Win, and the players really believe that they are having the opportunity ...[to] fight for a place in the World Cup." Instead, the star of the night -- someone who's well versed in the Texas heat -- was defender Chris Richards. Long before his goal, Richards provided a defensive intervention in the 31st minute that was just as worthy of his scoring effort. Chris Richards scored the winning goal to book the United States into the Gold Cup quarterfinals. As superb as Richards was Thursday, the opposite could be said of most of the rest of the XI who still have much to prove in this Gold Cup.