:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62673697/81602836.jpg.0.jpg)
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. Just 11 minutes later, after some buildup, Steve Cherundolo sent a cross into the box, where several players tried to deflect it into the goal before Michael Bradley cleaned up the garbage, banging the ball home to make it 2-0.
Just 8 minutes later, Brian Ching got onto the board to make it 3-0 USA, when he deflected a Pablo Maestroeni screamer past the keeper. That score would hold into the second half. It was there that the USMNT began to bring misery to Barbados’ table.
In the 59th minute, Landon Donovan hit a fantastic free kick that was taken so quickly, the TV cameras barely had time to cut to it before he kicked it. The Barbados keeper had zero chance to stop it, and it was 4-0 USMNT. 4 minutes later, Clint Dempsey made it 5-0. The rout was on.
There was still some work to be done to get to historic margin of victory levels, but the USMNT seemed willing to keep scoring to entertain the fans. Eddie Johnson added a goal in the 82nd minute, making it 6-0. Then, Brian Ching closed out the scoring with two more goals in the 86th and 89th minutes. His final goal gave him a hat trick on the day and made it 8-0 USA.
The team just had to hold off Barbados for a couple more minutes to preserve the shutout, and when the final whistle blew, they had done it. 8-0 was the largest victory in USMNT history. It allowed the USMNT to cruise in their 2nd leg matchup in Barbados, where they won 1-0 to qualify for the next round of qualifying. But, we will remember forever the day the USMNT dropped 8 on Barbados and gave the nets at the Home Depot Center its greatest workout.