Weakened U.S. Falls to Spain, 2-0
The United States, fielding a less-than-full-strength team, was beaten, 2-0, by Spain on Wednesday and, as a result, will have to play Brazil on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Finland.
Coach John Ellinger opted not to start four-goal scorer Freddy Adu, knowing that another yellow card would keep the 14-year-old standout out of the quarterfinals. Ellinger also rested other starters and the Spanish took full advantage in the game in Lahti, Finland.
They went ahead on a goal by Jurado, but later had Silva ejected for a forearm to the head of Galaxy midfielder Guillermo Gonzalez. Playing with a man advantage for the second half, the U.S. failed to capitalize, even when Adu came on, and Cesc scored for Spain.
“Their second goal kind of broke our spirits a bit,” Ellinger said. “If we play the way we did today, and don’t keep possession of the ball against Brazil, we could be in for some serious hurt.”
Portugal, meanwhile, reached the last eight, despite allowing a 5-0 halftime lead to turn into a 5-5 tie against Cameroon in an extraordinary match. Portugal will play Spain in the quarterfinals.
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Euro 2004
In qualifying matches for the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, Wales lost an opportunity to clinch a place in the playoffs for Euro 2004, but Iceland won and thus put in danger Germany and Scotland’s chances of advancing to next summer’s tournament.
The Welsh, unbeaten until now and needing only a tie on the road against Serbia and Montenegro, lost, 1-0, in Belgrade on a 73rd-minute goal by Dragan Mladenovic. Iceland, meanwhile, edged the Faroe Islands, 2-1, on the road in Torshaven, thus gaining the top spot in its qualifying group ahead of the Germans and Scots.
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European Highlights
On a day when more than three dozen of Europe’s national teams were involved in friendly matches ahead of next month’s Euro 2004 qualifiers, these were some of the key results:
* Defending European champion France, playing fluent and stylish soccer, had little trouble shutting out Switzerland, 2-0, at the Stade de Geneve in Geneva, Switzerland.
* Germany was beaten by Italy, 1-0, at Stuttgart in the 27th match between the former three-time world champions. Christian Vieri provided the lone goal in the 17th minute.
* England got a 10th-minute penalty kick goal from David Beckham as it strolled to a 3-1 home victory over Croatia in Ipswich. Michael Owen and Frank Lampard also scored for England, while Ivica Mornar got Croatia’s goal.
* Belgium and the Netherlands played to a 1-1 tie in Brussels.
* Euro 2004 host Portugal struggled to beat Kazakhstan, 1-0, in Chaves, Portugal, on a second-half goal by Simao.
* In one of two upsets, Israel defeated Russia, 2-1, in Moscow on goals by Avi Nimini and Piniflex Balali. Sergei Semak scored for the Russians, whose soccer federation president, Vyacheslav Koloskov, said he would accept Coach Valery Gazzayev’s resignation today if it is offered.
* The other upset occurred in Norrkopping, Sweden, where Greece came from behind to edge Sweden, 2-1.
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Elsewhere
In other noteworthy international matches:
* Argentina edged South American neighbor Uruguay, 3-2, in Florence, Italy. Diego Forlan and Martin Liguera scored for Uruguay.
* Japan shut out Nigeria, 3-0, in Tokyo, with Naohiro Takahara scoring twice.
* Austria blanked Costa Rica, 2-0, in Vienna behind goals by Edi Glieder and Roman Wallner.
* Mexico was trounced, 3-1, by Peru in front of 30,143 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., in a game that saw Mexico’s Jared Borgetti and Omar Briseno and Peru’s Claudio Pizarro and John Galliquio ejected after a bench-clearing brawl that forced both teams from the field.
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MLS Update
The San Jose Earthquakes obtained Brazilian forward Rodrigo Faria, Major League Soccer’s 2001 rookie of the year, from the Chicago Fire in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2004.
The Earthquakes also announced that they have re-signed U.S. national team midfielder Richard Mulrooney, a five-year MLS veteran, to a multi-year contract, terms of which were not revealed.
D.C. United acquired Salvadoran international winger Ronald Cerritos and salary cap considerations from the Dallas Burn in exchange for forward Ali Curtis and United’s first- and sixth-round selections in the 2004 draft.
The Kansas City Wizards obtained forward Wolde Harris, midfielder Jorge Vazquez and a conditional draft pick from the New England Revolution in exchange for forward Dario Fabbro and midfielder Chris Brown.
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Quick Passes
More than 500 mourners in Essen, Germany, paid their respects at the funeral of Helmut Rahn, who scored the tying and winning goals for Germany in a 3-2 upset victory over Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final in Bern, Switzerland.... Perennial Portuguese power Benfica signed Brazilian defender Luisao, 22, from Cruzeiro for $2.7 million.... French international midfielder Claude Makelele told Real Madrid that he will end his week-long strike over salary concerns and will return to training today.... European champion AC Milan signed George Weah Jr., the 16-year-old son of former Liberian international and FIFA world player of the year George Weah.... The Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted the four-month ban imposed by FIFA on Argentine international midfielder Ariel Ortega, who walked out on his Turkish club Fenerbahce and returned to River Plate in Argentina. Ortega, 29, still faces a FIFA hearing and an $11-million fine for breach of contract.... Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne, who abandoned his club in China earlier this year, has agreed to join Al Jazira of the United Arab Emirates.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
