U.S. Soccer Closes Strong
Dempsey, Donovan, Beasley, see you.
It rolls off the tongue, and that was pretty much the story for Cuba on Thursday night when the U.S. trio of Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley ended the islanders’ hopes for a Gold Cup upset.
A tie would have been a moral victory for the visitors, and they came oh-so-close to achieving the unimaginable.
Cuba, very much unheralded and pretty much unknown, was two minutes away from earning a point. The match was tied, 1-1, at 87:07.
Three minutes later, it ended as a 4-1 victory for the U.S.
The difference was Donovan, who had come on as a late substitute to spark an American offense that sputtered behind the experimental lineup fielded by Coach Bruce Arena.
If ever a score did not reflect a match, this was it.
To put the Cubans’ near-achievement in perspective, Cuba is ranked 70th in the world; the U.S. is 10th. Also, the U.S. came into the match at Qwest Field with a 16-0-0 record in the first round of the Gold Cup, a regional championship that has been played since 1991.
That almost became 16-0-1, but the final two minutes were a killer for Cuba.
First, Donovan curled in a free kick from 20 yards at 87:08 after a foul just outside the penalty area.
In the 90th minute, Beasley struck to make it 3-1.
Then, one minute into injury time, the ball flew from Dempsey to Beasley to Donovan to the back of the net. Two goals for Donovan in a handful of minutes. See you.
The Cubans seemed stunned by the onslaught. They congratulated their opponents and applauded the crowd of 15,831, then walked off the field to figure out what had gone wrong.
It had all started out so promisingly.
The U.S. had known coming into the match that Lester More was Cuba’s most dangerous player, a striker with a useful knack for scoring timely goals.
Yet the three-man U.S. back line of Frankie Hejduk, Jimmy Conrad and Tony Sanneh left More pretty much unmarked in the 18th minute when Disney Aquino sent a bending cross in from the left and More side-footed the ball powerfully into the net just inside goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann’s left post.
It was the first time that Cuba had led the U.S. since 1949.
The Cubans held the lead for more than 26 minutes, resisting wave after wave of American attacks, most of them generated by the dribbling and passing skills of Beasley, Dempsey and Brad Davis.
It was not until the final minute of the half that the U.S. tied it up.
Beasley flipped the ball through the Cuban defense and Dempsey ran under it, chested it down and then, using the outside of his right foot, steered it past Cuban goalkeeper Odelin Molina to tie the score.
The goal stood, despite Cuban protests that Dempsey was offside.
Cuba, far more technically skilled and tactically disciplined than it was only four or five years ago, suffered a blow in the 51st minute when Jaime Colome went in with studs high and caught Ben Olsen in the chest.
Referee Jose Pineda of Honduras went straight to his pocket for the red card and Cuba was reduced to 10 men.
That, plus Donovan, made all the difference.
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Standings
The CONCACAF Gold Cup standings after Thursday’s two matches:
FIRST ROUND
*--* GROUP A
*--*
*--* W L T GF GA Pts Panama 1 0 0 1 0 3 Honduras 0 0 1 1 1 1 Trinidad 0 0 1 1 1 1 Colombia 0 1 0 0 1 0
*--*
Wednesday at Miami
* Panama 1, Colombia 0
* Trinidad and Tobago 1, Honduras 1
Saturday at Miami
* Panama vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 4 p.m.
* Honduras vs. Colombia, 6 p.m.
Monday at Miami
* Colombia vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 4 p.m.
* Honduras vs. Panama, 6 p.m.
*--* GROUP B
*--*
*--* W L T GF GA Pts Costa Rica 1 0 0 1 0 3 United States 1 0 0 4 1 3 Canada 0 1 0 0 1 0 Cuba 0 1 0 1 4 0
*--*
Thursday at Seattle
* Costa Rica 1, Canada 0
* United States 4, Cuba 1
Saturday at Seattle
* Costa Rica vs. Cuba, 11:30 a.m.
* Canada at United States, 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday at Foxboro, Mass.
* Costa Rica at United States, 4 p.m.
* Canada vs. Cuba, 6 p.m.
*--* GROUP C
*--*
*--* W L T GF GA Pts Guatemala 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jamaica 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 0 South Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0
*--*
Today at Carson
* South Africa vs. Mexico, 7 p.m.
* Guatemala vs. Jamaica, 9 p.m.
Sunday at Coliseum
* Mexico vs. Guatemala, Noon
* Jamaica vs. South Africa, 2 p.m.
Wednesday at Houston
* Guatemala vs. South Africa, 5 p.m.
* Mexico vs. Jamaica, 7 p.m.
QUARTERFINALS
July 16 At Foxboro, Mass.
* Group A winner vs. B 2nd place, 10 a.m.
* Group B winner vs. A or C 3rd, 1 p.m.
July 17 at Houston
* Group C winner vs. A or B 3rd, Noon
* Group C second place vs. A 2nd, 3 p.m.
SEMIFINALS
July 21 at East Rutherford, N.J.
* Foxboro quarterfinal winners, 3 p.m.
* Houston quarterfinal winners, 6 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP
July 24 at East Rutherford, N.J.
* Semifinal winners, Noon
