2-0 is such a magical score

There are numbers in this universe that have some magical, mystical, spiritual qualities like 3, 7, and 12. Well it seems like 2-0 is a magical score for the US team. It just seems to keep popping up places, for example US 2 - 0 Mexico in World Cup '02 or US 2 - 0 Mexico in World Cup '06 qualifying. Eerie.

The USMNT came back from a lackluster match with Morocco on Tuesday to show a much more confident, offensive side tonight against Venezuela, beating the OPEC nation 2-0.

Not having your opponent try to keep 80% of their team behind the ball at all times helps to open things up and give players space to work with which the US seemed to take advantage of. Brian Ching's well-timed goal helped quiet the naysayers that quietly (or loudly) questioned Bruce Arena's decision to include him over Taylor Twellman for a WC roster spot. Convey was a monster on the left flank, terrorizing that side with his frequent dangerous treks up into the attacking third. He consistently out ran defenders, took people on 1v1, and sent in numerous quality crosses. The amount he has improved from playing with Reading in the English Coca-Cola Championship (and next season in the Premiere League) is nothing short of remarkable. Tim Howard performed admirably in net and Clint Dempsey managed to send in a diving header for a goal.

The Starting XI this evening were pretty much the 'B' team as 9 of the perceived starters against the Czech Republic June 12th started and mostly finished the game on the bench. Nice to see Michael Bradley get his first cap as a reward for all the hard work he's put into helping the USMNT train.

Up next is Latvia for the 3rd and final game in the send-off series and the super-secretive (though not really) "Don't Tread On Me" all red, limited edition US jerseys.