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'All the way' U.S. U-17s eye world championship success
Updated: Monday April 23, 2001 3:22 PM
ATLANTA (CNNSI.com) -- With qualification for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship behind them, a group of future United States stars is now setting its sights high. "I think this team can go all the way," said defender Gray Griffin, the U.S. U-17 team's captain. "Whatever we need, we've got it." The U.S. went into Sunday's game against El Salvador needing a win or draw to advance to the championship tournament, to be played in Trinidad & Tobago on Sept. 14-30. Their 4-0 win propels the U.S. into a record ninth consecutive Under-17 World Championship, continuing the U.S. streak of being the only country to qualify for every U-17 (formerly U-16) tournament. The draw for the World Championship will be held on May 9 in Trinidad & Tobago. Edward Johnson -- drafted by Major League Soccer's Dallas Burn in February -- had a hat trick as the U.S. rolled past El Salvador at St. Louis University's Robert R. Hermann Stadium. The United States finished the four-team, round-robin tournament in first place with three wins in its three matches. Johnson finished with a tournament-best five goals. His first on Sunday gave the U.S. a lead it would never relinquish. In the 30th minute, Johnson took a pass from Jordan Stone and beat El Salvador goalkeeper Henry Hernandez. D.C. United draft pick Santino Quaranta scored three minutes later to extend the United States lead to 2-0. Michael Magee gave Quaranta a pass in the penalty area and Quaranta chipped the ball over an advancing Hernandez just inside the right goalpost. In the second half, El Salvador twice left Johnson uncovered, and he made them pay both times, in the 50th and 71st minutes. The United States outshot El Salvador 17-7. U.S. goalkeeper Adam Schuerman made six saves, while Hernandez had seven. Schuerman recorded the first U.S. shutout of the tournament. He made a difficult save in the 37th minute on a Medrano free kick, and then a sliding stop in a one-on-one situation late in the second half. Much of the defensive credit went to U.S. defender Chad Marshall, who stifled El Salvador attacks from his central defender role. With the outcome of the game already decided in the 79th minute, Marshall was the victim of an Anibal Najarro tackle from behind in the U.S. penalty box. Najarro was ejected for the tackle, and Marshall was taken to a hospital for x-rays that found he had a bone contusion in his left fibula. In the 18th minute, with the game still scoreless, Griffin made a key goal-line clearance, heading away a 10-yard Juan Francisco Medrano shot after a wild scramble in the penalty box. El Salvador finished third in the tournament with a 1-1-1 record. Canada finished second, and Jamaica was fourth. "It has been a year-and-a-half of hard work with a group of guys who we've all become very attached to, and to save our best soccer for the last game against a very good El Salvador, makes this win feel very good," said U.S. coach John Ellinger. The United States now looks to improve on the country's best-ever performance at the 1999 Under-17 World Championship in New Zealand, where current MLS stars Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley led the team to a fourth-place finish. Post-game quotesJOHN ELLINGER, U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team Head Coach ON THE EL SALVADOR RED CARD IN THE 79th MINUTE, WHICH INJURED U.S. DEFENDER CHAD MARSHALL: "I was a little disappointed with that, to be honest. I looked at the face of the No. 14 coming in and I don't mind saying this, it looked like he had one thing on his mind, which was to whack somebody. And I was very disappointed. I actually told our coaching staff when he was going in 'that this guy is going to kick somebody.' It is very unfortunate that it happens to be against someone as valuable to our team as Chad." ON EDDIE JOHNSON LEADING THE TOURNAMENT WITH FIVE GOALS: "Eddie just got better and better every game. It's great that people can now see what I've been able to see for the last year and a half. He is superb at holding possession for our team. When he has the ball we have other options to bring players forward. He may have lost the ball just once or twice in the entire tournament. We are very pleased with ability to hold possession, and his finishing was outstanding." ON TODAY'S PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENT: "We played very well. Mike Magee, who we think is going to be a very good player for us down the road, settled in and played much better today as well. We have a young team, in terms of international experience, so I am very pleased with how we progressed in the tournament." SANTINO QUARANTA, midfielder ON THE VICTORY: "We knew it was going to be a battle for us, because they had to come out and try and win. We got some great finishes from Ed, and that helped us get on top of them and we never let them back in the game. For overall performance, this was probably the best of our three games here. We had some great finishes and I knew we were going to come out on top. Everybody stepped it up, everybody individually was a part of this. From the goalkeepers right up to Eddie Johnson up top." ON GRAY GRIFFIN CLEARING AN EL SALVADOR SHOT OFF THE LINE IN THE 18TH MINUTE: "That was a huge play, a real turning point in the game. If that had gone in it would have changed the game entirely and backs would have been against the wall. Griffin came up big time for us a couple of times, and he's our captain, so he needs to do that." ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE U-17 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: "The first two games, especially the first game, we came out a little nervous. For us, we really just wanted to get these games out of the way so we could prepare for the World Championship, because everything we've been doing has been staged around being at the World Championship. GRAY GRIFFIN, defender ON THE VICTORY: "The whole team needs to do their part, and we all defended well today. We entered the game shooting for a shutout because we knew if we got a shutout we'd be through to the World Championship. All of our defenders did everything we could to get that shutout. And I was just doing my job. That's what I'm there for." ON THE TEAM'S OVERALL EFFORT: "From a stand point of a team effort, this was our best game. We came together, we knew what we had to do, and we got the job done and took it to them. We got the job done. The fans here in St. Louis were great and motivated us. They got behind us every game, and we didn't want to disappoint them." ED JOHNSON, forward ON THE VICTORY AND HIS HAT TRICK: "This was just one of those games. The team counts on me to score goals and today I wanted a hat trick and got a hat trick. I feel real proud for the team getting this win, but that's just one step. Now we just have to get the business done in Trinidad. "I thought we played better every game in this tournament. After a year-and-a-half of residency, we were prepared for this environment, and we were able to put on a show today for the fans, who supported us all week." "This team is like 18 brothers who work hard for each other and communicate well as a team. We made a statement in this tournament, by putting everyone away." SummaryUSA - Ed Johnson (Jordan Stone) 29th minute. USA - Santino Quaranta (Mike Magee) 33. USA - Ed Johnson (Santino Quaranta) 50. USA - Ed Johnson (Jordan Harvey) 71. Lineups: U.S. - 18-Adam Schuerman; 6-Chris Lancos, 8-Jordan Harvey, 12-Gray Griffin (Capt.), 14- Chad Marshall (4-Paul Johnson, 83); 15-Jordan Stone, 16-Craig Capano, 7-Mike Magee (13- David Johnson, 75); 3-Justin Mapp (11-Chefik Simo, 68), 9-Santino Quaranta, 10-Ed Johnson. El Salvador - 1-Henry Hernandez; 2-Juan Aviles, 3-Alexander Escobar, 6-John Garcia, 18-Isaac Zelaya; 5-Emmanuel Castillo, 7-Jose Ochoa (13-Erick Trujillo, 46), 10-Juan Francisco Leiva (14-Anibal Najarro, 75), 23-Mario Posades (12-Andres Rivera, 62); 8-Marvin Bernal, 9-Dennis Alas. Statistical Summary: USA SLV Shots 17 7 Saves 6 5 Corners 8 1 Fouls 15 13 Offside 2 0 Misconduct Summary: SLV - Emmanuel Castillo (caution) 24th minute. SLV - Juan Medrano (caution) 34. USA - Craig Capano (caution) 46+. USA - Jordan Stone (caution) 75. SLV - Anibal Najarro (ejection) 79. Referee: Marco Rodriguez (Mexico) Assistant Referee #1: Ian Parker (Antigua) Assistant Referee #2: Leonel Leal (Costa Rica) Fourth Official: Roberto Moreno (Panama)
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