|
 The
U.S. Men’s National Team recorded a dominating 3-0 victory
against Costa Rica in front of a raucous Utah crowd of 40,586 at
Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The victory was sparked
by two goals from forward Landon Donovan and six sparkling
second-half saves by goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
Donovan’s two
strikes were his first goals of the year and extended his
amazing streak of having scored at least a goal or an assist in
11 of the 12 FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifying games played by the
United States on their current road to Germany. For Keller, the
shutout was 38th in his 80-game U.S. MNT career and his 16th in
28 World Cup qualifying appearances.
The USA victory,
coupled with qualifying victories by Mexico (2-0 in Guatemala)
and Trinidad & Tobago (2-0 against Panama at home) puts the U.S.
in a solid second-place position in the hexagonal with nine
points after four games. The U.S. is one point behind Mexico,
but five points clear of Guatemala, Panama and Trinidad &
Tobago, who are all even with four points. Panama, the USA’s
opponent on Wednesday is bringing up the rear with two points.
“It was
fantastic. I've never been in a more comfortable setting as the
manager of the U.S. team,” said Bruce Arena about the state of
Utah’s support of the U.S. team. “The whole week, Provo was
brilliant, the people were great, everything was great there.
Then, even today, I went to get a haircut and walking down the
street, people were coming out of stores and saying, ‘Hello,’
wishing us good luck. I think the crowd was fantastic and I'm
happy that our guys were able to respond. When things were
tough, the crowd helped us. It was a perfect setting to play an
important game in. I don't speak for U.S. Soccer, I speak for
myself, but I'd love to come back here some day.”
The U.S. rewarded
the enthusiastic crowd early with a sixth minute strike into the
upper left corner of the goal by Donovan. On the goal, Steve
Ralston was sprung down the right wing by Donovan, hitting a
cross into the penalty area that deflected off Costa Rican
Gilberto Martinez and settled perfectly for the USA’s reigning
Player of the Year to hammer first-time from 21 yards off the
underside of the crossbar.
Donovan’s tapped
home his second goal in the 63rd minute on a typically brave
header by forward Brian McBride that was redirected on goal and
saved initially by Costa Rican goalkeeper Alvaro Mesen. Despite
his sprawling save, though, Mesen couldn’t keep the ball out of
the path of Donovan for the two-yard sitter.
The two goals
from Donovan were sandwiched around two brilliant saves by Kasey
Keller on Jafet Soto in the game’s 47th and 60th minutes. The
47th minute save was Keller’s first stop of the match and the
first of six for the goalkeeper in the second half. On the play,
Keller did extremely well to dive to his right and parry Soto’s
blast from 10 yards. On the second save, Keller was moving to
his right to stand up Soto six yards from goal and somehow
reached backward with his left hand and slapped the ball with
enough power to keep it out of the net.
"What can I
say?,” said Arena on Keller’s heroics. “Kasey's reactions on the
line are fantastic. He's still every bit as quick as he was five
years ago. It's nice to see a guy like that who has dedicated
himself as an athlete. His fitness is better now than it's
probably ever been and I'm just happy that he has the
opportunity to be our number one ‘keeper. I know his aspirations
are to play in a World Cup so, hopefully, we can make that
happen."
That second
brilliant save from Keller was followed just three minutes later
by Donovan’s second goal. The U.S. closed out the scoring in the
87th minute when Brian McBride added to his all-time U.S. goal
tally with a solid strike from 10 yards on a redirected shot
from Clint Dempsey. It was Donovan that sparked the goal with a
dribble into the area that ended with a ball being laid off for
Dempsey’s attempt.
McBride now has
27 international goals, seven behind the USA’s all-time leader
Eric Wynalda. For Donovan, the two-goal game was the fourth of
his career, and moved him into a tie for fourth place all-time
on the U.S. goal-scoring list with Bruce Murray with 21
international goals.
The game ended
with Costa Rica’s Douglas Sequeira earning a straight red card
in the 92nd minute after a reckless tackle that resulted in a
knee to the gut of standout U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo.
The U.S. travels
to face Panama on Wednesday at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in
Panama City. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT, and the match
will be broadcast via tape-delay on ESPN2 at 1 a.m. ET and on
Telemundo at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.
About Induction 2005
The
National Soccer Hall of Fame will host
Induction 2005 in
Oneonta, New York on August 27th - 29th. Induction Weekend kicks
off on Saturday, August 27th with a
Pub Night starting at
7:00 p.m. Then on Sunday, August 28th the Hall of Fame will
present the 2nd Annual
Hall of Fame Golf Tournament
presented by Nike at the Delhi Golf Course in Delhi, New York.
For those who are interested in exploring beautiful Otsego
County there will a
Leatherstocking Summer Sampler
tour at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday.
The Hall of Fame will host the
President's Reception & Dinner
starting at 6:00 p.m. in the Hall of Fame's Museum.
The
Induction Ceremony on
Monday, August 29th
honors three of the most identifiable
players in U.S. Men's National Team history as
Marcelo Balboa,
John
Harkes, and
Tab
Ramos
will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame
starting at 10:00 a.m. and ceremony is free of charge and open
to the public in the Museum. The
2005 Hall of Fame Game
will kick off at 1:00 p.m. on August 29th on the Hall of Fame campus.
Tickets for the
Hall of Fame Golf Tournament,
President's Reception & Dinner
and the
Hall of Fame Game are available at the Hall of Fame
or by calling 1-800-545-FAME (3263).
About the National
Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum
Located in
Oneonta, NY, the National Soccer Hall of Fame opened a 30,000
square foot, state-of-the-art museum in 1999. The Hall of Fame
tells the story of soccer in
America through artifacts, photographs, and video clips. The new
Hall features an extensive interactive, youth oriented Kicks
Zone where visitors have fun kicking,
heading and playing computer trivia stations and video
soccer games. The VideoWall portrays some of the greatest
moments and the greatest goals in history as well as live soccer
action with World Cup, MLS, and U.S. Soccer matches. Unique and
rare artifacts on exhibit range from the world’s oldest soccer
ball to the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy won by the USA in
1999,
Pelé's and Mia Hamm’s uniforms, Kristine Lilly’s golden
shoes, NASL championship rings, the original MLS championship
trophy, MLS gallery - it’s all at the National Soccer Hall of
Fame. In addition to the interactive Museum, the National Soccer
Hall of Fame complex boasts the
Kicks
Zone Store,
a research library, four world-class soccer fields and
office/meeting facilities. The Hall plans to add a stadium, an
indoor soccer arena and housing facilities in the future.
The mission of
the National Soccer Hall of Fame is to celebrate the history,
honor the heroes, inspire the youth and preserve the legacy of
soccer in the United States.
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