WORLD CUP SOCCER United States cruises into six-team regional

Eddie Johnson came off the bench to score three goals in the 6-0 win.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- There'll be no last-minute pressure this time. The United States advanced to the next round of World Cup qualifying with a game to spare.
Wednesday night's 6-0 victory over Panama clinched first place for the Americans in their qualifying group, putting them in next year's six-team regional finals. At least three of those six teams will be headed to Germany in 2006.
The U.S. team can now treat next month's final group game in against Jamaica in Columbus as a mere tuneup, a far cry from the four years ago, when the Americans had to win a final game on the road to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
"If you think back to the last qualifying, we had to go down to Barbados and get a result," forward Josh Wolff said. "We didn't want that kind of pressure -- to go to Columbus to face a Jamaica team that's pretty good."
Historic game
Leading 1-0 at halftime, the United States put Panama away in historic fashion. Eddie Johnson, making just his second appearance for the national team, became the first player in U.S. team history ever to score a hat trick as a substitute.
Entering in the 67th minute, Johnson netted in the 70th, 84th and 87th. The last U.S. hat trick in qualifying was by Peter Millar in 1968 against Bermuda, and the only one before that came in 1934.
"It was one of those games where everything went right for me," said the 20-year-old Dallas Burn forward, who also scored in Saturday's 2-0 victory in El Salvador. "I got some great feeds from the guys."
Indeed, the passing was pinpoint much of the night, a result of the kind of teamwork that comes from spending 12 days together. Coach Bruce Arena rarely has that luxury because players have club commitments in MLS or in Europe.
"We put out a team that's finally played together a little bit," Arena said.
Dominating presence
Landon Donovan, wearing the captain's armband for the second time at age 22, was a dominating presence throughout and was rewarded with goals in the 21st and 61st minutes.
"The armband helps Landon realize who he is," Arena said. "So often we have a lot of players who are guilty of not giving themselves enough credit, and it drifts to our younger players, in particularly Landon. Landon needs challenges. He's a fantastic player. If you challenge him, he'll respond."
Grabbing the early lead was important for the Americans, who emphasized setting the tempo after settling for a 1-1 draw on a late goal in Panama last month.
"The coaches were dissatisfied with the way it looked in Panama," Wolff said. "We came out, put them under a lot of pressure. We knew that was going to be the telling point. We put them under pressure a bit and get some opportunities."