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No revenge U.S. comes back to earn draw in rematch with Iran
Posted: Sunday January 16, 2000 10:08 PM
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- The U.S. men's soccer team, after undergoing a makeover since the miserable showing in the 1998 World Cup and enjoying some success, still couldn't beat Iran. In a rematch of their shocking loss to Iran in France, the Americans dominated Sunday's exhibition game at the Rose Bowl in most regards but had to settle for a 1-1 tie. "For us, it was the first game of the year, and we approached it like any other game," said Chris Armas, who scored the tying goal for the United States in the 48th minute. Coach Bruce Arena, who took over the U.S. team after Steve Sampson resigned in the wake of the poor World Cup performance, found some things to like about the performance. "The first half, we didn't do a good job on [Khodadad] Azizi; he got the ball his share of times and was splitting our defense," Arena said. "But the last 65 minutes, I thought we played quite well. "We were not a fit team. Most of the players have been off for two or three months." The game was the third in the United States for the Iranian team, on a brief "soccer diplomacy" tour. The two nations do not have formal diplomatic relations. As often happens when the U.S. plays a national team from another country in the Los Angeles area, the Americans were the "visitors" at the Rose Bowl There was an extremely loud and lively but well-behaved crowd of 49,212, about half the Rose Bowl capacity, with some 90 percent or so of the fans Iranian-Americans chanting, "IRAN! IRAN!" throughout the match. There were a few American flags, and many of those were waved by fans with an Iranian flag in their other hand. Many fans also had an Iranian flag painted on one cheek and an American flag on the other. Still, Arena was disappointed that the crowd didn't have more fans cheering for the U.S. team. "I think it's about time people started getting behind our national team," he said. Iran coach Mansour Pourhaidari was pleased with his team's play, but not with the outcome. "Every coach wants to win. We wanted to win, and maybe with a little more concentration, we could have come out with the result," he said. During the pregame introductions, the American players presented flowers to the Iranians. At the '98 World Cup, Iran's players had given flowers to U.S. players in an exchange of gifts. The Americans, with a new coach and mostly new players since their 2-1 loss to Iran in Lyon, were on the attack constantly, getting off 18 shots to nine by Iran. But Iran scored on Mehdi Mahdavikia's goal seven minutes into the game, then withstood most of the American's offensive onslaught. The Iranians scored first by working through Chris Armas and Carlos Llamosa in the middle of the U.S. defense. Mahdavikia took a pass from Khodadad Azizi and slid his shot past U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel. The United States tied it when Cobi Jones, who gave the Americans consistent penetration down the right side, sent an arcing cross from just outside the right side of the box. Eddie Lewis left the ball for Armas, who charged in from the left side and slammed the ball into the top of the net with his left foot. Iranian goalkeeper Hadi Tabatebei, forced to guard the right post with Jones dribbling down, could not get back in time to stop Armas' hard shot. "I'm not a goal scorer, but I was able to get that one on target and take advantage of the chance," Armas said. "Frankie and Cobi were able to work the ball in, and I called Eddie off the ball to leave it for me, and it went in." The Americans consistently mounted threats in the first half, but could not finish their opportunities. Taking a headed pass from Brian McBride, U.S. forward Cobi Jones hit the left post in the second minute with a looping shot from the right side just three minutes in. McBride struck a header from close range in the 34th minute, but the ball went directly to Tabatebei. Ten minutes later, Claudio Reyna, getting a close shot after a scramble in the box, blasted his shot high. Iran came very close to going up 2-0 early in the game. Shortly after the first goal, Azizi controlled the rebound after Friedel stopped a shot. Azizi, on the left side, eight yards from the goal, whirled around and fired a shot with his left foot. The ball went into the side of the net. Jones, McBride, Reyna and Frankie Hejduk were the only starters in the game who also started the World Cup match against Iran. Bruce Arena became the U.S. coach after Steve Sampson resigned following the Americans' poor showing in France. Iran also had four holdovers in their starting lineup: midfielder Mahdi Mahdavikia, strikers Ali Daei and Khodadad Azizi, as well as midfielder Hamid Estili, who scored Iran's first goal in the World Cup match against the U.S. Iran finished its U.S. tour 1-1-1, losing 2-1 to Mexico in Oakland and beating Ecuador 2-1 at the Los Angeles Coliseum before playing the Americans. "It was a great match, and we would love another opportunity to play Iran again," Arena said. "It was a well-played game, and it was a fair result." U.S. -- 1-Brad Friedel; 2-Frankie Hejduk, 17-Marcelo Balboa, 16-Carlos Llamosa, 12-Jeff Agoos; 22-Tony Sanneh (19-Ben Olsen, 62'), 14-Chris Armas, 10-Claudio Reyna (Capt.), 7-Eddie Lewis (9-Jovan Kirovski, 80'); 13-Cobi Jones, 20-Brian McBride. Iran -- 1-Hadi Tabatabei; 3-Javad Zarinche (Capt.), 5-Mehdi Hadheminasab, 7-Mahmood Fekri; 2-Mehdi Mahdavikia, 8-Sattar Hamedani, 9-Hamid Estili (6-Sirous Dinmohammadi, 72'), 15-Esmaeil Halali, 17-Alireza Emamifar; 10-Ali Daei, 11-Khodadad Azizi. Referee: Armando Archundia (Mexico)
Notes: According to news reports Sunday, former U.S. captain April Heinrichs will soon be appointed head coach of the U.S. women's national team... The bottom-placed Bundesliga team Arminia Bielefeld agreed Sunday to release Iranian international Karim Bagheri, who wants to return to his former Tehran club Pirouzi. Bagheri, 25, lost his place in the starting 11 this season under a new coach and has been seeking the transfer... The sponsorship agreement between Chevrolet and the U.S. Soccer Federation has been extended for five years (2000 - 2004). Chevrolet sponsors U.S. Soccer player of the year awards, which were handed out Saturday.
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