Ricardo Clark scores in the 62nd minute from about 25 yards as the United States gets three badly needed points in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I’ll look at the CONCACAF qualifying situation at the end of the night, after the other two matches, which just kicked off, are over. It was another sluggish start for the Americans, who almost fell behind again but caught a break when a shot that goalie Tim Howard couldn’t get to hit the cross bar. The U.S. picked it up in the second half, but Clark was probably a few seconds away from coming out for a sub before he hit the goal, which bent away from T&T goalie.

Elsewhere in qualifying, England and Spain qualified from Europe, and Paraguay beat Argentina 1-0 to qualify from South America.

You’d be hard pressed to say the other results didn’t go the U.S. team’s way. Mexico beat Honduras 1-0 and El Salvador surprised Costa Rica 1-0, with a 91st minute goal by Rudis Corrales. The U.S. can qualify for the World Cup with a win on Oct. 10 at Honduras. It’s also possible they could back in on that day if Costa Rica were to lose at home to Trinidad.

If the U.S. loses to Honduras, they would just need a tie with Costa Rica on Oct. 14 to secure a spot in the top three and a trip to South Africa. The U.S. could get in even with a loss if Costa Rica only ties Trinidad. The U.S. has a big edge in goal difference with Costa Rica — +5 vs. -4 — so depending on the score in the El Salvador game, Costa Rica might need a 4-0 win over the U.S.

At the very least, the United States can finish no worse than fourth, and fourth place in CONCACAF gets you into the playoff with the fifth place team in South America. That looks like it would be Argentina, Uruguary, Venezuela or Colombia.

And if you haven’t seen it, there was a great finish to the Bahrain-Saudi Arabia playoff in Riyadh. The winner would go on to a playoff with New Zealand for a spot in South Africa. The first leg was a 0-0 tie, so Saudi Arabia needed a win at home to advance, while Bahrain would get through with a tie that wasn’t 0-0. This clips picks up as the match goes to injury time, tied at 1-1, which would mean Bahrain would advance on road goals. And, if you’ve ever wondered what soccer announcers sound like in Saudi Arabia, this will answer your questions. Here’s the link. And stick with it to the end.