Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Olympic Qualifying: U.S. 1 Cuba 1
It didn't take long for cracks to appear in Peter Nowak's U.S. Men's Under-23 National Team facade.
Despite a sparkling performance by Freddy Adu, a largely punchless U.S. could only manage to tie lightly-regarded Cuba 1-1 in Tampa, Fla., tonight in the opening game of Olympic qualifying for both nations.
That makes Saturday's game against Honduras, which beat Panama 1-0 earlier in the night on a last-gasp goal, the potentially pivotal game for the slightly bruised U.S. hopes of qualifying for China.
Teenage striking sensation Jozy Altidore was so ineffective up front he was replaced by Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan at half time.
Adu was dominating from the first minute, clipping the far Cuban post with a curling shot and continually directing the U.S. attacks, but applied the finishing touch just once in the 14th minute.
It had seemed a goal was only a matter of time, but Cuba struck just before half time to level the score.
The two sides went into the break level despite a 8-2 U.S. advantage in shots.
Adu aside, creativity was scarce in the U.S. midfield, leaving one to wonder why the likes of Robbie Rogers was left off the squad.
Cuba was content to pack the defense, but the U.S. disappointingly failed to break down their opponent to seal what was surely a lost opportunity.
Here's more from U.S. Soccer.
I'll have more in the morning on the games in Carson Wednesday night between Haiti-Guatemala and Mexico-Canada.
Comments
Horrible game. Where was Rogers when they needed him?
Nick replies: Injured apparently. I heard from a source he suffered a bad sprain to his hip flexor that resulted in him missing four days of camp. He had a goal and an assist in the final scrimmage, but was not fit enough to make the roster.
Posted by: Mike | March 12, 2008 4:07 PM