U.S. Seethes Over Controversial Setback
For the U.S. team, it was an unfair call that resulted in its fall to the bottom of its four-team World Cup qualifying group. For the Costa Ricans, it became their winning goal.
“This one is tough to swallow,” U.S. captain Claudio Reyna said Sunday after a questionable call resulted in a penalty kick that gave Costa Rica a 2-1 victory.
The decisive play came when Gregg Berhalter was called for using his hands inside the penalty box, a ruling strongly argued against by the Americans, especially Reyna, who had to be restrained several times by teammates.
The loss ended the U.S. team’s eight-game World Cup qualifying stretch without a loss, which dates to 1997. The streak was only two games short of the team’s all-time mark.
“It was a case where the referee was under pressure to do something and he made a bad call,” Berhalter said. “My hands were by my side.”
Hernan Medford beat goalkeeper Kasey Keller with the penalty kick and the game ended shortly after that with U.S. players shouting at Jamaican referee Peter Prendergast.
Reyna went at Prendergast with such anger that the referee took several steps backward. Reyna said Prendergast was in a bad position to see whether Berhalter used his hands.
“It’s a terrible decision at that time of the game, but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” he said.
Coach Bruce Arena also criticized the call, which came only minutes after Prendergast ruled there was no foul when Frankie Hejduk of the U.S. team knocked down Medford in the box with what appeared to be a sliding tackle.
On Sunday, the U.S. team, playing without defender Eddie Pope and forward Brian McBride, who are injured, fell behind Costa Rica in the ninth minute on a goal by Rolando Fonseca.
The U.S. team came back in the second half, with Earnie Stewart scoring in the 65th minute on a rebound of a shot by Ante Razov.
Guatemala leads the regional group, with Costa Rica and Barbados sharing second and the U.S. fourth. A team must finish first or second to advance to the final qualifying round. The U.S. will play Barbados on Aug. 16 in Foxboro, Mass.
