Soccer at Santa Ana Stadium : Guadalajara Slips by U.S. National Team With Penalty Kick, 5-4

Estefano Rodriguez squirted home a penalty kick during the shootout to give the Chivas club of Guadalajara, Mexico a 5-4 victory Sunday over the U.S. national team in front of about 10,000 in Santa Ana Stadium.

The shootout came after the teams battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation.

Rodriguez, a reserve goalkeeper who entered the game midway in the second half, got his chance to score after John Doyle missed an opportunity to break a 4-4 deadlock when he hit the goalpost on the U.S. team’s fifth penalty kick.

Rodriguez took advantage of his chance by kicking a soft line drive that went through the hands of goalie Jeff Duback of La Jolla.

After Rodriguez made his penalty kick, the U.S. team had one final opportunity to tie the score and send the shootout to a seventh penalty kick. But just as Doyle had done earlier, Jimmy Banks hit the goal post on his attempt as Chivas held on to win.

Earlier, the Chivas club missed an opportunity to go ahead, 5-4, on their fifth kick when Sergio Lugo fired a low shot wide of the net.

“We didn’t play well at all,” U.S. Coach Lothar Osiander said. “We battled them hard, but we didn’t play well. But what else could we expect after only two days of preparation for this game?”

The U.S team scored the game’s first goal with 12 minutes gone in the second half, when George Pastor of Orinda, Fla. overcame an aggressive Chivas defense to ground a low shot past goalkeeper Javier Ledezma.

Chivas, which began attacking the U.S. net aggressively after Pastor’s goal, came back to tie the game on Concepcion Rodriguez’s penalty kick after the U.S. team was called for handling the ball deep in its penalty area as it was trying to stave off a scoring threat.