huge road win for the Fire, who were starting to fade out of the playoff picture in the East. All of a suddent they're tied on points for second place and are coming off of a road victory.

6. Colorado Rapids: Another big win, this time against United. Slowly, Colorado has been creeping its way up in the West. They're now only four points out of third place.

7. Columbus Crew: The Crew just keep winning and are refusing to die quietly. I was shocked to see that they completely dominated Chivas. Goalkeeper Johnny Walker has been putting in great performances and the team is finally starting to play together. Perhaps they're not dead after all.

8. Metrostars: Still in the playoff hunt in the East, but they're fading fast. They can't afford to be losing two points at home week after week. "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Bob Bradley?"

9. FC Dallas: No wins at Pizza Hut Park. Ray Hudson said it best, "They may be in Pizza Hut Park, but right now this team is dominoes, falling dominoes." Except for Ronnie O'Brien, and perhaps Eddie Johnson (in flashes), this team looked weak, tired, and totally un-inspired.

10. LA Galaxy: Now they're dropping points at home. If it wasn't embarrasing enough that Justin Mapp made everyone in the LA defense look like David Stokes, he did it in stoppage time, in LA, for a team that hadn't exactly been playing good ball of late. Help us Landon Donovan, you're our only hope.

11. Real Salt Lake: Played tough against New England, but Khano Smith (!) made the Real Salt Lake defense look pititful again. Gustavo Cabrera can't join this team soon enough.

12. CD Chivas USA: Ugh. 3-0 loss at home against the Crew. Next week's assignment is at San Jose. Double ugh. Everyone behind Paco Palecia and Juan Pablo Garcia is terrible. You can have the two greatest strikers in the world, but it won't do you any good if there's no one who can get them the ball.