U.S. too strong for Antigua in World Cup qualifier Fri Jun 8, 2012 11:40pm EDT (Reuters) - The United States opened their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign with a scrappy 3-1 win over Antigua and Barbuda in their Group A encounter in Florida on Friday. As one of the top seeds, The U.S. were given a bye into the third round and showed their class by opening a 2-0 lead against their Caribbean opponents, then added a third goal late on to spare any blushes after Antigua had pulled one back. Defender and captain Carlos Bocanegra gave the home team a perfect start when he scored in the eighth minute after Antigua goalkeeper Molvin James parried a corner straight to him. The Americans doubled their lead just before halftime when Antigua defender Martin McCoy brought down Landon Donovan in the penalty area and Clint Dempsey converted the spot kick. The U.S. lost Jose Torres, who was moved from his usual position at midfield to left back, early in the second half when he was stretchered off, forcing a reshuffle at the back that led to a goal for the visitors. Antigua, with a population just a little more than the capacity of the 75,000-seat Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, briefly raised the prospect of an upset when Peter Byers scored two minutes after he came on midway through the second half. Antigua presented the Americans with some awkward moments but recalled striker Herculez Gomez restored his team's two-goal advantage when he hammered home from point-blank range five minutes later. The U.S. and Antigua are among 12 teams competing in the third round of CONCACAF qualifying. The top two from the three groups of four advance to a final single pool round with the leading three booking automatic berths for the Brazil finals. Earlier, Canada beat Cuba 1-0 in a Group C encounter in Havana. The next match for the U.S. is away to Guatemala on Tuesday while Antigua are home to Jamaica.