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Four stars U.S., South Korea advance to Gold Cup semifinalsPosted: Sunday January 27, 2002 8:44 PMUpdated: Monday January 28, 2002 1:51 PM
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- As far as Brian McBride is concerned, the blood clots in his arm that sidelined him for five months "are history." He certainly looked healthy Sunday, becoming the first U.S. national team player to score as many as three goals in a game since 1993. He scored three times in a 12-minute span of the first half to carry the United States to a 4-0 victory over El Salvador. The win, coming in a constant drizzle before a Rose Bowl crowd of 31,628, propelled the United States into Wednesday's semifinal against Gold Cup defending champion Canada. McBride, who returned to the team last month, said, "I feel good. My physical condition is good." He added that he doesn't worry about the blood disorder that caused his arm problem, saying, "That's not on my mind any more. The vein that was involved is dead, so it should be no problem." McBride scored his first goal against El Salvador on a header in the 9th minute. Two minutes later, he made it 2-0 on a wide-open shot after Cobi Jones got behind the goalkeeper with the ball and it rolled straight into McBride's path. For his third goal, McBride finished a brilliant passing sequence by banging in a left-footer at close range for his fourth goal of the tournament and 18th of his seven years on the national team. "It was the best day for getting in spots and having my teammates find me," McBride said. "Ante [Razov] made some great runs off the ball and freed me up quite a bit." U.S. coach Bruce Arena said McBride appears to be well on his way back after the injury layoff. "Obviously, he finished his chances quite well; the goal with the header was quite a good shot," Arena said. "The second and third were relatively easy." He could have scored more Sunday, but the United States was called for offside three times when McBride put the ball in the nets. McBride, who plays for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, also made a first-half penalty kick last Monday for the only score of the game when the United States defeated Cuba to advance to the quarterfinals. The Americans looked disorganized on offense in their first two games of the tournament, needing a goal from DaMarcus Beasley in injury time to take a 2-1 win over Korea, then edging Cuba 1-0 on McBride's penalty kick. Against El Salvador, however, the U.S. team quickly took control with a series of fine plays on the attack. "The guys looked sharp in the early going. We obviously started in strong fashion, getting an early goal and then adding the second within minutes," Arena said. "It made our task easier." Said McBride: "The big thing was our pressure. We wanted to try to put the game away early." Chris Armas started the first two scoring sequences. On the first, he passed to Frankie Hejduk, breaking down the right wing. Hejduk dribbled down outside the box and made a centering pass that deflected off El Salvador's Guillermo Garcia and directly to McBride, who banged a header into the upper right corner of the net past goalkeeper Santo Rivera. On the second goal, Jones ran down Armas' long kick from midfield and dribbled around Rivera. Jones tripped as he went around the goalie, but the ball came to McBride on the right side and he rolled it into the net. McBride extended the lead to 3-0 after Razov passed deep to Eddie Lewis on the left touch line. Lewis centered the ball to Landon Donovan, who whirled and tapped the ball to McBride. His third goal was a left-footer from 9 yards away in the 21st minute. He became the first American to score as many as three goals in an international match since Joe Max-Moore had four in a 7-0 rout of El Salvador in 1993. McBride's previous multi-goal game also came against El Salvador, when he scored twice in a 4-2 win in 1997. This time, Razov ended the scoring with his goal in the 72nd minute to cap a three-on-two breakaway as the United States ran its record against El Salvador to 8-1-4. It was the first four-goal game for the United States since a 4-0 win over Barbados on Nov. 15, 2000. On Saturday, Costa Rica advanced by beating Haiti 2-1 in the eighth minute of overtime at Miami. Canada gained the semis by beating Martinique in the seventh round of penalty kicks after the teams tied 1-1 in regulation in their quarterfinal, also Saturday in Miami. The third-place and championship games are Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Arena said he expected a hard match against the Canadians. "They play everyone tough. They have a real physical presence," he said. El Salvador coach Jorge Humberto Recinos was gracious in defeat, saying the U.S. team was "completely superior to us." The unfancied central Americans had never before reached the quarterfinals on the Gold Cup. S. Korea defeats Mexico in shootoutWorld Cup co-host South Korea secured a place in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday, winning a penalty shootout against three-time champions Mexico. The Koreans controlled most of the game and created many clear cut chances in both regular and extra time but were unable to break a 0-0 stalemate. They were indebted to goalkeeper Kim Tae-Young for their 4-2 penalty shootout win. He saved shots from both Mexican captain Luis Alfonso Sosa and Ignacio Hierro. The Koreans scored all four of their penalties. Korea's Dutch coach Guus Hiddink was ejected shortly before the end of extra time for stopping play by kicking the ball onto the field. Hiddink said he kicked the ball onto the field deliberately to stop the game as one of his players was injured "A player was injured and the referee continued with the play. I had a ball at my feet and I kicked the ball onto the field. I think the ejection is just," he told a news conference following the victory. Hiddink said the match was very good experience for his players, many of whom are not used to such "physical duels" in their leagues. Mexico had started brightly and should have taken the lead as early as the second minute when a shot from striker Adolfo Bautista from the edge of the penalty area struck the inside of the post and bobbled across the goal before being cleared by the Korean defense. The Koreans quickly took control of the game and were only denied by some excellent saves by Mexican goalkeeper Adrian Martinez and some woeful finishing, with Korean striker Lee Dong-Gook the main culprit. Mexico sent a reserve squad to the tournament, and coach Javier Aguirre expressed satisfaction with his team's performance despite the defeat. "I tried new players and I am lucky, they are good. I expect a very good future for them," he said. South Korea will play Costa Rica in the semifinals in Pasadena on Wednesday. U.S.-El Salvador SummaryAttendance: 31,628 Scoring Summary: 1 - 2 - F USA - Brian McBride (unassisted), 9. Lineups: SLV: 1-Santos Rivera; 4-Marvin Benitez, 5-Victor Velasquez, 6-Jamie Bladimir Cubias (13-Deris Ariel Umanzor, 46), 8-Santos Cabrera - capt. (14-Rudy Corrales, 46), 11-Ronald Cerritos, 16-Adonay Martinez (2-William Osorio, 80), 17-Jorge Rodriguez, 18-Oscar Navarro, 19-Elmer Martinez, 20-Guillermo Garcia. Statistical Summary: USA - SLV Misconduct Summary: Referee: Samuel Richard (DOM)
Reuters contributed to this report. |
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