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Friedel shining example of U.S. 'keeping Posted: Tuesday June 11, 2002 6:08 AM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- On most of the soccer field, the United States is still playing catchup. In goal, as Brad Friedel showed against South Korea, Americans are setting the standard. Friedel became the first goalkeeper since 1990 to stop a penalty kick during the regular part of a World Cup game, a big reason the U.S. team can advance to the second round with a tie Friday against Poland. Both sides agreed the hulking Ohioan was the key to Monday's 1-1 tie against the co-hosts. Less than 24 hours after the game of his life, he already was looking ahead to the matchup with the Poles, who are 0-2 and eliminated. "We have to look at it as if Poland is going to play the game of the tournament," he said Tuesday. "All professionals have a great sense of pride. If we're expecting them to fall over ... then we're sorely mistaken." South Korea outshot the United States 19-6. The critical moment came in the 40th minute, when the Red Devils got the penalty just as Friedel made a point-blank save on Seol Ki-hyeon. Friedel then dived to his right and to knock away Lee Eul-yong's penalty kick. Excluding penalty-kick tiebreakers in the knockout phase, no goalkeeper had denied a shot from the 12-yard spot in 12 years. Tony Meola stopped Michal Bilek's shot with one minute to go in Czechoslovakia's 5-1 rout of the United States on June 10, 1990, and Colombia's Rene Higuita stopped a weak, low shot by Yugoslavia's Faruk Hadzibegic four days later. Instead of kicking the ball as hard as he could, Bilek hit a soft shot right at Meola, thinking the goalkeeper would pick a side, dive and leave the center of the net open. Meola, now the national team's No. 3 goalkeeper behind Friedel and Kasey Keller, still gets angry when he thinks about it. "I said to myself, 'I have a hunch that this guy is going to try to do something crazy,' so I just kind of stood there," Meola recalled Tuesday. "The way he tried to do it was a little bit disrespectful, I thought, but everyone has their own way to do things. Just the way he did it: Just chip it in and everyone laughs when it happens." Friedel didn't have a chip to deal with, but a hard shot. He decided to guess right because South Korea changed shooters and he figured Lee would go to the easier side for him. To Friedel's recollection, it was only the fourth penalty kick he's faced since the start of last season -- and all four times the shooter went to Friedel's right. On Sept. 22, he stopped Duncan Ferguson's weak penalty kick in the 28th minute, then blocked a header by fellow American Joe-Max Moore in the final moments to give Blackburn Rovers a 1-0 victory over Everton in England's Premier League. On Jan. 19, Ruud Van Nistelrooy beat Friedel with a penalty kick in the 48th minute as Manchester United won 2-1. Thee days later, Efan Ekoku got a penalty kick past Friedel, but Blackburn beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 to advance to the final of England's League Cup, which it won. He refused to rank his best games. "To me, the most important game is the last one you played in," Friedel said. Friedel started first 36 Premier League games for Blackburn this season, allowing just 47 goals. Keller finished the season as the starter at London's Tottenham Hotspur, playing the final seven games. Twice a week from August until May, they face some of the best players in the world. Meola was the U.S. starter at the 1990 and 1994 tournament, and Keller was the starter in the first two games in 1998, with Friedel playing after the Americans had been eliminated. Arena said he chose Friedel to face the South Koreans partly because of his superior footwork, which produced several saves. The coach doesn't understand the fascination with the competition between Friedel and Keller, and says he is picking his starter on a game-to-game basis. "Goalkeepers are no different than field players in my eyes," Arena said. In addition to advancing with a tie against the Poles, the United States would go to the second round with a defeat if South Korea beats Portugal in a game played simultaneously -- or if Portugal routs the co-hosts and an American loss to Poland is close. Arena said his players should just concentrate on what they have to do. "We'd be insane to watch the scoreboards," he said. In the second round, the United States could face Italy, Mexico or Croatia, depending on Thursday's final games in Group G. If the Americans win their group, they would pay the second-place team from Group G next Tuesday. If they finish second, they would play the winner the previous day -- just three days after the Poland game. "I don't really care if we finish first or second or play on the 17th or 18th," Arena said.
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