Montry Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Mexico 4 - 0 USA, USA isn't as good as everyone thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montry Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- The roster of U.S. athletes headed to the Summer Olympics is growing steadily smaller. A swarming Mexican offense knocked the U.S. team out Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory that ended a string of five appearances for the Americans in the games. Playing before a noisy crowd of almost 57,000, Mexico avenged a 2-0 World Cup loss two years ago and joined Costa Rica in the Olympic field. "The dreams of our team and the dreams of our players of going to the Olympics are now something in the past," said U.S. coach Glenn Myernick. "I'm sure it will hurt even more tomorrow than it does right now." The Mexicans battered the U.S. defense with waves of attackers who kept slipping free of defenders near the goal. Rafael Marquez Lugo scored twice for Mexico. "There were too many times tonight when our defenders didn't do a good enough job of slowing the attack down," Myernick said. Mexico coach Ricardo LaVolpe said he was happy his team seemed regained the accuracy lacking in earlier games against weaker opponents in the under-23 tournament. "We played without fear," he said. The game was a winner-take-all battle for a berth at the Summer Olympics. It came just over two months after a qualifying tournament victory by Mexico kept the U.S. baseball team out of the games. Costa Rica defeated Honduras 2-0 earlier in the evening for the other Olympic slot from the North and Central America and Caribbean region. The United States had become a soccer nightmare for Mexico in recent years, winning more than it lost against a team that thinks of itself as the region's powerhouse. The greatest dent to Mexico's pride came in the second round of the 2002 World Cup. Myernick said with the elimination of soccer powers such as Brazil and the Czech Republic, "I think the Olympics in Athens is going to be wide open. ... Mexico has as good a chance as anybody." LaVolpe, meanwhile, was thinking even further ahead. "I think a lot of these youths can reach 2006," the next World Cup, he said. "These youths showed they have what it takes to battle with anybody." Myernick predicted a wide-open game by two powerful offenses. The United States had scored 10 goals in three tournament games. But only Mexico managed to produce. Marquez Lugo took a pass from Francisco Rodriguez and put a header past U.S. goalkeeper D.J. Countess at 25 minutes. Three minutes later, Diego Martinez hit the net as a wave of Mexican players rushed toward the U.S. goal. Countess made several dramatic saves, but Marquez Lugo scored again at 54 minutes from about 15 yards after U.S. defenders were unable to clear the ball from the penalty zone. Ismael Iniguez raced in for a fourth goal just before time ran out. Mexico, meanwhile, dropped back and clogged the lanes for the U.S. attackers such as Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, repeatedly blocking passes. Alecko Eskandarian came close to a U.S. goal in the 79th minute, but his leaping deflection was saved by goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona. Frustrated U.S. defender Nat Borchers was ejected for a second yellow card at 73 minutes. Six nations have qualified for Athens: Mexico, Costa Rica, Australia, Argentina, Paraguay and host Greece. http://www.soccernet.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Montry Mexico 4 - 0 USA, USA isn't as good as everyone thought. Yeah, they stink! [?] But was it just me or wasn't that Costa Rican player miles offsides on that second goal?! Although i am glad Costa Rica won. At least there's one CONCACAF team I can root for in the Olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABuffalo786 Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Hard to win with no defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 quote:Originally posted by amacpher But was it just me or wasn't that Costa Rican player miles offsides on that second goal?! I think it was just you that saw the game, or even the highlights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 quote:Originally posted by DJT I think it was just you that saw the game, or even the highlights. Did they show highlights of Canada's games in Canada? Actually the US-Mexico game wasn't even on TV which is somewhat puzzling since I think the ratings would have been good. But perhaps nobody thought the 2 teams would meet in this tournament and once it was known that they will, it was too late for any channel to sign the rights to show it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 They showed two brief clips from the Honduras game on Soccercentral. That was it, as far as I could tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 CNN is now reporting that there were more chants of "Osama! Osama!" during yesterday's game in Gooberlajara. Maybe those chanting this think Osama can do something about their 75 cents/hour wage!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 quote:Originally posted by amacpher CNN is now reporting that there were more chants of "Osama! Osama!" during yesterday's game in Gooberlajara. Maybe those chanting this think Osama can do something about their 75 cents/hour wage!? The one report I read - soccernet I think - indicated that it was a couple of dozen drunks after the match. Newsflash for the US public, the rest of the world is no more able to enforce political correctness with the drunk hooligan's than the US is with theirs. Just as the canadian-flag burning Islander fans don't reflect the vast majority of US hockey fans... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Gordon The one report I read - soccernet I think - indicated that it was a couple of dozen drunks after the match. Newsflash for the US public, the rest of the world is no more able to enforce political correctness with the drunk hooligan's than the US is with theirs. Just as the canadian-flag burning Islander fans don't reflect the vast majority of US hockey fans... Well, I was just relaying what CNN said. But now that I check CNN's website I see that there's a long article on the game and no mention of the chants. So I guess it probably was a pretty small minority then... But I still wanna see Penarol whoop some Club America butt this evening!! quote:Originally posted by Sigma Did they mention anything else about the game? Surprisingly, YES! They did mention the score and what it means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Well, I was just relaying what CNN said. But now that I check CNN's website I see that there's a long article on the game and no mention of the chants. So I guess it probably was a pretty small minority then. I was really directing the comments to media reports generally rather than you specifically. Sorry if it came across that way. These things tend to get blown right out of proportion through media reports and subsequent reaction People lose site of the fact that the antics of a few a$$holes do not reflect anything other than that they are a$$holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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