U.S. defeats Guatemala 3-1
Mexico rallies to beat Bolivia 2-1 in U.S. Cup '99 opener
Posted: Friday March 12, 1999 09:37 AM
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C.J. Brown got his kicks as the U.S. got past Guatemala. AP |
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An untimely shove by Joe-Max Moore will keep him from helping the United States try to win the U.S. Cup '99 tournament.
Moore and Brian McBride scored first-half goals as the Americans defeated Guatemala 3-1 Thursday night. But they'll be without Moore's valuable experience Saturday in San Diego.
He received a red card late in Thursday's match and was suspended for the game against Mexico.
"It's going to hurt us," American coach Bruce Arena said of Moore's absence. "It was probably not a smart situation for Joe-Max to be caught in. I thought it was an unnecessary card to show at that point in the game."
Guatemala's Erick Miranda also received a red card for the incident in the 90th minute that left both teams a player short.
"After the ball was cleared, he volleyed me in the back of the leg," Moore said of Miranda. "I turned around and bumped him with my shoulder, and he went down like a ton of bricks. The linesman picked up on it. It was stupid for me to react like that."
Moore gave the Americans a 1-0 lead when he took a pass from McBride and scored on a diving kick in the 22nd minute for his 18th international goal.
"Brian headed it back in front of the goal perfectly and it was a short hop, so I just tried to get to it with the sole of my foot, and it worked out well," Moore said.
McBride increased the Americans' lead to 2-0 in the 37th minute on a header off a pass from Ante Razov, a shot that sailed over leaping Guatemalan goaltender Edgar Estrada.
Jorge Perez scored Guatemala's only goal on a penalty kick in the 51st minute, called after a foul by Eddie Lewis on Guillermo Ortega.
Frankie Hejduk, one of the few players who stood out for the Americans at last summer's World Cup, got the final goal four minutes into injury time, bouncing a shot past Estrada following Lewis' free kick.
"We could have played much better," Moore said. "We could have held the ball better, we could have gotten a little more in front of the goal."
Mexico rallied from a one-goal deficit with two consecutive
goals by Joel Sanchez in a six-minute span to beat Bolivia 2-1 in
the second half of the doubleheader attended by 34,154 at the Los
Angeles Coliseum. Guatemala will play Bolivia in the completion of
the tournament, sponsored by Nike, on Saturday at San Diego.
The Americans improved to 3-0-1 in 1999 as they attempt to win the U.S. Cup for the third time. They were champions in 1992 and '95.
Seven of the 11 U.S. starters had played in five or fewer international matches entering the game. Ben Olsen, the youngest member of the U.S. roster at 21, had two solid scoring chances early in the first half.
Zach Thornton, arguably the No. 4 or No. 5 U.S. goalkeeper, made two saves. Kasey Keller, the top U.S. goalkeeper, was originally scheduled to join the American team for the tournament, but remained with Leicester City for Saturday's English Premier League game against Charlton.
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