U.S. men must beat Mexico to avoid joining baseball on sidelines
Feb. 9, 2004
SportsLine.com wire reports
GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Already missing the U.S. baseball team, the Athens Olympics would be without the men's soccer squad, too, unless the Americans win at Mexico on Tuesday night.
The crowd will be overwhelmingly anti-American when the United States tries to secure its sixth straight Olympic men's soccer berth.
"We're going to hear the bad words and everything, but you know, we're looking forward to it," midfielder DaMarcus Beasley said Monday. "I don't know about the other guys but it's fun playing in front of fans like that who are always against you. When you win, it's always a sweeter victory."
On Nov. 7, the Mexican baseball team beat the Americans 2-1 in a qualifier, eliminating the defending gold-medal champions.
Landon Donovan, Beasley and Bobby Convey - all national team starters -- head the American team in the qualifier, limited to players under 23. The Mexicans are still angry over the 2002 World Cup, where the U.S. national team upset them to advance to the quarterfinals.
Donovan, who scored the second goal against Mexico in the 2-0 World Cup win in South Korea, said the local fans "hate us."
"I sometimes wish I didn't know Spanish," he added. "But I think everybody understands what they are saying."
Almost 60,000 fans were expected at Jalisco Stadium, home to two of Mexico's top soccer clubs.
"It's a soccer shrine here in Mexico and it makes the game more exciting," U.S. coach Glenn Myernick said.
He predicted a high-scoring game.
"We've scored more goals in the tournament than anyone else; we've scored 10 goals," Myernick said. "I think Mexico's strength is in the attack. ... So I don't see it as being a closed kind of game."
Only a handful of U.S. supporters were expected for the North and Central American and Caribbean qualifier.
The last time the American men's soccer team missed the Olympics was 1980, when the entire United States delegation boycotted the Moscow Games. The Americans also missed the 1976 Montreal Olympics, losing 6-0 and 4-2 to Mexico during qualifying.
The United States advanced to the showdown with Mexico by defeating Panama, Canada and Honduras. Mexico finished second in its group, beating Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica, then tying Costa Rica.
Honduras plays Costa Rica on Tuesday to determine the other berth from the CONCACAF region.
AP NEWS
Feb. 9, 2004
SportsLine.com wire reports
GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- Already missing the U.S. baseball team, the Athens Olympics would be without the men's soccer squad, too, unless the Americans win at Mexico on Tuesday night.
The crowd will be overwhelmingly anti-American when the United States tries to secure its sixth straight Olympic men's soccer berth.
"We're going to hear the bad words and everything, but you know, we're looking forward to it," midfielder DaMarcus Beasley said Monday. "I don't know about the other guys but it's fun playing in front of fans like that who are always against you. When you win, it's always a sweeter victory."
On Nov. 7, the Mexican baseball team beat the Americans 2-1 in a qualifier, eliminating the defending gold-medal champions.
Landon Donovan, Beasley and Bobby Convey - all national team starters -- head the American team in the qualifier, limited to players under 23. The Mexicans are still angry over the 2002 World Cup, where the U.S. national team upset them to advance to the quarterfinals.
Donovan, who scored the second goal against Mexico in the 2-0 World Cup win in South Korea, said the local fans "hate us."
"I sometimes wish I didn't know Spanish," he added. "But I think everybody understands what they are saying."
Almost 60,000 fans were expected at Jalisco Stadium, home to two of Mexico's top soccer clubs.
"It's a soccer shrine here in Mexico and it makes the game more exciting," U.S. coach Glenn Myernick said.
He predicted a high-scoring game.
"We've scored more goals in the tournament than anyone else; we've scored 10 goals," Myernick said. "I think Mexico's strength is in the attack. ... So I don't see it as being a closed kind of game."
Only a handful of U.S. supporters were expected for the North and Central American and Caribbean qualifier.
The last time the American men's soccer team missed the Olympics was 1980, when the entire United States delegation boycotted the Moscow Games. The Americans also missed the 1976 Montreal Olympics, losing 6-0 and 4-2 to Mexico during qualifying.
The United States advanced to the showdown with Mexico by defeating Panama, Canada and Honduras. Mexico finished second in its group, beating Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica, then tying Costa Rica.
Honduras plays Costa Rica on Tuesday to determine the other berth from the CONCACAF region.
AP NEWS
