Mexico Salvages a Tie With Chile
Mexico began its five-match tour of the United States in rousing if unspectacular fashion Wednesday night, salvaging a 1-1 draw with Chile in an often-physical international “friendly” in front of a festive crowd of 20,173 at the Home Depot Center.
Mexico, which is ranked No. 5 in the latest FIFA world rankings and brought with it six members of the u-23 team that beat the U.S. last week to clinch a spot in the Athens Olympics, had to come from behind to salvage a tie.
Chile, ranked 81st, scored first with an injury-time goal by forward Reinaldo Navia, who plays for Mexican side Club America, the ball getting by Los Tricolores’ stunned goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez to close out the first half of play.
It didn’t take long for crowd favorite Mexico to give its fans something to cheer.
Forward Omar Bravo, a Chivas de Guadalajara standout, evened things for Los Tri in the 50th minute, beating Chile goalkeeper Nelson Tapia.
Shortly after the players had to be separated in a midfield shoving match, a fracas that included fireworks thrown from the stands, Navia seemed to score in the 90th minute. But he was ruled offside and time expired.
Mexico will return to the Home Depot Center for a March 31 game against an opponent to be determined.
Chile, meanwhile, plays its fifth South America World Cup qualifying match March 30 against Bolivia in La Paz. Chile is in eighth place among 10 teams.
Paul Gutierrez
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U.S. Falls, 1-0, in Amsterdam
The Netherlands, ranked fourth in the world, kept alive its unbeaten, untied and unscored-upon streak against the United States with a 1-0 victory in Amsterdam.
Still, it was anything but easy for the Dutch, who almost paid for their casual approach to the game when the U.S., cautious early on, mounted a spirited comeback attempt in the late going.
Only two smart saves by Dutch goalkeeper Edwin Van der Saar, the first on Bobby Convey and the second on DaMarcus Beasley, kept the U.S. from earning a tie.
As it is, the loss left U.S. Coach Bruce Arena still seeking his first victory in Europe after five visits to the continent.
Despite the tens of millions of dollars’ worth of player talent on display, it was left to a relative unknown to turn in the best performance of the match and score the winning goal.
Arjen Robben, a speedy winger from PSV Eindhoven playing in only his fourth international, scored the game-winner in the 57th minute, cutting inside U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk on the left and firing a shot to the far post that gave goalkeeper Kasey Keller scant chance.
In the first half, Ruud Van Nistelrooy twice beat Keller, but on the first occasion the Manchester United striker was offside and on the second he swatted the ball in with his hand, earning a yellow card for his trouble.
“This is almost the first time this group has been together since the [2002] World Cup, so to come in and play a solid game against an outstanding team -- I’m pleased,” Arena said.
Dutch Coach Dick Advocaat was critical of the U.S. team’s defensive approach.
“We missed some sharpness tonight,” he said, “and performing against such conservative opponents didn’t inspire us. We were supposed to meet the Germans tonight and then we’d have had a match with enthusiasm and prestige.”
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Euro 2004
The Dutch were one of 15 European Championship-bound teams playing on Wednesday, and seven of them won.
France, which will defend its title when Euro 2004 takes place in Portugal June 12-July 4, was without top strikers Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet but managed a 2-0 victory over Belgium in Brussels.
The goals came from Sidney Govou and from Manchester United’s Louis Saha, who was making his international debut.
Germany got an injury time goal from Carsten Ramelow in Split, Croatia, to earn a 2-1 victory over the host nation. Miroslav Klose had put the Germans ahead, only for Croatia’s Mato Neretljak to tie it.
Denmark defeated Turkey, 1-0, in Adana, Turkey, on a goal by Martin Jorgensen; while Greece extended its unbeaten streak to 14 games by shutting out Bulgaria, 2-0, in Athens on goals by Dimitris Papadopoulous and Zissis Vryzas.
Spain made quick work of Peru, winning, 2-1, in Barcelona on goals by midfielders Joseba Exteberria and Ruben Baraja after Nolberto Solano had given Peru the early lead.
Latvia, meanwhile, rolled over Kazakhstan, 3-1 at a tournament in Larnaca, Cyprus.
Two matches between Euro 2004 teams ended in ties. Tournament host Portugal ended up tied with England, 1-1, when a 70th-minute goal on a free kick by Pauleta canceled Ledley King’s earlier goal in his England debut.
The Czech Republic rallied twice in Palermo, Sicily, to grab a 2-2 tie with Italy and keep its unbeaten run alive at 20 games.
Sweden and Switzerland, meanwhile, crashed to unexpected defeats.
The Swedes were beaten, 2-1, on the road by Albania in Tirana. The visiting Swiss fell, 2-1, to Morocco in Rabat.
Russia was the only Euro 2004 team that was idle.
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World Cup 2006
Asia’s three representatives at the 2002 World Cup all won their first qualifying matches for Germany 2006, without conceding a goal.
South Korea shut out Lebanon, 2-0, on headed goals by Cha Du-Ri and Cho Byung-Kuk in Suwon, South Korea.
Japan had to rely on an injury time goal by substitute Tatsuhiko Kubo in Saitama, Japan, to edge Oman, 1-0. China beat Kuwait, 1-0, in Beijing, with Hao Haidong scoring the lone goal.
Elsewhere, Iran started its qualifying campaign with a 3-1 victory over Qatar, while Iraq earned a 1-1 tie on the road against Uzbekistan.
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Quick Passes
Two World Cup winners made coaching debuts, but whereas Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus got a 2-0 victory over Armenia in his first game in charge of Hungary, Carlos Alberto Torres saw his new team, Azerbaijan, routed, 6-0, by Israel.
-- Grahame L. Jones
