Zero Goals Are Good Enough for U.S.

By GRAHAME L. JONES

April 26, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

HERSHEY, Pa. —

Ninety minutes and Guatemala.

That’s all that stands between the United States and a place in the men’s soccer tournament of the Sydney Olympic Games.

But if the American team plays as poorly as it did Tuesday night, when it was held to a 0-0 tie by Canada in an ill-tempered and unattractive qualifying match at Hersheypark Stadium, it might find the final hurdle too tall an obstacle.

Mexico had no such problems. It brushed aside Panama, 3-0, in the opening game of Tuesday’s doubleheader and advanced to play Honduras in Friday night’s other semifinal.

Three first-half goals--by Rafael Marquez in the fifth minute, Alejandro Nava in the 11th and Emilio Mora in the 34th--were all that tournament favorite Mexico needed in front of a crowd of 5,798 on a chilly evening.

The winners of Friday’s semifinals will earn the two tickets to Sydney available to teams in soccer’s North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region.

Complicating matters for the U.S., defender and team captain Brian Dunseth of the New England Revolution was red-carded Tuesday after an unseemly tussle with Canadian forward Steve Kindel, who also was tossed out of the game.

Dunseth will automatically be suspended from the semifinal and the Galaxy’s Dan Califf will take his place, according to Coach Clive Charles.

In a physical game that saw referee Neftali Recinos of El Salvador call 42 fouls and issue six yellow cards in addition to the two reds, neither the U.S. nor Canada played to its potential.

The U.S. had beaten Honduras, 3-0, in its opening game and would have had to lose to Canada by five goals to be eliminated from the tournament. Canada, on the other hand, had lost, 2-0, to Honduras and needed at least a two-goal victory to advance.

The improbability of either result set the stage for a dull and dour encounter.

“The valuable lesson that we learned tonight was that sometimes when you think you’re where you should be, you can get bitten,” Charles said. “I think we all feel that we can play better. It just sharpens you up a little bit. You can’t take anything for granted.”

The fight between Dunseth and Kindel occurred early in the second half, at a time when referee Recinos was dishing out cards like so much confetti at a wedding.

“Losing our captain is obviously not what we’d like to have happen to us, but Dan Califf will come in in his place and Dan will do a very good job,” Charles said matter-of-factly.

Bruce Twamley, Canada’s coach, declined to comment on the officiating.

“We knew it would be a difficult game today,” Charles said. “We knew it would be a tough game. I felt we just weren’t quite as pumped as we were for the first game. Deep down in our hearts I think we felt we were already playing Friday. Let’s be fair, we’d have had to have lost the game 4-0 or 5-0 to not be playing Friday.

“And I think that that in itself can take that little bit of edge off you. I felt that we didn’t quite have the edge that we had the other night.

“But we’ll have it Friday night, that’s for sure.”

That’s when it will come down to all or nothing for each of the four remaining teams.

And there’s a way of viewing that through Central American eyes.

Ninety minutes and the United States.

That’s all that stands between Guatemala and a place in the men’s soccer tournament of the Sydney Olympic Games.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Olympic Qualifying Tournament

At Hershey, Pa.

Tuesday’s results

* Mexico 3, Panama 0

* United States 0, Canada 0