From the opening whistle, the Americans were in charge. The breakthrough came after just 11 minutes, when Pablo Mastroeni sent the ball to Donovan at the top of the box. One quick touch later, Johnson was in alone for a left-footed shot to the lower right corner that silenced a large contingent of flag-waving Guatemalan fans.
It was Johnson's seventh goal in qualifying play, tying him with veteran Brian McBride for second place on the U.S. all-time scoring list and leaving him only two behind career leader Earnie Stewart.
Eddie Johnson's career is taking off after he scored his eighth goal in eight games for the United States.
(Tami Chappell -- Reuters)
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Despite the U.S. team's crisp play, the game was far from decided thanks to the Americans' shooting follies.
"You go in and you scratch your head [because] we could've had three goals at halftime," Arena said. "When you have a team like Guatemala . . . you never know. We're at fault for keeping them around for too long. It took us too long to get that second goal."
The Americans finally pulled away midway through the second half when Lewis swung another cross to the top of the box. Johnson chested it into space for the hard-charging Ralston, who flipped it past Trigueno for his third international goal.
Guatemala's Guillermo Ramirez kept it interesting, however, with a pair of booming free kicks, one that streaked narrowly wide and the other that forced Keller to make a soaring save.
Said Keller, "We came back and showed who we are and who we should be."
U.S. Notes: After spending much of the last month together, the Americans will go their separate ways and not reassemble until late May for an exhibition against England in Chicago, followed by qualifiers in early June against Costa Rica in Salt Lake City and at Panama.
