 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Here comes McBride U.S. downs Martinique to advance at Gold CupPosted: Tuesday July 15, 2003 5:30 AMUpdated: Tuesday July 15, 2003 10:32 AM
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- Brian McBride and Kasey Keller moved up two career lists while leading the United States into the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals. McBride's two goals lifted him into third in scoring in U.S. history, and Keller tied a team record with his 32nd shutout in a 2-0 victory over Martinique on Monday. Steve Ralston assisted on both goals. "Obviously, Brian was the star of the match and Steve Ralston did real well with his service," U.S. coach Bruce Arena told reporters. McBride scored twice in four minutes to raise his total to 23 goals in international play, breaking a tie with Bruce Murray. Only Eric Wynalda (34 goals) and Joe-Max Moore (31) have more. Keller faced only a handful of shots, none in the first half, en route to matching Tony Meola's shutout mark. Keller, who starts for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League, collected his 31st career shutout Saturday in a 2-0 victory over El Salvador. The victory means the defending champion United States won Group C. The Americans will play Cuba, Canada or Costa Rica next. Earlier, Cuba beat Canada 2-0 on Lester More's two goals. The win leaves Cuba tied with Canada atop the Group D standings, with a game in hand. Costa Rica is led by former U.S. coach Steve Sampson, who was fired after the 1998 World Cup in France. McBride opened the scoring for the United States in the 39th minute, heading Ralston's cross into the left corner of the net. Four minutes later, the pair teamed again, with Ralston taking a long cross on the right side of the goal and tapping it to McBride. The Columbus Crew forward slammed the ball in from about 5 yards out. "I cross the ball, and he's such a presence in there," Ralston said. McBride has three goals in two Gold Cup matches. He led the competition last year with four goals. The play intensified in the second half, with pushing and shoving from both sides. The Americans dictated the pace, but Martinique mounted a few counterattacks. Martinique's Yann Girier-Dufournier was ejected with a minute left, and the teams combined for 28 fouls. "We're all big boys," McBride said. "We need to concentrate on playing soccer, and not lose" composure. The best chance for Martinique came in the 56th minute, but Keller came off his line and easily stopped the breakaway opportunity by Jose Gordon. "We're happy with the win and we have four or five days to patch our team up after two games in three days," Arena said. "We were very sloppy in the second half, we lacked sharpness and had a bit of fatigue." "Martinique came in here, obviously, to get a point," said Arena, "so that first goal was big. The second one made it easier for us and we took our foot off the gas in the second half." In Cuba-Canada, More's first goal came in the 15th minute, off a pass from Jaime Colome. More, running at full speed, knocked the ball home with a swift, right-footed kick into a corner. The other goal came a minute after halftime on a short cross from Pedro Adriani Faife.
SummaryCONCACAF Gold Cup Group C result Scorer: Brian McBride, 39, 43 Halftime: 2-0 Attendance: 8,780 Red card: Yann Girier-Dufournier (Martinique) 90 Teams: United States: 18-Kasey Keller, 2-Frankie Hejduk, 4-Carlos Bocanegra, 6-Cory Gibbs, 15-Bobby Convey, 19-Steve Ralston, 13-Richard Mulrooney, 10-Claudio Reyna (8-Earnie Stewart, 46), 7-Eddie Lewis (25-Pablo Mastroeni, 65), 21-Landon Donovan, 20-Brian McBride (3-Greg Vanney, 86). Martinique: 24-Eddy Huerlie, 4-Judes Vanton, 5-Patrick Percin (14-Jean-Michel Michaud, 68), 7-Yann Girier-Dufournier, 8-David Dicanot, 10-Jose Gordon (20-Dominique Reyal, 82), 11-Migue Duragrin, 12-Stepane Suedile, 15-Willy Padoly (6-Gael Germany, 75), 16-Jean-Victor Lavril, 21-Charles-Edouard Coridon. Referee: Roberto Morena (Panama)
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
