McBride’s Heads-Up Play Lifts U.S.
As was so often the case in the past, it was Brian McBride who made the difference.
Rising above a crowd of defenders Sunday evening, McBride sent a sharp header flying into the back of the net off the hands of goalkeeper Aleksandrs Kolinko to give the World Cup-bound United States soccer team a 1-0 victory over Latvia at East Hartford, Conn.
The 43rd-minute strike was McBride’s 30th international goal, leaving him four shy of the U.S. record held by Eric Wynalda.
He scored it despite sporting a welt the size of a walnut above his left eye from an earlier clash of heads.
“I was pretty thankful it didn’t cut open,” O’Brien said of the knot on his forehead.
The Americans dominated the game and goalkeeper Kasey Keller had only one difficult save to make -- off a header by Girts Karlson in the final minute -- while earning his 45th shutout in 93 international games.
It was a physically challenging encounter for the U.S., which was playing its third and final World Cup tuneup in six days. Latvia made up for its lack of skill with a rugged determination that caused Canadian referee Steven Dipiero to call 24 fouls against the visitors compared to 12 against the U.S.
Coach Bruce Arena again tinkered with his lineup, starting Keller in goal, Steve Cherundolo, Eddie Pope, Jimmy Conrad and Eddie Lewis on defense, DaMarcus Beasley, Pablo Mastroeni and John O’Brien in midfield and Landon Donovan, McBride and Eddie Johnson up front.
The lone goal came when Donovan sent the ball wide to Cherundolo on the right flank and Cherundolo crossed it into the mix of players in the box.
McBride fought his way up and over two defenders and hit the target from six yards, Kolinko managing only to deflect the ball into the roof of the net.
The U.S. created numerous other scoring chances, but was thwarted either by Kolinko, who made two spectacular saves, or by poor finishes. Johnson’s speed enabled him to outstrip the Latvian defense, but his timing was bad and he was called offside five times.
By moving Beasley to the right flank, Arena might have tipped his hand for the June 12 World Cup opener against the Czech Republic, especially when he sent Convey on to replace the tiring O’Brien after 66 minutes instead of switching Beasley back to his usual left midfield role.
The U.S., which lost, 1-0, to Morocco on Tuesday and shut out Venezuela, 2-0, on Friday, was given an enthusiastic send-off by the crowd of 24,636 at Rentschler Field. The Americans outshot Latvia, 16-10, and earned four corner kicks to none for their opponent, but were unable to add to McBride’s first-half goal.
“I’m happy with the win,” Arena said. “I think this week our three opponents played us quite well. I think we were pushed to our limits, physically, with the awkward calendar. The games made it real tough on our team.”
Keller had a note of caution for anyone believing that because Latvia was beaten, the Czechs can be too.
“What we did now isn’t that big a deal,” he told the Associated Press. “I don’t want guys thinking, ‘All right, we beat Latvia one-nil so now we’re going to roll over the Czech Republic. That doesn’t quite equate.”
The U.S. team has the next three days off, then flies to its World Cup base in Hamburg, Germany, on Thursday. It plays one final warmup, a closed-door match against Angola, on June 5 and opens World Cup play one week later against the Czechs.
“Right now we’re going to enjoy this game and go home and see our families and enjoy our time off,” McBride said. “The things we need to build on are our overall movement off the ball, and when we’re tired we need to keep our shape a little bit and pass the ball a little better.
“But we’ve been getting some great crosses into the box and that has made all the difference” in Sunday’s and Friday’s victories.
Jones reported from Los Angeles.
