Winning ugly. (Already used that? Oh, yeah.)

Better lucky than good. (Been there, done that, I fear.)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. (You’ve heard that one?)

Not really an inventive way to put this. The United States national soccer team was, again, thoroughly unimpressive against a lesser CONCACAF opponent … yet after another 90-some minutes that ranged from uninspired to unwatchable, there it is: Another U.S. victory, 1-0 at Trinidad & Tobago, and a big step closer to the 2010 World Cup.

This one came down to a few sublime seconds of inspiration, a momentarily lazy and inattentive opposition defense and the usual generous dollop of luck, allegedly the “residue of design” but of late a gift that keeps on giving to American soccer.

And another victory.

The one sublime moment came in the 62nd minute of a steamy night in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Clint Dempsey, who till that moment had been sleep-walking through the match, something he can do even when it’s not a hot and sweaty environment, found himself with the ball just outside the box, middle of the pitch. He hadn’t won the ball, and he hadn’t carried it there, but it arrived at his feet, and he was too tired or too disinterested to do anything with it … but roll it to the left flank, where Landon Donovan was jogging into space as T&T defenders packed the box.

Donovan carried it a few yards toward the end line, pulled up, saw defensive midfielder Ricardo Clark coming into the play and softly knocked it back to him, not far from where Dempsey had been a moment before — middle of the pitch, just outside the box.

Clark bumped the ball forward on his first touch, took a couple of strides and let fly a right-footed shot that was both heavy and wicked. It not only had plenty of pace, it veered sharply to the right the moment it came off his foot … threading through several T&T defenders and easily past the diving keeper.

Goal.

And that was pretty much it. As well as enough.

That’s 16 points from eight matches, and a victory on the road for the Yanks for the first time in this round, and leaves the Americans needing only a victory at Honduras or a home tie vs. fading Costa Rica for a top-three finish — which guarantees their sixth consecutive World Cup finals appearance.

Trinidad & Tobago entered having almost no chance of advancing, but the Soca Warriors played as if they hadn’t heard, and actually had the better of play for an hour. Carlos Edwards roamed the pitch unchecked,  tormenting the Jonathans (Bornstein and Spector) on the flanks, sending in dangerous balls (both passes and shots) from all sorts of angles.

The U.S. had trouble holding the ball or doing anything with it; stringing passes together seemed an enormous chore. The playing surface seemed fast and hard, at least when the Yanks were trying to control the ball. As if it were artificial turf that made bounces and pace beyond their control. But, then, that was the case in Utah last Saturday, too, and we know that was grass, and well-groomed.

The U.S. was exceedingly fortunate not to trail at half. The most dangerous moment came when Cornell Glen’s looping shot from 15 yards over a charging Tim Howard caromed off the cross bar and was cleared by a defender. Glen had gotten into scoring position by an almost shocking communications gaffe between U.S. central defenders Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra, who let Glen run past them on a simple throw-in and go in on Howard alone.

A quarter of an hour in, the second half was shaping up as a reprise of the first, and U.S. coach Bob Bradley had up two subs, including one for Clark, who had been mostly invisible to that point … when Dempsey found the ball at his feet, and rolled it to Donovan, etc.

Instead, Clark scores, stays in the pitch and is a hero.

Since overpowering Mexico back in February, the U.S. has been consistently unimpressive in the Hexagonal — yet has won five matches, tied one and lost only two. Perhaps the  sieges of lassitude, careless giveaways, brainless lapses in the back and ensuing desperate half clearances … have turned into a bizarre, twisted winning formula. Soccer’s version of rope-a-dope — punctuated by the occasional lightning bolt of a goal.

We can criticize the methods but certainly not the results.

Who played well tonight? Donovan, at times. The U.S.  has reached a point where it seems almost incapable of scoring without Donovan’s direct involvement. But even he wasn’t quite clicking; his service wasn’t sharp, and he gave away the ball a bit more often than we have come to expect from him.

Spector came out of the back a few times to help (though he and Bornstein almost never got deep up the flanks). Michael Bradley had a few moments. So did Jozy Altidore, who is a load to defend. But Charlie Davies did less than usual.

The defense was so sketchy and disorganized it seems almost a miracle that T&T didn’t score. Onyewu made mistake after mistake, as did Bocanegra. Dempsey was so bad at both ends of the field that ESPN’s John Harkes finally decided, after a solid hour of increasingly pointed criticism, that Dempsey perhaps was physically ill. Tim Howard made two nice saves, as I recall, but actually didn’t have much to do in goal (T&T’s shots were mostly high or wide), aside from thanking the bar for stopping Glen’s chip shot. And Clark was missing in action — right up until he scored.

But no matter. Perhaps U.S. fans should put a positive spin on this, and muse about how this team manages to get results despite performances ranging from indifferent to inept. Like, imagine how dangerous they could be if they actually played well. It could be the Spain game all over again.

Up next: A match at Honduras, which is 1) far tougher than T&T, 2) still in contention for South Africa, 3) desperate for three points and 4) sure to have a raucous and full stadium of supporters.  And then Costa Rica at home to wrap up the qualifying.

The U.S. doesn’t quite deserve to be where it is, atop the CONCACAF standings eight matches through the Hexagonal. Not given the caliber of play it has produced in at least six of the eight matches. But we also must concede there is a resilience to this team, a mental discipline that keeps them from dwelling on that last bad giveaway or goal, even.

The U.S. has trailed in three matches (at El Salvador, home to Honduras, home to El Salvador) in which it trailed but rallied to gain a result. That says something. Hanging around and doing enough to win … that is what winners are about, ultimately. Points are awarded for results, not style.

Somebody has to lead the group, and the Yanks apparently figure it might as well be them.