U.S. Soccer in Music City for World Cup Qualifer against T&T Wednesday

The U.S. Men’s National Team has settled down in Nashville, Tenn., where they will host Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, April 1, at LP Field. Coverage of the match begins at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and Galavision, and fans can also follow along live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. More than 19,500 tickets have been sold for the match, which means fans will be out in full force on Wednesday, as the MNT continues their run in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

QUICK HITS

• Of the 22 players in camp, the U.S. will dress 18 with a maximum of three substitutions.
• Five players on the U.S. roster are carrying yellow cards into Wednesday’s match: Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Frankie Hejduk, and Oguchi Onyewu. Should they receive another caution, it will result in a one match suspension.
• Trinidad & Tobago has six players in a similar predicament: Keon Daniel, Akile Edwards, Carlos Edwards, Cornell Glen, Khaleem Hyland, and Clyde Leon.
• Tim Howard is available for selection after serving his one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation. T & T also get starting goalkeeper Clayton Ince back from suspension, as well as midfielder Christopher Birchall.
• T & T striker Dwight Yorke is serving the second game of a two-match suspension and is unavailable.
• The match on April 1 will mark the 20th meeting between the United States and Trinidad & Tobago. The U.S. holds a commanding 14-2-3 record, with 29 goals scored and 10 conceded.
• This is the first time the U.S. has played a FIFA World Cup qualifier in the state of Tennessee. The only other game contested in the “Volunteer State” came in 2006, when the U.S. fell 1-0 to Morocco in Nashville in the first match of the Send Off Series for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
• This is the fourth consecutive World Cup qualifying cycle in which the U.S. and T & T have faced off, and the sixth overall since 1985. The U.S. holds a 9-1-2 record in qualifying against Trinidad & Tobago, including an unbeaten 6-0-1 record on home soil.
• The U.S. boasts a 14-3-6 all-time record against Caribbean nations during World Cup qualifying, with a 33-1-5 overall record at home against teams from the Caribbean. The sole defeat at home came at the hands of Haiti, a 1-0 loss on May 11, 1969 in San Diego.
• The teams were grouped together in the semifinal phase of 2010 World Cup qualifying, splitting the results as the U.S. collected a 3-0 victory on Sept. 10 in Bridgeview, Ill., before T & T ended the USA’s seven-match unbeaten run in qualifying with a 2-1 victory on Oct. 15, 2008 in Port of Spain.
• Nine players on the U.S. roster started in the last meeting in Trinidad: Jozy Altidore, DaMarcus Beasley, Danny Califf, Maurice Edu, Brad Guzan, Frankie Hejduk, Sacha Kljestan, Heath Pearce, José Francisco Torres. That match marked the first-ever start for Torres, and was his second appearance for the U.S.
• Meantime, nine of the 10 starters from the 3-0 win in Bridgeview are present in Nashville, including all three goal scorers: Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley (1), Brian Ching (1), Dempsey (1), Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Eddie Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Onyewu and Heath Pearce (starters in bold).
• Trinidad & Tobago midfielder Russell Latapy has played against the U.S. eight times, the most games of any player on either side of the series.
• Hejduk recorded a goal and assist in leading the USA’s rally from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 in El Salvador on March 28.
• The goal was the seventh of Hejduk’s international career, and his second in FIFA World Cup qualifying. His last qualifying goal came on Dec. 21, 1996, in a 2-2 draw against Guatemala that was played in San Salvador. The gap of 12 years and 97 days is the longest between qualifying goals ever for a U.S. player, with Tab Ramos holding the distinction previously with eight years and 130 days between qualifying goals.
• Altidore has recorded two goals in five World Cup qualifying appearances.
• The U.S. now holds an 8-1-1 record through 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying.
• Donovan is the leading capwinner on the roster with 107 international appearances.
• Donovan leads the team in FIFA World Cup qualifying caps (23) and is tied with Eddie Johnson for most goals in qualifying (8). Johnson has produced a remarkable strike rate, with eight goals in eight qualifying appearances. Johnson became the first player in U.S. history to score three goals as a substitute when he recorded a hat trick in the 6-0 semifinal round qualifying victory against Panama on Oct. 13, 2004, at RFK Stadium.
• Johnson and Donovan are tied for third on the USA’s all-time goalscoring list in FIFA World Cup qualifying. Brian McBride is the USA’s all-time leading goalscorer in FIFA World Cup Qualifying with 10 goals scored over three FIFA World Cup cycles (1998, 2002, 2006).
• Ching and Dempsey finished 2008 with four goals each – all in World Cup qualifying – tied for team best. They are joined by Michael Bradley as the leading scorers for the U.S. in 2010 qualifying.
• Dempsey recorded two game-winning goals in World Cup qualifying last year – against Barbados on June 15 in Carson, Calif., and in the 1-0 win on Sept. 6 in Cuba.
• Beasley (Oct. 11 against Cuba), Carlos Bocanegra (Aug. 20 against Guatemala) and Bradley (Sept. 10 against T & T, Feb. 11 against Mexico) are the other players on the roster with game-winners in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying.
• Bradley and Heath Pearce tied for the team lead in 2008 with 11 starts. Pearce led the team in minutes played (945).
• Pearce has started nine of 10 World Cup qualifiers in this cycle, the most on the team. Beasley has made nine total appearances, seven as a starter.
• After serving a one match suspension for the game against Mexico, Pablo Mastroeni has returned to the U.S. squad. Mastroeni started in three of the USA’s qualifiers through the semifinal round.
• With his hat trick on Jan. 24 against Sweden, Sacha Kljestan became only the second player in U.S. history to score his first three goals in the same game, joining Aldo “Buff” Donelli, who tallied four goals in a 4-2 victory against Mexico on May 24, 1934, in the lone qualifying match for the 1934 FIFA World Cup in Italy.
• The U.S. finished 2008 with a 9-3-2 record, including a 7-1-0 record in World Cup qualifying.
• In 2008, the U.S. set team records for most goals scored per game (2.14) and fewest goals against per game (0.57).
•