: World Cup Qualifier: U.S.A. at Barbados
Whew! This was a critical game for the United States: a loss and they miss going to the World Cup in 2002. They easily beat Barbados 7-0 at home, but in an away game, anything can happen. As if to prove that point, it started out poorly for the U.S., with the horrible, choppy, wet field creating havoc. The ball rolled awkwardly, passes missed their targets, and erratic bounces threatened an accidental goal. Barbados had a few chances, but the game really didn’t get going until about a half hour in, when Meola’s save ricocheted off a teammate to nearly rebound into his goal but hit the post. Mathis had a great chance for the U.S., but the wet ball didn’t allow a clean hit and struck the post. Late in the second half, with a mere half hour to go, the situation started looking nerve-wracking for the United States. Shots went wide or were saved, and Barbados looked dangerous on the occasional counter-attack. Then came the play of the game, when Joe-Max Moore brilliantly dribbled the ball up the endline and put back a nice center to Mathis who barely had to move to knock the ball into the goal. Things were dicey for a few minutes as I worried the Americans would relax too much, but then Eric Stewart was given an hour of time at the top of the box to line up his shot: his blast nearly punctured a hole in the far side netting. After that, the game really went to the United States. On a fantastic through-ball from Mathis, Cobi Jones darted in behind the Barbados defense and slipped the ball under Stout, their keeper. Then, in injury time, Ante Razov got a nice pass in the box and finished it easily. Final: 4-0 United States. The U.S. advances to the next round of qualifying (which continues through November 2001) where the top three teams (out of the United States, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago, and either Guatemala or Costa Rica, depending on the outcome of their playoff game) will go to the World Cup finals in 2002.
Topic: [/soccer] |
