Beasley’s Goal Wins It for U.S.
DaMarcus Beasley’s goal helped the United States tune up for World Cup qualifying by beating Poland, 1-0, in an exhibition game Wednesday at Plock, Poland.
Brad Friedel recorded a shutout in his first game with the national team in nearly two years.
It was Coach Bruce Arena’s first victory in seven tries in Europe. The U.S. had been 0-10-1 in Europe since defeating Austria in an exhibition game in April 1998. Arena was 0-7-1.
“It feels good,” Arena said. “We’ve lost some difficult games along the way, like to Holland, Germany, Italy. But we knew we would win one.”
Because of fears of terrorism, Polish police increased security for the game, with at least 50 officers forming a ring around the field and an additional 500 outside the stadium.
Friedel wasn’t really tested until the 67th minute, when he came out to smother a shot by Jacek Krzynowek. Grzegorz Rasiak had Poland’s best chance in the first half, when Gregg Berhalter fell as they tangled over a pass, letting the forward race toward the goal alone. But Rasiak’s weak shot spun outside the left post.
In the 26th minute, U.S. captain Claudio Reyna flicked a pass to Chicago Fire midfielder Beasley, who pushed the ball past goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek without breaking stride. It was Beasley’s fifth goal for the U.S.
The U.S. will open its World Cup qualifying against Grenada on June 13 at Columbus, Ohio.
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Friendlies Roundup
The Netherlands dashed France’s hopes of a world-record 15 consecutive victories with a 0-0 tie at Rotterdam. The Dutch created most of the scoring chances, and the French were fortunate to avoid a rare loss.
Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires sat out for France because of injuries, and Thierry Henry was on the bench. Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has a knee injury, sat out for the Netherlands.
France tied Australia and Brazil for the most consecutive victories.
Sweden spoiled the homecoming to Goteborg of England Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson by winning, 1-0, on a goal by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 54th minute.
In the absence of injured David Beckham and Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard took over as England captain and lost for the first time in his 23 appearances.
England has not defeated Sweden in 11 games since 1968.
At Cologne, host Germany beat Belgium, 3-0, behind goals by Kevin Kuranyi, Dietmar Hamann on a free kick and Michael Ballack.
Ireland ended the Czech Republic’s 20-match unbeaten streak dating to November 2001 with a 2-1 victory at Dublin. Robbie Keane scored the winner during injury time.
Host Portugal tumbled, 2-1, against Italy after taking the lead at Braga.
Nuno Valente swapped passes with Rui Costa to give Portugal the lead in the fifth minute. Christian Vieri tied the score five minutes before halftime with a header, and Fabrizio Miccoli’s corner kick went in with 15 minutes to play.
Fernando Morientes scored in the 23rd minute and Raul Gonzalez scored in the 60th to lift host Spain over Denmark, 2-0, at Gijon.
At Sofia, Bulgaria’s Dimitar Berbatov and Russia’s Dmitry Sychev each scored two goals and the teams tied, 2-2.
Greece made it 15 games without a defeat by beating Switzerland, 1-0, at Iraklion, Greece.
Romania beat host Scotland, 2-1, at Glasgow; Latvia beat Slovenia, 1-0, at Ljubljana, Slovenia; Croatia, playing at home in Zagreb, twice lost the lead and was held to a 2-2 tie by Turkey; and Wales beat Hungary, 2-1, at Budapest.
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World Cup Qualifiers
Venezuela scored one of the biggest upsets in its history, beating host Uruguay, 3-0, at Montevideo in South American World Cup qualifying.
Gabriel Urdaneta, Hector Gonzalez and Juan Arango each scored at Centenario Stadium to help Venezuela win its third consecutive qualifying match after two losses.
Host Paraguay held defending World Cup champion Brazil to a 0-0 tie at Asuncion, enough to keep hold of second place in the 10-team group.
A power outage briefly halted play two minutes after the match began, but the game restarted after a 30-minute delay.
At Lima, Peru, goals by Freddy Grisales and Frankie Oviedo gave Colombia a 2-0 win. It was Colombia’s first qualifying victory in five games.
At Singapore, Naohiro Takahara and Toshiya Fujita scored to give Japan a 2-1 victory over the hosts in Asia’s Group 3.
South Korea, a 2002 World Cup semifinalist, was held to a 0-0 tie by the Maldives.
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Galaxy-Sao Paulo Link
The Galaxy and Brazilian club Sao Paolo announced a partnership that, among other things, will have the teams play a June 5 exhibition at Home Depot Center and add a player to the MLS team’s roster.
Midfielder Marcelo Saragosa, who trained with the Galaxy during its trip to France last month, will join the team on loan and be available for Saturday’s season opener against the New England Revolution.
“He adds tremendously to our depth in midfield,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said. “He’s an uncompromising tackler when that’s needed but he’s also a very skillful player who can open the game up and get forward very well.”
The loan agreement is part of an extensive relationship involving the clubs that will include coaching exchanges, player development, sports medicine and facility management.
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Quick Passes
Roberto Baggio, the ponytailed striker for Brescia of the Italian league, told RAI state TV that he would retire after this season.
Baggio, 36, had said several times this season that he was leaning toward retiring, but this was his firmest indication.
The U.S. will play host to China, Japan and the Netherlands in an under-19 women’s round-robin tournament from April 6-10 at the Home Depot Center.
