Dominance Now On U.S. Feet : Soccer: Americans advance to America Cup semifinal by winning penalty-kick phase, 4-1, after scoreless regulation.
That crashing sound in the background is the collapse of Mexico’s once-unchallenged superiority over the United States on the soccer field.
The boot is now firmly on the other foot and, from Mexico City to Guadalajara--if not in Acapulco, the home of flamboyant goalkeeper Jorge Campos--the Americans are widely, if somewhat astonishingly, acknowledged to be the better team.
They underlined that fact in dramatic fashion Monday evening when they defeated Mexico, 4-1, on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie to advance to the semifinals of the America Cup tournament in Paysandu, Uruguay.
The result, hard-earned but ultimately deserved, continued the startling run of success the U.S. team has enjoyed under interim Coach Steve Sampson. In the past six weeks, the United States has beaten Nigeria, Mexico, Chile and Argentina, tied Colombia and lost by a goal to Bolivia.
Sampson has lost only two of nine games since taking over from Bora Milutinovic in April, compiling a 4-2-3 record.
More significant, Monday’s result set up a rematch the U.S. team has wanted for more than a year. On Thursday, in a semifinal game in Maldonado, the Americans will take on world champion Brazil, the team that knocked them out of their own World Cup, 1-0, in Palo Alto on July 4, 1994.
The Brazilians also needed a shootout to advance Monday, defeating defending champion Argentina, 4-2, on penalty kicks in Rivera after regulation had ended 2-2. Uruguay plays Colombia on Wednesday night in the first semifinal.
Not least of the factors behind Monday’s U.S. success was Sampson’s unexpected but brave decision to continue alternating goalkeepers. Kasey Keller had played spectacularly in recent games, but Sampson, as promised, went with former UCLA goalie Brad Friedel.
The move paid off splendidly when, after a largely uneventful 90 minutes of regulation play, the game went to penalty kicks.
Eric Wynalda, of Westlake Village, took the first, firing a shot high to the left of Campos as he dived to his right.
Luis Garcia, the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals, tied it up immediately for Mexico, beating Friedel with a straight-on shot as the goalkeeper flung himself to his right.
Joe-Max Moore, of Irvine, was next, and he slotted a low shot beyond the reach of Campos, who guessed correctly and dived left but couldn’t get a hand on the ball.
Carlos Hermosillo, the Mexican League’s leading scorer but a player who has atrocious luck with the national team, then tried to fire the ball past Friedel high to his right. It was a mistake as the 6-foot-4 Friedel knocked it away.
That made it 2-1 in the Americans’ favor, and it was 3-1 after Paul Caligiuri, of Diamond Bar, sent the ball right as Campos went the other way.
Alberto Coyote stepped up for Mexico and hit a low, hard shot that Friedel got a palm to in acrobatic fashion as he threw himself to his left. The ball rebounded away and with it went Mexico’s hopes.
It was left to Frank Klopas, of Chicago, to apply the finishing touch. He did so, firing the ball left as the luckless Campos dived right, and the United States had won.
Afterward, Friedel said some of the American players who are with Mexican club teams had passed along a little helpful information before the shootout.
“They told me that Luis Garcia had a tendency to go to my left,” Friedel said. “Well, he changed. They told me Hermosillo has a tendency to go to my right. He didn’t change. And Cayote, I had no idea. I just reacted to that one.”
Midfielder John Harkes, the U.S. captain, tried to explain the significance of the Americans’ achievement. It is the first time the United States has reached the semifinals of a major international tournament since the 1930 World Cup, also in Uruguay.
“A lot of people were talking about last time we were in Copa America (in Ecuador in 1993) and didn’t win a game,” Harkes said. “For us to come this far as a team together--the full squad, everyone pulling together--it’s one of the biggest triumphs ever for the U.S. squad.”
“People talk about the World Cup--OK, it’s on a bigger stage and we beat Colombia [2-1 at the Rose Bowl]--but to win successfully like we have and go this far in the Copa America is unreal.”
Both teams had a couple of chances to win the game in regulation, but Friedel and Campos were in top form and each made some excellent saves.
Campos thwarted Wynalda when the striker broke through alone late in the first half and later stopped a sharp header from Cobi Jones and clawed a dangerous cross by Moore out of the air, with Wynalda lurking behind him if he had fumbled the ball.
At the other end, Friedel alertly came out of his net to foil Luis Salvador after the U.S. defense had broken down. Later, he watched in relief as a 30-yard shot by Alberto Garcia-Aspe flashed over the crossbar.
Other than those two close calls, the American team was largely untroubled, although Mexico controlled the ball in the second half.
“We didn’t have the same sharpness as we did in previous matches,” Sampson said. “Some key players looked very tired for us. That’s the result of playing so many games in a short period of time.”
The loss by Mexico was its third in a row to the United States, following a 1-0 defeat at the Rose Bowl shortly before the World Cup and a 4-0 rout last month in U.S. Cup ’95. The latest setback is expected to increase pressure on the Mexican federation to replace Coach Miguel Mejia Baron.
In the 1993 America Cup, Mexico finished second behind Argentina, but since then its soccer fortunes have taken a sharp downturn.
