On Saturday afternoon, the US Men's National Team disposed of Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 to book their place in the Gold Cup knockout phase.

The US had a completely revamped lineup from Thursday's game against Guatemala, with only Benny Feilhaber appearing as a two-time starter.

Trinidad & Tobago were coming off of a 2-1 defeat to El Salvador and put up a good, clean fight despite having only one player, Densill Theobald, who saw action at the 2006 World Cup.

The US came out aggressively, with Feilhaber and Brian Ching leading the way.

In the fourth minute, Steve Ralston set up Ching in front, but a point blank save by goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams kept the scoresheet clean.

Eddie Johnson and Ching followed with chances in the fifth and ninth minutes, but Williams was up to the task on both occasions.

In the 15th minute, Williams collided with teammate Anthony Noriega as both went up for a header with Ching, and ended up being a first half casualty after lying on the field for several minutes.

His replacement, Christon Baptiste, was followed by another Trinidad injury substitution in the 25th minute when Kerry Baptiste replaced Thomas Nickolson.

Four minutes later, Feilhaber released Ching in front of goal with only Williams to beat, but a good save kept the game scoreless.

A minute later, however, the Houston Dynamo player would receive his reward after Jonathan Spector sent Justin Mapp down the left side.

Mapp raced around a defender before sending in a perfect low cross for the onrushing center forward to give the game its first tally.

The US waltzed into halftime with the lead, but the Soca Warriors were showing signs of life thanks to the Baptiste duo and Silvio Spann.

Feilhaber was replaced at the beginning of the second half by Landon Donovan for a much-deserved rest after 135 minutes of soccer in less than 48 hours.

Donovan picked up where he left off on Thursday and immediately set his sites on eclipsing Eric Wynalda's USMNT scoring record.

It would come to pass in the 54th minute after a T'n'T corner that Jay Demerit headed clear to Donovan, who was breaking towards midfield up the right side.

The LA star played give-and-go with Ching as he continued at a breathtaking pace towards the box, with Johnson also on his horse down the left side.

The Trinidad & Tobago defenders and Williams never had a chance as Donovan laid the ball off to Johnson for the easy nudge into the back of the net.

Donovan followed his classy assist with two scoring chances down the stretch, but Williams was twice again up to the task.

With the game coming to a close, Trinidad had two chances to reduce the deficit, but shots by Kerry Baptiste and Spann were both saved by Kasey Keller, who was making his 99th appearance in a UNMNT uniform.

On Tuesday, the US returns to action to face El Salvador across the country at Boston's Gillette Stadium.

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Scoring

USA – Brian Ching (Justin Mapp) 29'
USA – Eddie Johnson (Landon Donovan) 54'

Line-ups

USA: Kasey Keller (capt.); Frank Simek, Jay DeMerit, Michael Parkhurst, Jonathan Spector;Steve Ralston, Benny Feilhaber (Landon Donovan, 46), Ricardo Clark, Justin Mapp; Brian Ching (Michael Bradley, 69'), Eddie Johnson (Taylor Twellman, 72')

TRI: Jan Michael Williams, Keyeno Thomas, Thomas Nickcolson (Kerry Baptiste, 24'), Seon Power, Anthony Noriega (Christon Baptiste, 20'), Romauld Aguillera, Andrei Pacheco (Trent Noel, 81'), Silvio Spann, Densill Theobald, Andre Toussaint, Darryl Roberts