HAVANA — With few fans in the stands and little light on the field, the United States hung on to win its first soccer game in Cuba since 1947, beating the hosts 1-0 in a sloppy, sleepy World Cup qualifier last night.

Clint Dempsey scored late in the second half and Tim Howard made two key saves to give the United States its third straight road win in qualifying from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

"They did a pretty good job of making it hard on us," Landon Donovan said. "They never really took the chances to get back in the game so it kind of limited itself to trying to get the second goal if we could, but we felt that they weren't going to have real chances."

Half of the lights at rain-soaked Pedro Marrero Stadium went out in the 86th minute, causing a brief delay before the final minutes of the low-energy match were played out in the gloom.

In the 39th minute, Oguchi Onyewu sent a pass into the box from midfield and Dempsey jumped up with two Cuban defenders, one of whom mistakenly headed the ball straight to Brian Ching.

Ching, a Kamehameha Schools alum from Hawai'i, held off a defender and dropped the ball to Dempsey, who was all but unmarked and netted from 12 yards out.

"Ching somehow ended up getting himself in front of the defender and doing a good job of shaking him and giving me a good pass that allowed me to score," Dempsey said. "Without him being there, I don't think I would have gotten that opportunity."

A thunderstorm soaked the field two hours before kickoff, making for swampy conditions. Footing and ball control was difficult for both teams.

Cuba began the second half with a flurry of chances but failed to put a shot on goal until the 56th minute, when Pedro Silvio fed unmarked substitute Aliani Cervantes on the left side for a hard shot that Howard dived to stop with two Cuban players nearby, awaiting a rebound.

"It meant a lot to them and as a result it was a tight, difficult game," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said.