U.S. Faces Sampson, Costa Rica
In a rematch of the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup championship, the United States will play Costa Rica today at Miami, but this time it will be for third place.
The U.S. is 4-0-0 all-time against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup, but whether either side admits it, there is sure to be some extra incentive in this consolation game.
That’s because Costa Rica is coached by former U.S. coach Steve Sampson, who departed under less-than-ideal circumstances after the U.S. finished last at the 1998 World Cup in France.
Defender Cory Gibbs will sit out the match after receiving a red card against Brazil, but DaMarcus Beasley, who came in as a late substitute, should be available to start after suffering a sprained right ankle two weeks ago.
The U.S. also has incentive because it is still alive to claim CONCACAF’s berth to the 2005 Confederations Cup.
If the U.S. wins today and Mexico loses to Brazil in the Gold Cup final Sunday at Mexico City, it would force a one-game playoff involving the U.S. and Mexico to determine the Confederations Cup berth. Because Costa Rica lost to Mexico in the semifinals, it is no longer alive in this scenario.
McBride Is Out
The injury to Brian McBride’s left eye turned out to be a fracture that will keep the U.S. and Columbus Crew forward sidelined four to six weeks, U.S. soccer officials said.
McBride suffered the injury Wednesday in a Gold Cup semifinal at Miami when he collided in the air with Brazil’s Alex in the 25th minute. No replacement was named for McBride for today’s game.
“It was the hardest I’ve ever been hit,” McBride said.
U.S. Under-21 Update
Already having clinched a spot in the final of the Nordic Cup, the U.S. under-21 women’s team played Norway to a 1-1 tie Friday in its final group game at Randers, Denmark.
Twelve minutes after Heidi Pedersen had given Norway a 1-0 lead, Kelly McDonald scored in the 64th minute for the U.S.
The U.S. will be trying for its fifth consecutive Nordic Cup title when it plays Sweden on Sunday.
Passarella to Pay
Daniel Passarella, who walked out on coaching Uruguay in 2001 because of player availability for World Cup qualifiers, lost his appeal on an order to pay about $800,000 to the Uruguayan Football Assn. (AUF) for breaking his contract.
“That was the last appeal he made and it went against him,” AUF President Eugenio Figueredo told Reuters.
Passarella is a former Argentine captain who led his country to its first World Cup title in 1978 and coached it to the 1998 World Cup quarterfinals. He coached Monterrey to the Mexican league Clausura title last month.
Quick Passes
Galaxy midfielder Guillermo “Memo” Gonzalez was named to the U.S. roster for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship on Aug. 13-30 in Finland. Another local player on the roster is defender Brandon Owens of Murrieta.... Chicago Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton was added to Major League Soccer’s All-Star roster for next Saturday’s game against Chivas of Guadalajara at the Home Depot Center. Thornton replaces Tim Howard, who recently transferred to Manchester United.... Chris Sutton’s 59th-minute goal gave Scottish team Celtic a 1-0 victory over Copa Libertadores champion Boca Juniors of Argentina in an international friendly at Cleveland.... The long, drawn-out dispute between German champion Bayern Munich and the Bundesliga club’s former captain, Lothar Matthaeus, finally ended when Bayern agreed to pay Matthaeus an additional $8,600 on top of the $2.3 million he already had received from the proceeds of his May 26, 2000 farewell match.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
