Sports

Kljestan hat-trick sinks Sweden

The U.S. National Team couldn’t have asked for a much better opening to 2009. Sacha Kljestan _ lining up a move to Scottish powerhouse Celtic _ notched the 11th hat trick in the team’s history, lifting them to a 3-2 win over Sweden at the Home Depot Center.

“Getting a hat trick is pretty exciting for me. I’ve never scored more than one goal in a game as a professional, so it’s definitely exciting. I’m just as happy about the win and I’m glad we held on in the end,” Kljestan said. “It was great to do it [score a hat trick] here at the Home Depot Center. I have a lot of friends and family that come and support me every game, so that was pretty cool to have them here.”

His first tally was a perfect 35-yard free kick into the upper left corner. He added a PK with five minutes left in the half, and after Sweden pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute, he answered just a minute later by taking a great feed from forward Brian Ching and burying a left-footed clincher.

OK, first off, the same people that hated on Brian McBride are probably the same ones who don’t value Ching. If you saw the work he put in tonight and still don’t rate Ching, I can’t help you. And as for Kljestan, Celtic should’ve cut the $2.9 million check earlier _ Chivas USA’s asking price may have just gone up.

I’m actually finishing up at the Garden, watching a hideous doubleheader between St. John’s and Rutgers and then Iona and Manhattan. Bad hoops, but these goals made up for it. Check out the clips below…

“In the last stretch of games, Sacha has grown with the national team, I think that’s obvious,” coach Bob Bradley said of the midfielder, who was on trial at Celtic. “If you look at our home wins against Trinidad and then Cuba, I think he played well in those games and I think that as a team we played well. We continue to challenge him in every camp.

“He knows, because he hears it from our coaching staff and I think he’s heard it from the Chivas coaching staff, the areas he has to improve still, in terms of consistency, reactions and other little things, at times, that make a difference. He’s a strong candidate to always be on the field now and it’s nice to see the maturity, but [with all our young guys] there’s still a way to go.”

The U.S. did this with a young, inexperienced roster, with six of the starters having under five caps and keeper Troy Perkins and winger Robbie Rogers making their debuts.

Native New Yorker Chris Wingert also earned his first cap, coming on as a 79th-minute.

It was a great tune-up for the opening tilt of the final round of World Cup qualifying against archrival Mexico on Feb. 11 in Columbus. The U.S. comes in rolling, while rival Mexico comes in floundering and injury-riddled. Still, Bradley does a good Lou Holtz imitation.

“Mexico has a deep pool of talent, but the players (who’re hurt) are good players,” Bradley said. “Nonetheless, we play a game that, as the first game of qualifying, you expect Mexico to come in organized and ready to give everything they have to make it a hard game. The respect that we have for Mexico is always going to be the starting point when we prepare to play them.”

What do you think of the result? Just a friendly? Want to see how Mexico does against Sweden? Think Celtic coughs up the $2.9 million? Think the U.S. crushes injury-riddled Mexico? Check in below….