When fans showed up to the Home Depot Center (now the StubHub Center) on June 15, 2008 to watch the United States Men’s National Team take on Barbados, they were expecting the team to put on a good showing to kick off qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Entering in the 2nd round, the USMNT faced a two-legged series with Barbados, and they wanted to get off on the right foot. What they gave the fans was the largest victory in USMNT history.
The USMNT didn’t want to wait long to give the fans something to cheer about, and about 45 seconds into the match, Carlos Bocanegra sent a long ball forward to Clint Dempsey inside the box, who corralled it and sent it past the Barbados keeper into the net for the match’s first goal.