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Posted on 06/17/2002 1:30:16 AM PDT by danielobvt
JEONJU, South Korea, June 17 — Landon Donovan and Brian McBride both scored their second goals of the World Cup as the United States stunned Mexico 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time.
BRIAN MCBRIDE SCORED his second goal of the tournament in the 8th minute to give the U.S. an early lead.
MCBRIDE THUMPED THE ball home from 13 meters out in the eighth minute after Claudio Reyna and surprise starter Josh Wolff had combined well down the right in the Americans’ only meaningful attack of the half.
The U.S. got a huge break early in the second half when a hand-ball by John O’Brien in the U.S. penalty box went undetected by the referees.
After failing to make any headway despite having most of the possession, Mexico coach Javier Aguirre introduced veteran forward Luis Hernandez in the 28th minute in place of midfielder Ramon Morales.
The change lifted the Mexicans, with striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco forcing a great save from Brad Friedel, though Mexico keeper Oscar Perez also did well to block a low Wolff shot just before the interval.
The United States shook up its lineup for the game, inserting four new starters and switching to a three-man defensive line.
Gregg Berhalter, Pablo Mastroeni, Eddie Lewis and Josh Wolff joined the starting lineup, with Berhalter making his World Cup debut. Wolff, who scored against Mexico in the opener of last year’s final round of qualifying, had played just nine minutes in the previous three games and Lewis had played 16.
U.S. coach Bruce Arena was forced to make some of the changes. Outside back Frankie Hejduk was suspended for getting two yellow cards and central defender Jeff Agoos was hurt in Friday’s 3-1 loss to Poland. Arena also benched Clint Mathis and Earnie Stewart.
Stewart was injured in the opening 3-2 win over Portugal, missed the 1-1 tie against South Korea, and looked sluggish in the Poland game. Mathis, whose fitness over 90 minutes has been questioned by Arena, also sat against Portugal, which like the Mexico game started at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. EDT).
While Arena had gone with a 4-4-2, he switched to a 3-5-2 against the Mexicans.
Brad Friedel remained in goal, and the defense featured Berhalter at left back, Eddie Pope in the center and Tony Sanneh at right back.
The midfield had Claudio Reyna, John O’Brien and Mastroeni in the middle, with Lewis on the left side and Landon Donovan on the right.
Wolff and Brian McBride were the forwards.
Mexico’s lineup was unchanged from its final game of the first round, a 1-1 tie against Italy.
Oscar Perez was in goal; Salvador Carmona, Rafael Marquez and Manuel Vidrio were defenders; Ramon Morales, Braulio Luna, Gerardo Torrado, Joahan Rodriguez and Jesus Arellano were in midfield; and Jared Borgetti and Cuauhtemoc Blanco were forwards.
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On the other hand, is anyone else sick of all this across-the-board sleazy play? The dives? The chicken s-it attempts to injure? Someone else suggested adding another ref to watch the off-the-ball action which I think is a great idea. After all, how many officials are there in a football game?
If I had been impartial, which I wasn't, I would have rooted for the US, because the Mexicans were clearly quintessential, arrogant jerks. Now they are also losers.
YES, I was appalled by some of the deliberate contact I saw. I don't know much about soccer, but if they typically let players get away with that kind of crap, that is one dangerous sport. I am doubly glad our guys won.
Too much for me...at that point the game was over, and instead of Mexico playing the game and losing with grace and class, they showed exactly the sort of stuff their team is made of.
Blanco baited Mastroeni the whole game, at one point curling his fist in Mastroeni's face as if to punch him. Well, they knew they were on their way home, why not try to injure a few US players on their way out? What's a red at that point? This is, of course, totally contrary to the spirit of the game. I wish FIFA would come up with monetary fines for players who engage in this sort of behavior, or suspension. Something...
It is good, at least, to see that FIFA has allowed the refs to start penalizing for faked injuries and fouls.
Kudos to the US. I thought they showed a lot of grace under incredible provocation.
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