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Tough crowd U.S. downs Haiti 3-0 in Gold Cup opener
Posted: Sunday February 13, 2000 12:05 PM
MIAMI (AP) -- Suppressing the opponent's emotion was just as important for the United States as making the right touch passes, attacking the goal and clearing shots during its opening match in the 2000 Gold Cup. Despite playing on their home turf, the Americans felt like visitors Saturday night against Haiti, which had hoped to use the emotional support of more than 30,000 fans in the Orange Bowl for an upset. But when the U.S. team's Jovan Kirovski scored an early goal, it helped deflate the Haitian crowd and propel the Americans to a 3-0 victory. "It was so important for us to get that first goal," said U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna. "Once we did that, we managed to control the ball and get our scoring chances throughout the 90 minutes." The Americans dominated play throughout the match and followed up Kirovski's goal with Eric Wynalda's successful penalty kick and Cobi Jones' last-minute goal.
Jones' goal from the right wing, off a through pass from Reyna, solidified the victory for the U.S. squad, which finished second in the 1998 Gold Cup. "I thought our team played well," said U.S. coach Bruce Arena. "We're making progress as a team and if we continue to do that, we'll advance to the second round." Wynalda, a veteran who has 104 caps, was not fazed by the lack of U.S. support. "It's not something that hurts our feelings," Wynalda said. "We've gotten used to it. Our American fans should learn from the passion shown by Haitian, Jamaican and Colombian fans." After a 1-0 halftime lead, Wynalda's penalty kick in the 55th minute gave the United States a 2-0 lead. The kick was set up when Haitian defender Jean Ronald Dartiguenave fouled U.S. forward Claudio Reyna deep inside the Haiti penalty box. Haiti had two shots on goal in the final 10 minutes, goalkeeper Brad Friedel stopped Golman Pierre's 20-yard shot in the 87th minute, then Friedel cut down Roosevelt Desir's angle on his shot from the right wing in the 80th minute. "We would have loved to send our crowd home happy," said Haiti assistant coach Ernst "Nono" Jean-Baptiste. "We wanted to do so well but couldn't get ourselves going. This was such an important match for us. Our entire country was totally behind us." The Americans took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute on Kirovski's goal. Kirovski received a centering pass from Wynalda and headed in a bouncing shot which beat Haitian goalkeeper Didier Menard from 6 yards. But the U.S. team didn't mount followup threats the rest of the first half, while Haiti began to attack the U.S. goal in the final 10 minutes. Wilson Chevalier's header in the 42nd minute off a free kick sailed wide of the goal and Michel Gabriel's free kick just outside the penalty area sailed wide left by a couple of feet. "We knew going in we couldn't take Haiti lightly, and I'm glad we were able to finish our chances because their team has improved very much in a short period of time," Wynalda said. The U.S. attack suffered without the superior heading ability of forward Brian McBride, who was held out of the match due to undisclosed medical reasons. McBride felt ill after a recent practice, according to U.S. Soccer Federation sources. "Brian's problem is a medical problem," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. "I'm not a doctor. It would not be fair to go into his problem. He feels he will be cleared on Monday to play on Wednesday." The United States will play its second-round match Wednesday night against Peru. Haiti has a two-day rest period before it plays Peru. In the late game on Saturday, Gonzalo Martinez scored early and Colombia held off Jamaica for a 1-0 win Saturday night in a first-round match of the 2000 Gold Cup. Martinez took a crossing pass Jairo Castillo and drilled an 18-yard shot past Jamaican goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence in the 15th minute. Jamaica's best scoring chance came in the 88th minute, when Marcus Gayle's point-blank header deflected off the crossbar. Action switches to San Diego on Sunday, when Mexico meets Trinidad & Toabgo in a Group C match and Costa Rica takes on Canada in a Group D game. On Monday, Jamaica plays Honduras in Group A and Haiti meets Peru in Group B in Miami in the biennial Gold Cup, which decides the continental championship of North and Central American and Caribbean countries. U.S.-Haiti Box ScoreCompetition: CONCACAF Gold Cup 2000 Venue: Orange Bowl- Miami, Florida Date: February 12, 2000 - kickoff: 7 p.m. (ET) Attendance: N/A Weather: 70 degrees (clear) Scoring Summary: 1st 2nd Final USA 1 2 3 Haiti 0 0 0 USA - Jovan Kirovski (Eric Wynalda) 18th minute USA - Eric Wynalda (penalty kick) 55th minute USA - Cobi Jones (Claudio Reyna) 89th minute Lineups: USA - Brad Friedel; Jeff Agoos, Robin Fraser, C.J. Brown; Ben Olsen, Chris Armas, Claudio Reyna, Jovan Kirovski, Eddie Lewis; Cobi Jones, Eric Wynalda (Richie Williams, 69) HTI - Roosevelt Desir (Eddy Cesar, 46), Michel Gabriel, Sebastien Vorbe, Chrismonor Thelusma, Wilson Chevalier (Johnny Decollines, 46(Golman Pierre, 84)), Pierre Richard Bruny, Wilfred Montilas, Ernst C. Athis, Carlo Marcellin, Jean Roland Dartiguenave, Didier Menard Statistics: US HTI Shots 5 9 Saves 3 1 Corner Kicks 4 4 Fouls 7 7 Offside 4 3 Misconduct Summary: USA - Eddie Lewis (caution) 24th minute HTI - Wilfred Montias (Caution) 43rd minute Referee: Olger Mejias (Costa Rica) Assistant Referees: Henrick Mackay, Virgilio Ruiz 4th Official: Mario Sanchez
Reuters contributed to this report.
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