United States advances to the medal round

[lilphenom]

U.S. OLYMPIC MEN DEFEAT JAPAN ON PKS; ADVANCE TO MEDAL ROUND TO FACE SPAIN IN SEMIFINAL

U.S. comes from behind twice to force overtime, then perfect on PKs in 5-4 win after 2-2 match and scoreless overtime; Vagenas, Agoos, Donovan, Wolff, and Victorine convert for the U.S.


ADELAIDE, Australia (Saturday, September 23, 2000) - In an historic victory over Japan today, the U.S. Men's Olympic Team advance to the medal round of the 2000 Olympic Soccer Tournament where they will face Spain on Tuesday (Sept. 26) at Sydney's Football Stadium. After a thrilling 2-2 regulation draw and scoreless overtime, the USA then outlasted Japan 5-4 in penalty kicks, hitting on all five of there attempts, including Sasha Victorine's game-winner. A full game report will follow this short update.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, U.S. forward Josh Wolff scored in the 68th minute to tie the match. The even scoreline was short lived though, with Japan jumping out ahead again just four minutes later. However, a 90th minute penalty kick strike by Peter Vagenas evened the match and set-up the team's heroics in the penalty shootout.

The other semifinal match is slated for Tuesday in Melbourne between Chile and Cameroon.

USA Lineup:
Friedel, Hejduk, McCarty, Califf, Agoos, O'Brien (Whitfield, 107), Vagenas, Olsen (Donovan, 46), Albright (Victorine, 91), Casey, Wolff.

SCORING SUMMARY
JAP - Yanagisawa, 30,
USA - Wolff, 68,
JAP - Takahara, 72,
USA - Vagenas, 90.

USA PK SUMMARY
1. Vagenas
2. Agoos
3. Donovan
4. Wolff
5. Victorine

OTHER QUARTERFINAL RESULTS Cameroon 2, Brazil 1 (OT)
Chile 4, Nigeria 1
Spain 1, Italy 0

[lilphenom]

U.S. OLYMPIC MEN DEFEAT JAPAN ON PKS; ADVANCE TO MEDAL ROUND TO FACE SPAIN IN SEMIFINAL

U.S. Comes Back Twice, Ties Game at 2-2 on 90th Minute Vagenas PK Goal; Team Will Travel to Sydney Tomorrow, Face Spain on Tuesday in Semi's


ADELAIDE, Australia (Saturday, September 23, 2000) - In arguably the most dramatic conclusion to any soccer match of the 2000 Olympics, the U.S. Men's Olympic Team edged Japan 5-4 in a penalty kick shootout after being tied 2-2 after 120 minutes to advance to the medal round tonight in front of 18,345 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide.
The gigantic result, which will undoubtedly go down as the biggest win in the history of the 15-year-old U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team program, could also be seen as one of the most historic and telling wins in the entire U.S. Men's National Team program's recent history.

After winning Group C and advancing out of the first round for the first time ever, the undefeated U.S. men are now headed to the semi-final medal round, where they will face Spain on Tuesday (Sept. 26) at Sydney Football Stadium. The match, which is set to kick off at 8 p.m. local time, will be televised via tape delay on MSNBC during Olympic coverage between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET).

"I've been involved in a lot of games over the years - World Cup games, World Cup Qualifying games. This may have been the most exciting game that I've ever been involved in," said head coach Clive Charles, who led the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team to a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg last July. "The team never gave up. We came from behind twice. I'm just ... I'm exhausted. I felt it was a tremendous performance from the U.S. team today."

U.S. midfielder and overtime substitute Sasha Victorine (Los Angeles Galaxy--MLS), who was a late addition to the final Olympic squad after an injury to initial "over-age" midfielder Chris Armas, ended up the hero for the night. The Carmichael, Calif., native stepped up and converted the fifth and final penalty kick, giving the USA the 5-4 advantage after five rounds. After U.S. "over-age" goalkeeper Brad Friedel (Liverpool--England) nearly saved the first two penalty kick attempts, gifted "over-age" midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata had missed the fourth Japan attempt, striking the left post.

The U.S. twice came back to tie the match, finally equalizing on a Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy--MLS) penalty kick in the 90th minute in a similar storyline to last Wednesday's 1-1 tie versus Cameroon in which Vagenas helped the U.S. draw even in the 64th minute. As in the Cameroon match, U.S. forward Josh Wolff (Chicago Fire--MLS) created the PK opportunity, this time being knocked down from behind by a Japanese defender after beating him to a looping through ball.

Japan opened the match by controlling play over the first 15-20 minutes, and their dangerous attack finally the 30th minute following a Ben Olsen (D.C. United--MLS) just outside the edge of the penalty box. On the resulting free kick, Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura had his shot blocked, but quickly tracked down the rebound and sent a cross to the far post. Forward Atsushi Yanagisawa was there to outleap U.S. captain Chad McCarty (Tampa Bay Mutiny--MLS) and bounced a header in the corner of the net past a sprawling Friedel.

The U.S. had a handful of good chances in the first half, but either brave Japanese goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki, who ended the night with 10 saves and a bloodied jersey, or the three-man Japanese backline were there to thwart every real scoring opportunity.

The USA would not be able to get on the board until the 68th minute, when "over-age" defender Jeff Agoos (D.C. United--MLS) ended up on the right flank after a corner kick and sent a low cross into the box. His pass bounced directly in front of a scattered wall of defenders, one of whom stuck his leg out and poked a poor clearance to the top of the box. U.S. forward Josh Wolff, who is tied with teammates Vagenas and Chris Albright (D.C. United--MLS) for the team lead with two goals in the Olympics, was there to tee it up, cracking a shot inside the left post to tie the score at 1-1.

But the even score would be short-lived, as Japan would again go ahead in the 72nd minute. Creative Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura earned his second assist on the night, setting up the goal by dribbling toward the box and stopping to send a perfect looping cross to unmarked striker Naohiro Takahara at the six-yard box. Takahara found himself shadowed only by Friedel, and volleyed a shot directly at him from point-blank range. Friedel's reaction save produced a short rebound that fell directly back to Takahara, who roofed his next shot to put his team up 2-1 and re-energize the chants of "Nippon! Nippon! Nippon!" from the pro-Japanese crowd.

Just two minutes later, the U.S. almost struck back at 2-2. Again appearing on the right flank, Agoos sent an inswinging free kick to the far post. Second-half substitute Landon Donovan (Bayer Leverkusen--Germany), who made his second appearance of the Olympics as a sparkplug off the bench, positioned himself well and headed it back across the goalmouth. U.S. defender Danny Califf, whose header goal started the U.S. off in their 3-1 win over Kuwait last Saturday, was there to flick a bee-bee header on goal, but it was blocked by Narazaki and then cleared.

Another U.S. threat led to a Japan misplay that would have an effect on the rest of the match. Trying to head clear a booming U.S. ball, defender Yuji Nakazawa and Narazaki smacked heads as one was backpedaling and the other charging out. Both players immediately went down and the ball bounced awkwardly toward the endline. Albright ran it down and quickly tried to put a shot on an open goal, but he was forced to shoot from a bad angle and the ball floated high and landed harmlessly on the top netting.

The U.S. had failed to capitalize on the fluke play, but Narazaki had to lay down injured in the box for almost five minutes. When play finally resumed with him in the nets, he had a bloody nose that he had to constantly wipe away for the rest of the match.

In true storybook fashion, the USA would get the tying goal in the 90th minute, as Vagenas stared down a woozy Narazaki, whose jersey was now streaked with blood, and nailed it right down the center of the goal as the ‘keeper dove to his left.

After a long five minutes of injury time, the score remained 2-2 and both teams headed into the first of two "golden goal", or sudden death, overtime periods with the U.S. clearly holding the momentum for extra time.

In the third minute of the first overtime, another perfect cross from Agoos found Donovan, whose header was perfectly marked for the upper left corner of the goal before Narazaki leaped to push it wide.

Nakata would continue to be the most dangerous Japan player as a scorer and passer, sending a blistering shot just wide left of the post in the 97th minute. In the 102nd minute, Takahara beat McCarty to a long ball and laid it off to Nakata, who sent a low cannon for the near post. The pace and perfect aim on Nakata's blast forced Friedel to hurl himself to his left and use every inch of his enormous wingspan to tap the ball out for a corner kick.

In the second overtime, the weary U.S. continued to attack after being bolstered with the addition of midfielders Victorine and Evan Whitfield (Chicago Fire--MLS), who both came on during the first overtime and were seeing their first action of the tournament.

With tired legs on both sides of the field as the clock ticked past 110 minutes, neither team could complete a series of passes to produce a quality shot on goal, always falling one pass short in their attack.

In the result-deciding penalty kick shootout, all five American shot takers converted their chances, beginning and ending with Galaxy teammates Vagenas and Victorine, respectively. With Nakata's missed chance and the penalty kick score tied at four in the bottom of the fifth round, Victorine calmly sent the ball into the righ

[reg]

[lilphenom]

U.S. OLYMPIC MEN DEFEAT JAPAN ON PKS; ADVANCE TO MEDAL ROUND TO FACE SPAIN IN SEMIFINAL

U.S. Comes Back Twice, Ties Game at 2-2 on 90th Minute Vagenas PK Goal; Team Will Travel to Sydney Tomorrow, Face Spain on Tuesday in Semi's


ADELAIDE, Australia (Saturday, September 23, 2000) - In arguably the most dramatic conclusion to any soccer match of the 2000 Olympics, the U.S. Men's Olympic Team edged Japan 5-4 in a penalty kick shootout after being tied 2-2 after 120 minutes to advance to the medal round tonight in front of 18,345 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide.
The gigantic result, which will undoubtedly go down as the biggest win in the history of the 15-year-old U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team program, could also be seen as one of the most historic and telling wins in the entire U.S. Men's National Team program's recent history.

After winning Group C and advancing out of the first round for the first time ever, the undefeated U.S. men are now headed to the semi-final medal round, where they will face Spain on Tuesday (Sept. 26) at Sydney Football Stadium. The match, which is set to kick off at 8 p.m. local time, will be televised via tape delay on MSNBC during Olympic coverage between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET).

"I've been involved in a lot of games over the years - World Cup games, World Cup Qualifying games. This may have been the most exciting game that I've ever been involved in," said head coach Clive Charles, who led the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team to a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg last July. "The team never gave up. We came from behind twice. I'm just ... I'm exhausted. I felt it was a tremendous performance from the U.S. team today."

U.S. midfielder and overtime substitute Sasha Victorine (Los Angeles Galaxy--MLS), who was a late addition to the final Olympic squad after an injury to initial "over-age" midfielder Chris Armas, ended up the hero for the night. The Carmichael, Calif., native stepped up and converted the fifth and final penalty kick, giving the USA the 5-4 advantage after five rounds. After U.S. "over-age" goalkeeper Brad Friedel (Liverpool--England) nearly saved the first two penalty kick attempts, gifted "over-age" midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata had missed the fourth Japan attempt, striking the left post.

The U.S. twice came back to tie the match, finally equalizing on a Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy--MLS) penalty kick in the 90th minute in a similar storyline to last Wednesday's 1-1 tie versus Cameroon in which Vagenas helped the U.S. draw even in the 64th minute. As in the Cameroon match, U.S. forward Josh Wolff (Chicago Fire--MLS) created the PK opportunity, this time being knocked down from behind by a Japanese defender after beating him to a looping through ball.

Japan opened the match by controlling play over the first 15-20 minutes, and their dangerous attack finally the 30th minute following a Ben Olsen (D.C. United--MLS) just outside the edge of the penalty box. On the resulting free kick, Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura had his shot blocked, but quickly tracked down the rebound and sent a cross to the far post. Forward Atsushi Yanagisawa was there to outleap U.S. captain Chad McCarty (Tampa Bay Mutiny--MLS) and bounced a header in the corner of the net past a sprawling Friedel.

The U.S. had a handful of good chances in the first half, but either brave Japanese goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki, who ended the night with 10 saves and a bloodied jersey, or the three-man Japanese backline were there to thwart every real scoring opportunity.

The USA would not be able to get on the board until the 68th minute, when "over-age" defender Jeff Agoos (D.C. United--MLS) ended up on the right flank after a corner kick and sent a low cross into the box. His pass bounced directly in front of a scattered wall of defenders, one of whom stuck his leg out and poked a poor clearance to the top of the box. U.S. forward Josh Wolff, who is tied with teammates Vagenas and Chris Albright (D.C. United--MLS) for the team lead with two goals in the Olympics, was there to tee it up, cracking a shot inside the left post to tie the score at 1-1.

But the even score would be short-lived, as Japan would again go ahead in the 72nd minute. Creative Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura earned his second assist on the night, setting up the goal by dribbling toward the box and stopping to send a perfect looping cross to unmarked striker Naohiro Takahara at the six-yard box. Takahara found himself shadowed only by Friedel, and volleyed a shot directly at him from point-blank range. Friedel's reaction save produced a short rebound that fell directly back to Takahara, who roofed his next shot to put his team up 2-1 and re-energize the chants of "Nippon! Nippon! Nippon!" from the pro-Japanese crowd.

Just two minutes later, the U.S. almost struck back at 2-2. Again appearing on the right flank, Agoos sent an inswinging free kick to the far post. Second-half substitute Landon Donovan (Bayer Leverkusen--Germany), who made his second appearance of the Olympics as a sparkplug off the bench, positioned himself well and headed it back across the goalmouth. U.S. defender Danny Califf, whose header goal started the U.S. off in their 3-1 win over Kuwait last Saturday, was there to flick a bee-bee header on goal, but it was blocked by Narazaki and then cleared.

Another U.S. threat led to a Japan misplay that would have an effect on the rest of the match. Trying to head clear a booming U.S. ball, defender Yuji Nakazawa and Narazaki smacked heads as one was backpedaling and the other charging out. Both players immediately went down and the ball bounced awkwardly toward the endline. Albright ran it down and quickly tried to put a shot on an open goal, but he was forced to shoot from a bad angle and the ball floated high and landed harmlessly on the top netting.

The U.S. had failed to capitalize on the fluke play, but Narazaki had to lay down injured in the box for almost five minutes. When play finally resumed with him in the nets, he had a bloody nose that he had to constantly wipe away for the rest of the match.

In true storybook fashion, the USA would get the tying goal in the 90th minute, as Vagenas stared down a woozy Narazaki, whose jersey was now streaked with blood, and nailed it right down the center of the goal as the ‘keeper dove to his left.

After a long five minutes of injury time, the score remained 2-2 and both teams headed into the first of two "golden goal", or sudden death, overtime periods with the U.S. clearly holding the momentum for extra time.

In the third minute of the first overtime, another perfect cross from Agoos found Donovan, whose header was perfectly marked for the upper left corner of the goal before Narazaki leaped to push it wide.

Nakata would continue to be the most dangerous Japan player as a scorer and passer, sending a blistering shot just wide left of the post in the 97th minute. In the 102nd minute, Takahara beat McCarty to a long ball and laid it off to Nakata, who sent a low cannon for the near post. The pace and perfect aim on Nakata's blast forced Friedel to hurl himself to his left and use every inch of his enormous wingspan to tap the ball out for a corner kick.

In the second overtime, the weary U.S. continued to attack after being bolstered with the addition of midfielders Victorine and Evan Whitfield (Chicago Fire--MLS), who both came on during the first overtime and were seeing their first action of the tournament.

With tired legs on both sides of the field as the clock ticked past 110 minutes, neither team could complete a series of passes to produce a quality shot on goal, always falling one pass short in their attack.

In the result-deciding penalty kick shootout, all five American shot takers converted their chances, beginning and ending with Galaxy teammates Vagenas and Victorine, respectively. With Nakata's missed chance and the penalty kick score tied at four in the bottom of the fifth round, Victorine calmly sent the ball into the righ

[reg]

[gb1520]

The united states played very well and deserved to win. I thought that Olsen and Albright were very good. But how lucky were they when McCarty wasn't sent off. I don't understand how he didn't recieve a second caution for tackle with about 10 minutes to go (i think you all know which tackle i am talking about). i guess i shouldn't be surprised it seemed that ref didn't have a clue. But at least he was equally bad.