Schedule Is No Summer Vacation
If the United States men’s national soccer team was not focused Wednesday night during its 2-1 victory over Jamaica in Kingston, it was hardly surprising.
Hours before the Americans defeated Jamaica on goals by Carlos Bocanegra and Chris Klein, the U.S. squad learned that its schedule this summer would be more challenging.
At the draw in Paris for the FIFA Confederations Cup, the Americans were placed in the same group as world champion Brazil, African and Olympic champion Cameroon and Turkey, the 2002 World Cup’s third-place team.
“We are arguably in the toughest group,” said U.S. Coach Bruce Arena.
There is no arguably about it. The other group is a relative stroll in the park by comparison, featuring Colombia, France, Japan and New Zealand, the champions, respectively, of South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
The Confederations Cup is scheduled for June 18-29 in the French cities of Paris, St. Etienne and Lyon. The U.S., champions of CONCACAF, will play Turkey on June 19 in St. Etienne, Brazil on June 21 in Lyon and Cameroon on June 23, also in Lyon.
The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals.
In Kingston, meanwhile, Arena’s team rebounded from its 1-0 loss to Argentina in Miami on Saturday by scoring twice in a one-minute span early in the first half.
Arena tinkered with his starting lineup, and the changes worked. Steve Cherundolo started at right back, with Nick Garcia and the Galaxy’s Danny Califf in the center and Bocanegra at left back. That freed Bobby Convey to move from left back to left midfield, where he was more effective.
Convey’s corner kick in the 11th minute started the scoring, with former UCLA defender Bocanegra leaping to head it in from close range for his third goal in 10 national team games.
Less than a minute later, Klein took a pass from Bocanegra and unleashed a shot past Jamaican goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence and inside the left post.
Jamaica, urged on by an estimated 27,000 fans at the National Stadium, fought back in the second half and got a goal when Onandi Lowe beat U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard with a 30-yard shot in the 54th minute.
“It was a good result and a good experience for our young players,” Arena said. “This is a long process, and winning is not the bottom line, but to get a result in Kingston certainly gives the team confidence.”
