When Chris Wondolowski netted a hat trick in the first half on Tuesday against Belize, he did it with a misspelled jersey that had an extra W on it. Today, there was a third W again—sewn on the inside of the jersey—and there were two more goals.
Wondolowski has six goals in three games over eight days, and though they've come against a Belize team that was approached about fixing the match and Guatemala and Cuba teams that are nowhere near the United States' level, there's no way to downplay that as less than tremendous.
Likewise, it's impossible not to feel good for Wondolowski, who had never scored for America in nine caps prior to last week, and has suddenly turned into a lethal finisher for a national team that didn't have any use for him early in his career. Wondo's 67 goals in MLS play since 2010 (he led the league in 2011 and 2012) got him back on U.S. Soccer's radar, but it appeared to be for naught—until Tuesday, when, at 30, he pumped in the third Gold Cup hat trick in U.S. Men's National Team history, and proved that his goal against Guatemala was a beginning rather than an end.
Now, Wondolowski is almost assured of a seat on the plane to Brazil as part of Jürgen Klinsmann's World Cup roster, sits four goals from breaking into the top 20 of the all-time USMNT scoring list, and has a great hook for his endearing backstory. And the USMNT's two wins since Wondo's three Ws debuted aren't bad, either.
[Fox Sports]