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Nice head!

Cobi scores lone goal as U.S. beats Peru

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Posted: Monday February 21, 2000 08:18 PM

American goalie Brad Friedel made two sterling saves in the final 23 minutes to preserve the victory.

The Americans (2-0) secured first place in the Group B bracket and will face Columbia (1-1) in a quarterfinal match Saturday.

Honduras (2-0), a 2-0 winner over Colombia in the first game, will play Peru (0-1-1) in the other Miami-based quarterfinal.

"In the first half, Peru's pressure was outstanding," American coach Bruce Arena said. "In the end it may have caused them to run out of gas."

CNNSI.com Analysis By the time the United States and Peru took the field, the life was already starting to drain from the Orange Bowl. In the first game of the doubleheader, Honduras thumped Colombia 2-0 in front of 36,004 passionate fans, with Honduras' blue-and-white flags far outnumbering those of the other three nations. The U.S. controlled much of the first half, but failing to mount any serious threats. Fortunately for the U.S., Peru was no more dangerous. However, in the last third of the first half, Peru -- missing injured Newcastle midfielder Norberto Solano -- began to put the U.S. on the defensive. "The story of the first half was Peru," said U.S. coach Bruce Arena. "They pressured us all over the field and made it very difficult to play." Both teams had good opportunities in the second half, with goalkeeper Brad Friedel rescuing the U.S. on two occasions. Peru's goalkeeper, Oscar Ibanez, was forced to make only one save the entire game -- thanks in part to errant headers and crosses from the U.S. -- but he missed the one that counted. -- Jeff Green, CNNSI.com

After a closely marked first half with few scoring opportunities, left-footer Eddie Lewis passed to Jones, who headed a shot past the arms of Peruvian goalie Oscar Ibanez. Jones also scored in a 3-0 U.S. victory over Haiti on Monday.

"It was kind of a blur for me," Jones said. "Eddie switched it to his right foot and I went up to try to get it inside the right post."

In the second half, Friedel smothered a point-blank shot from substitute Ysrael Zuniga in the 67th minute. Seven minutes later, Friedel deflected a straight-on blast from Abel Lobaton.

"The defender was in front of me and he (Zuniga) hit it sharp on the ground," said Friedel, who had five saves. "I had to move quick. I had to get a good angle. That's my job."

"We realize in front of us was a strong opponent in the U.S.," Peru coach Francisco Maturana said. "They're technically sound. We have quite a way to go to be at that level."

Honduras got second-half goals seven minutes apart from Carlos Pavon and Milton Nunez to wrap up first place in Group A. Pavon also assisted on Nunez's header in the 78th minute.

Saturday's winners advance to the semifinals next week in California.

Box Score

Date:	February 16, 2000 - kickoff 9:00 p.m. (ET)
Attendance: 36,004
Weather: 75 degrees (warm, clear)


Scoring Summary:  1   2   F
United States     0   1   1
Peru              0   0   0

USA - Cobi Jones (Eddie Lewis)   59th minute.

Lineups:
USA  - 1-Brad Friedel; 3-Greg Vanney, 23-Eddie Pope, 16-Carlos Llamosa; 7-Eddie 
 Lewis, 14-Chris Armas, 10-Claudio Reyna(Capt.), 13-Cobi Jones (19-Ben Olsen, 
78), 9-Jovan Kirovski; 11-Eric Wynalda (5-C.J. Brown, 72), 20-Brian McBride (22-
Ante Razov, 81).

PER - 1-Oscar Ibanez, 3-Juan Reynoso (Capt.), 4-Marcial Salazar Orbe (15-Ysreal 
Zuniga, 65), 6- Cesar Miguel Rebosio, 8-Juan Jayo, 10-Roberto Palacios, 11-
Roberto Holsen (17-German Pinillos Rioja, 71), 14-Jorge Sota, 19-Abel Lobaton, 
20-Jose Del Solar, 23-Henry Quinteros Sanchez.

Stats:      U.S.   PER
 Shots      12      7
 Saves       4      2
 Fouls      18     13
 Corners     8      2
 Offside     6      3

Misconduct Summary:

USA - Brian McBride (caution)  45th minute.
PER - Juan Jayo (caution)                 50th minute.
PER - Ysreal Zuniga (caution) 70th minute.
PER - Ysreal Zuniga (ejection/2nd yellow) 77th minute.

Referee: Felipe Ramos (Mexico)
Referee Assistant #1: Raul Osorio (Mexico)
Referee Assistant #2: Heinrick Mackay (Aruba)
4th Official: Mario Sanchez (Chile)

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