SOCCER : Vermes Gives U.S. Tie With Iceland

Peter Vermes couldn’t help but celebrate Saturday night.

One of the most experienced players on the U.S. soccer team, the reserve forward thrust his hand high in the air and made a run through the penalty box seconds after scoring the tying goal in a 1-1 international-class match with Iceland before 3,143 at Orange Coast College.

It was the first goal for Vermes this season and his 11th internationally.

“We were down 1-0 and I came in and was looking to create a scoring opportunity,” the veteran player said. “An assist, a goal, something to create a scoring opportunity.”

That he did, hammering a header into the net past backup goalie Olafur Gottskalksson, who had been brilliant up to that point.

A split second before Vermes got the tying goal, Gottskalksson had blocked a header by forward Dominic Kinnear, who stood squarely in front of the net. But the diving stop, which followed a crossing pass from the left side by Joe-Max Moore, gave Vermes an open target as the ball popped straight up.

“I just saw the keeper pop the ball up and I was there to get it,” Vermes said.

Vermes was mobbed by teammates before the United States took one last shot at its second victory of the season. However, Cobi Jones sent a shot over the cross bar from about 18 yards out with seconds remaining.

The United States made 58 attacks to 52 for Iceland (0-0-1), although the visitors were out-shot by 18-9 after a sluggish first-half performance offensively by the United States (1-3-7).

Only three minutes into the match, the United States lost one of its veteran defenders, sweeper Marcelo Balboa, because of a knee injury.

Surrounded by two defenders, Balboa went into the air to head the ball, won it, then collapsed as he hit the ground. Balboa will have tests today.

It was the second key U.S. player to leave a match in the past eight days. During a 2-0 victory at Saudi Arabia on April 9, midfielder Bruce Murray suffered a concussion. Murray and Balboa have started more games than any others in national team history.

Iceland capitalized on the loss of Balboa in the 25th minute when three U.S. defenders hesitated on a ball directly in front of them about 20 yards out. That allowed Iceland’s Hiynur Stefansson to fire a grounder that was partially deflected by Desmond Armstrong, finding the right side of the net.