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Moral victory Hefty injury list doesn't stop American defense
Updated: Friday June 08, 2001 12:12 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Bruce Arena was happy after the United States played a scoreless tie against Ecuador in an exhibition game Thursday night. "I think defensively the whole evening we did pretty good," the U.S. coach said. "I thought we had a lot of chances but we weren't lucky enough to get a goal. Hopefully, we can carry this into next week." The U.S. team played without most of its Major League Soccer-based players, instead Arena used the game to get European-based players into condition. The Americans, preparing for a June 16 World Cup qualifier at Jamaica and another qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago four days later, also were without Clint Mathis, their leading scorer in the last three games. He tore a knee ligament in practice Tuesday and will miss the rest of World Cup qualifying. Joe-Max Moore, another forward, returned to the national team for the first time since injuring a calf in the opening qualifier against Mexico in March and played the full game.
"It's all about preparation and to give players experience at this level," Arena said. "The more opportunities you give promising players, the better they get." "This is the same way Wolff and Mathis were brought around," he said. Although the young defense held Ecuador to just 11 shots, it was a veteran player that preserved the win. Despite not playing in a competitive game in nearly a month, goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who plays for Blackburn Rovers in England's Premier League, showed his top form, stopping Edison Mendez' 20-yard drive to the lower left corner in the 86th minute. Friedel said the Americans in Europe play with more confidence than the U.S. players of a decade ago who joined the national team out of college. "I think they get rid of their nerves in two minutes, and after that they are fine," Friedel said. Jovan Kirovski got Arena's attention. He was the Americans' primary threat, taking five shots in the first half, including one from 15 yards out that goalkeeper Geovanni Ibarra punched over the crossbar. Ibarra followed with a diving save seconds later to punch Eddie Lewis' header wide of the far post. Kirovski had six of the Americans' 14 shots. "I had some good balls played to me and I just hit them," Kirovski said. "The keeper made some excellent saves." Agustin Delgado provided most of the offense for Ecuador, which used eight starters from Saturday's 2-1 win at Peru in a World Cup qualifier. He was able to get above U.S. defenders several times in the first half. Delgado's best scoring chance came in the 39th minute, when Ulises de la Cruz sent a high pass from the endline to Delgado, who beat Robin Fraser in the air but headed the ball just over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Delgado got the ball in the area and again headed the ball over the crossbar. The United States leads the final round of qualifying in the North and Central American and Caribbean region with a 3-0 record. Ecuador is on track to qualify for the first time, currently third in South America at 8-4-1. The game was the second for Ecuador coach Hernan Dario Gomez since he was shot during an argument over the exclusion of a former president's son from a youth squad. Gomez was shot May 8 in the right leg in a hotel restaurant in the coastal city of Guayaquil, allegedly by a bodyguard of Joselo Rodriguez, president of the second division Santa Rita soccer club. "It is worth coming a long way to get a positive result for the team heading into Copa America," Gomez said through an interpreter. "There wasn't one individual player that stood out on both teams. Both sides played as a unit."
Ecuador will play in the America Cup, South America's championship, before resuming qualifying in August.
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