U.S. Not Happy Despite Winning
How far has soccer come in the United States?
Far enough for American players and coaches to be unhappy even in victory.
The U.S. national team defeated Trinidad and Tobago, 3-2, in CONCACAF Gold Cup play Saturday evening in front of a paltry crowd of 9,850 at Anaheim Stadium, but left the field disappointed and even a little angry.
“We didn’t play with any rhythm or finish our chances,” said defender Alexi Lalas, who assisted on the first two U.S. goals. “I’m glad we won, but we all know that we can play much better and we have to in order to get anywhere in this tournament.”
Two goals by striker Eric Wynalda of Westlake Village were answered in the first half by two from Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Arnold Dwarika, and the teams entered the locker room tied, 2-2.
“They basically had two, maybe three, chances in the first half and they put two of them away,” Lalas fumed. “We have to be able to close teams like this down. We’re a better team than they are, in every position and in every way, but we made them look a much better team today than they actually are.”
U.S. Coach Steve Sampson said his halftime talk to the players was virtually unnecessary. “It makes it easier when your players come in at halftime not satisfied with the way they played,” Sampson said. “Certainly, their effort in the second half didn’t need any prodding from Steve Sampson.”
The winning goal resulted from a free kick awarded to the American team nine minutes into the second half when Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Ross Russell was ruled to have handled the ball outside the 18-yard box.
Midfielder Joe-Max Moore of Irvine struck an excellent free kick that beat the defensive wall and found the net beyond Russell’s reach. It was Moore’s 12th goal for the national team.
Most of the plaudits afterward, however, were reserved for Wynalda, who scored his 19th and 20th goals for the United States, leaving him one shy of the all-time record held by Bruce Murray. With luck, Wynalda might have both tied and broken that record Saturday.
“Obviously, I feel really good about starting off the tournament with a couple of goals, but I think it was very evident at halftime that we wanted to create more chances,” he said. “I finished the more difficult ones and didn’t finish the easy ones.”
Trinidad and Tobago, which lost, 3-2, to El Salvador on Wednesday night, today flies home to Port-of-Spain as the first team eliminated from the nine-nation Gold Cup.
But it took a surprise lead early on. A through pass from Russell Latapy in the sixth minute split the U.S. defense and Dwarika, who plays for East Fife in Scotland, sprinted clear and beat U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller from close range.
The United States started its first-choice team, but the players had not been together since July and the rust showed. The Americans made the most use of the set plays, however, scoring off two corner kicks by Tab Ramos and the free kick by Moore.
It was a Ramos corner kick from the right in the 15th minute that led to the tying goal. Lalas rose above the defense to flick the ball to Wynalda, whose downward header beat Russell to make the score 1-1.
In the 34th minute, the U.S. team took the lead on a similar goal. Ramos’ corner from the right led to a shot on goal that was blocked on the line by Trinidad and Tobago’s Evans Wise. The ball rebounded to Lalas, who passed to Wynalda, and the striker again found the net.
Trinidad and Tobago answered in the 43rd minute when Wise dribbled past U.S. defender Marcelo Balboa before crossing the ball to the far post, where Dwarika waited to pounce.
