|
 The
U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Guatemala in front of a
raucous crowd of 31,624 fans at Legion Field in Birmingham,
Ala., on Wednesday evening to move solidly into second place in
the final round of
FIFA World Cup Qualifying in the CONCACAF
region. The victory came courtesy of goals from Eddie Johnson
and Steve Ralston on either side of halftime, and a stifling
defensive performance from goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who earned
his 37th career shutout for the U.S.
"It was a very
good performance from our team,” said U.S. manager Bruce Arena
after the game. “Probably the final score is not an indication
of our dominance. I think we were very good tonight. If were at
fault at anything, it's not finishing off a few more plays. But
I think it's one of those nights where you can't single out any
one player for a good performance, because there were a number
of them. Basically, our entire team played well. It's a great
performance after three games, with two on the road and six
points. We're right on schedule, so I'm pleased.”
 The
U.S. completely dominated play in the first half, out-shooting
Guatemala 14-3, but were only able to sneak one shot past
goalkeeper Richard Trigueno when Johnson extended his torrid
scoring pace with another highlight reel goal. In scoring for
the eighth time in eight career caps, Johnson slammed a 12-yard
shot off the right post after collecting a back-heel touch from
Landon Donovan in the penalty area. Donovan was sprung on the
play in the 11th minute with a perfectly placed ball into the
penalty area from Pablo Mastroeni.
The goal was
Johnson’s seventh in World Cup qualifying play after just six
games, and incredibly moved him into a tie with Brian McBride
for second all-time in U.S. World Cup qualifying history, a
history that spans 71 years.
Despite the
team’s barrage of shots, the U.S. did not put the game out of
reach until 68th minute when Steve Ralston used a calm touch in
the area to deftly flick a shot from six yards past Trigueno. On
the play, Ralston collected a challenging ball that began with a
wicked cross from Eddie Lewis that sliced through the area and
was redirected with a slight touch by Eddie Johnson in the
penalty area.
The cross into
the area was standard for Lewis, who dominated down the left
flank and was able to play an array of dangerous balls into the
penalty area throughout the match. Equally impressive in just
his third World Cup qualifer was Ralston, who buzzed the
midfield for 90 minutes creating all sorts of problems for
Guatemala.
“It's just nice
to play the way we want to play at home,” said Donovan following
the match. “We have two big guys in front of the goal, and
(Ralston and Lewis) put the ball exactly where it needs to be
every time. Every time they cross the ball, it's dangerous. They
were fantastic. It was good to see (Ralston) get rewarded for
his goal.”
Three minutes
before the game’s second goal, the United States thought they
had extended their lead when Landon Donovan finished off a Lewis
cross with a perfect header into the net. Donovan, however, was
adjudged to be offside and was denied a chance to open his 2005
goal-scoring account. The assist for Donovan on the first goal
was the 18th of his young career and quietly moved him into a
second place tie with Claudio Reyna on the USA’s all-time assist
leaders list (just four behind all-time leader Cobi Jones).
Just a few
seconds before Ralston’s tally, Johnson had two efforts from
inside the area, with the first being a shot that was saved
nicely from Trigueno but before being cleared was swatted down
by the hand of defender Nestor Martinez. While the U.S. appealed
for a handball, Guatemala attempted to clear the bouncing ball,
seeing it eventually pop into the air perfectly for Johnson how
skied for a perfectly executed bicycle kick that just missed the
mark.
“Obviously, in
this game you saw that we were able to press quite high the
entire game,” said Keller, who now has an amazing 15 shutouts in
World Cup qualifiers. “You just can't do that at 7,500 feet and
in that smog in Mexico. That was our game plan, to put them
under pressure, and cough up a few balls to create a few
chances. We could have scored five or six today, but you have to
give credit to Guatemala. They kept in the game and had a couple
of chances at the end to get back into the game.”
The victory moves
the U.S. into second place in the final round of FIFA World Cup
qualifying play with six points in the CONCACAF region, just one
point behind Mexico, who were held to a 1-1 draw in Panama on
Wednesday evening. In the other game on Matchday 3, Costa Rica
struggled to 0-0 draw.
The U.S. won’t
play another match until the end of May when they suit up at
Soldier Field in Chicago in a highly-anticipated match against
England on May 28. The game will be followed just a week later
by back-to-back qualifiers on June 4 against Costa Rica in Salt
Lake City, Utah, and on June 8 against Panama in Panama City.
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.
The National
Soccer Hall of Fame is open every day of the year, except
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Admission is $9.00 for
adults, $8.00 for students, $6.50 for children 6 or older and
senior citizens. Children 5 and under are free.
|
