U.S. Men's Soccer Ties Costa Rica 0-0
C O L U M B U S, Ohio, Oct. 12, 2000 -- The U.S. soccer team could miss the WorldCup for the first time since 1986 if it doesn’t win its final gameof semifinal qualifying next month.
The U.S. team would have clinched a spot in the next round bybeating Costa Rica on Wednesday night, but played to a scorelesstie. Now, the Americans need to win at Barbados to be certain ofadvancing to the final round of qualifying.
“We think we’re in great position, we really do,” said DaveSarachan, the acting coach as Bruce Arena started serving athree-game suspension. “We know that we’ve got to go into Barbadosand win the game, but the way we compete we feel very good aboutit.”
With one game left in the semifinal round of qualifying insoccer’s North and Central American and Caribbean region, CostaRica (3-1-1) leads Group E with 10 points, two ahead of the UnitedStates (2-1-2) and three ahead of Guatemala (2-2-1).
Americans Disappointed
“In the first half, our passing and service could have beenbetter,” Sarachan said. “I was disappointed we didn’t get a goaland come away with a win, but there were a lot of positives.”
Only the top two nations qualify for next year’s six-nationregional finals, meaning the United States might need a win atBarbados on Nov. 15.
Guatemala plays at home against Costa Rica on the same day, andboth games will kick off at the same time. Here are the scenarios:
If the Americans win, they advance.
If the Americans tie or lose, they would advance only if CostaRica wins at Guatemala.
“I was a little disappointed to get a tie,” said Josh Wolff,who joined the national team fresh off an impressive performance atthe Sydney Olympics. “Then again, we didn’t give up any points andwe got a point.”
The Costa Ricans played conservatively for most of the game,content to play long balls from the back to try to beat theAmerican’s offside trap. In the second half, they packed defendersaround their goal to preserve the tie.
“They clearly came in trying to get a point and not really winthe game,” Sarachan said. “If you look at the numbers they putbehind the ball, it was difficult to get a lot of clean chances.”
U.S. Missing Key Players
The United States was missing suspended midfielders ClaudioReyna, Earnie Stewart and Eddie Lewis, injured midfielder Tab Ramosand injured forward Brian McBride.
The mostly pro-American crowd of 24,430 at Crew Stadium got loudin the closing minutes of the game when it looked as if forwardAnte Razov slipped a pass from Wolff past goalkeeper Alvaro Messen.Fans threw plastic beer bottles and trash on the field after Razovwas called offside.
Chris Armas, back from a sprained knee ligament, had a shot latein the second half that Messen was able to deflect. Three U.S.players converged on the rebound, but were called offside.
Armas said the team showed it can compete with a very good CostaRican team, even without three starters, but it obviously missedReyna in the midfield.
“Claudio is our playmaker,” he said. “He is the guy thatholds the ball. He is the guy everything goes through.”
Reyna and Arena will also miss the final game for arguingfollowing the Americans’ 2-1 loss at Costa Rica on July 23.McBride, who had a blood clot removed from under an armpit, mightmiss that one, too.
“We thought we dominated the game,” Razov said. “It was ahard match, every tackle was life and death. Now we have to go toBarbados and get three points.”