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Closer Look Wingers pick right time to connect against Peru
Posted: Thursday February 17, 2000 02:27 AM
By Jeff Green, CNNSI.com MIAMI -- The United States was playing a possession game Saturday against Peru, though it took Eddie Lewis more than a half to show it. After mishandling passes and crosses for most of the game, Lewis finally found the mark in the 59th minute when Cobi Jones took a perfect cross off his head and gave the U.S. the only goal it would need to defeat Peru 1-0 at the Gold Cup. Jones, the veteran winger, was playing wide right midfield in a 3-5-2 formation, a spot occupied by Ben Olsen in Saturday’s match. The left-footed Lewis was in his usual spot in the left midfield, although the pass he gave Jones came off of his right foot. It has been that kind of knack for accurate crossing and key assists that has made Lewis a fixture there under coach Bruce Arena. “It’s kind of a blur to me,” Jones said. “Eddie got the ball, came down and put the cross in with his right foot. And I just went up for the header and tried to deflect it to the far post.” The play developed with defensive midfielder Chris Armas regaining possession of the ball in midfield and looking for the team’s two central attacking players, Claudio Reyna and Jovan Kirovski. After a passing sequence in midfield, forward Eric Wynalda -- largely invisible the rest of the game -- was freed on the right side and unleashed a cross from near the goal line. With the U.S. having kept possession when the ball cleared the penalty area, Kirovski sent Lewis through toward the goal line on the left side. Lewis faked a left-footed cross, cut back to his right foot and put the ball right on Jones’ head. “That was an excellent cross, chopping the ball back to his right foot,” Arena said. With his goal, Jones became the first U.S. player to score in three straight games since Willy Roy did so 1974. If Jones scores Saturday in the quarterfinal against Colombia, he would equal the all-time mark set by William Looby in 1954-55. In Saturday's 3-0 victory over Haiti, Jones took a through pass from Reyna and beat the Haitian keeper from a tight angle. Against Chile on Jan. 29, he volleyed home a cross from Lewis for a dramatic victory. His points streak stretches back one game further still, to a 1-1 tie with Iran on Jan. 16, when he assisted on a goal by Armas. “He’s been playing well for us in a number of positions,” Arena said of Jones. “We view Cobi as a wide player. He played as a forward last game because of the injuries to [Brian] McBride and [Ante] Razov.” “He did a great job stretching them out on that side of the field and was rewarded for his efforts by a great goal.”
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