The USA wrapped up its qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup with a scoreless tie Nov. 11 in Trinidad & Tobago — a team that had managed only four points in its previous nine Hexagonal games. The game had no implications for either team. The USA had already qualified for the World Cup in October and T&T was cemented into last place of the six-team group from which the top three qualified. MexicoÆs 3-0 win over Honduras qualified the Mexicans — along with the USA and Costa Rica, a 1-0 winner in Jamaica — and gave them second place in the Hexagonal, behind Costa Rica and ahead of the USA. (The order of atop the standings has no impact on World Cup seeding.) Bruce Arena, Jeff Agoos, Zach Thornton and Jovan Kirovski spoke to the press after the USAÆs tie.

U.S. coach Bruce Arena:

ôA tough game today. Obviously the conditions were difficult out there with the heat and humidity. WeÆre happy that qualifying is now over and we can fully place our attention on preparing for the World Cup. I thought our guys did well. It was a pretty even game. I think the result was pretty fair for both teams. ôAll in all, I think we did a decent job passing the ball today and keeping possession. I think our major breakdown we had was our inability to play some good, quality crosses in front of the goal. We never gave ourselves a good chance to create any good goalscoring opportunities in the second half. The T&T team did a good job dropping off and dealing with runners in the box. They gave us a little space on the flanks to cross balls and we didnÆt do a good job with that.ö On the the decision making process for the substitutions: ôWe had to take Beasley out at halftime. He suffered a slight concussion. Besides that, [Joe-Max] Moore was a little fatigued. We were going to take him out at 60 minutes but he hung in there. I thought Landon [Donovan] didnÆt do well with the heat. ThatÆs the reason we pulled him. ôAt the end of the game we brought [Jesse] Marsch in just to hold a little bit and push [John] OÆBrien a little bit more forward, hoping that we could create a few more chances off of that. I thought Beasley had a good first half. It was a shame he had to come off. It was good to get Josh Wolff back on the field, but as you can see he has away to go. ôHopefully the next couple months weÆll give him an opportunity to get back, as well as [Clint] Mathis, [Brian] McBride and some others. Hopefully we can now continue to move forward.ö On the play of keeper Zach Thornton: Zach did well. I donÆt think he was tested that much, but the couple of times he was he kept his composure. The one time that Angus Eve had a chance, he well to come out and close the angle down and making himself big.ö On the play of John OÆBrien: ôJohn did well today. He and Jovan split some of the responsibilities in that position. In the first half we got caught a little bit with both Jovan [Kirovski] and John pushing forwards. We got couple with a couple counters when they were able to find Arnold Dwarika, who I thought had a good game for T&T. I think John had a good performance today.ö

U.S. goalkeeper Zach Thornton:

On playing in his first World Cup qualifying match: ôItÆs been a while since IÆve played with the national team, so in the first couple minutes I was just settling in and getting used to playing with the guys again. I felt very comfortable.ö On the performance of the defense: ôI thought the defense did a great job with the heat and the conditions. Besides the two saves I made I didnÆt have to do much at all today.ö On his goals for the next year: ôMy goal right now is to be the third goalkeeper for the World Cup. I just have to keep working hard and do well when I get a chance, and hopefully Bruce will select me.ö

U.S. defender Jeff Agoos:

ôWe would have liked to have gotten a win in our last game, but I think getting a tie wasnÆt the worst thing in the world. I think we did a pretty solid job today. We could have finished off a couple things in the final third, but overall I think it was a good way to end the qualification process.ö On how the conditions affected the match: ôI think after 20 minutes both teams seemed to hit the wall. The ball slowed down, the running off the ball was spotty, and the game sort of took a toll because of the heat.ö On the play of Zach Thornton: ôWell, when you get a shutout in your first World Cup qualifier youÆre obviously doing something right. I think he made good decisions today, and obviously came up big on a couple saves and did what we needed him to do.ö

U.S. midfielder Jovan Kirovski:

On the playing in the attacking midfield role: ôItÆs a position IÆm very comfortable with because IÆve been playing there all season with Crystal Palace. I think the heat and humidity was very difficult for the European-based players today, but I think the team responded well.ö On playing in central midfield with John OÆBrien: ôI think we play very well together. WeÆre both good around the ball, and both good with the ball at our feet. John defends more, which allows me to get forward a lot more, so itÆs a good combination. Similarly, when John had the ball it allowed me to push into space. Having said that, the way we were playing in the 4-4-2 today I had to play a deeper role as well.ö