Paulinho’s Late Free Kick Saves Salsa From Deja Vu
It was all coming back to them, all of the Salsa mistakes that occurred during the past two games.
Grab a lead, blow a lead. Kick it all goodby.
Yes, they frittered away another two-goal lead Saturday night but, this time, a free kick by Paulinho with less than a minute to play against Tampa Bay saved the Salsa, 3-2.
“Paulinho’s great,” Salsa goalkeeper Ian Feuer said. “He’s amazing on those free kicks.”
Fearing his team was spinning wildly out of control after two consecutive losses, Coach Rildo Menezes shook up the mild Salsa defense Saturday, moving Jose Vazquez to the right side of the defense and Thor Lee to sweeper.
After a loss to Vancouver in their last outing--in which the Salsa yielded two goals in the final 13 minutes--Feuer severely criticized his teammates for their lax defense and defender Rich Ryerson agreed, saying in so many words that they basically gave up in the second half.
For awhile on Saturday, in front of only 2,507 at Titan Stadium, it looked as if Feuer and Ryerson would have ample opportunity to fire off a few more salvos.
Like their last effort, the Salsa (5-2) got off to a quick start, taking a 2-0 lead into halftime after goals by Mike Fox at the 15:00 mark and Paulinho at the 44:00 mark.
But also like their last game, the Salsa defense took a second-half snooze. Tampa Bay’s Dave Vaudreuil broke Feuer’s shutout with a goal at the 56:00 mark and then the Rowdies (2-7) tied the game six minutes later when Pierre Morice rifled a free kick into the right side of the net past a diving Feuer.
So, it was 2-2 and the Salsa were desperate again. Until Paulinho swung his leg into the ball for a final time.
“We’re trying to play very offensive and have a lot of attractive soccer for our fans,” Feuer said. “Those are the chances we’ve got to take.”
Salsa Notes
The Salsa are on the road next weekend at Ft. Lauderdale Friday and Tampa Bay Saturday before returning home to play Ft. Lauderdale at 8:05 p.m. July 10 . . . The Salsa purchased the contract of forward Phillip Gyau, the 1990 APSL most valuable player, from Colorado this week. Gyau made his Salsa debut in the first half of Saturday’s game. . . . Goalkeeper Bob Ammann, who fractured a forearm in February, rejoined the Salsa for workouts last week.