U.S. coach Bruce Arena was quick to point out that the Gold Cup will have little to do with the World Cup, but there was much to pleased with in his team's remarkable run at the Rose Bowl.
"It took a game or two to sort things out," said defender Jeff Agoos, the only starter available from qualifying, "but once we ironed out all the little bumps, it was very easy and they did a very good job."
Agoos scored his first U.S. goal in more than six years to clinch the win over Costa Rica but he had other numbers on his mind.
"In five games, we had four shutouts," he said. "I'm more pleased with the clean sheets than with the goal."
There was much with which to be pleased despite the admission from Coach Bruce Arena that the Gold Cup will have little to do with the World Cup. On May 31 begins a whole new ballgame.
"The five Gold Cup games aren't deciding our starting lineup in the World Cup," said Arena. "A lot of things are going to happen between now and them."
Still, the U.S. excelled. It grew stronger with each match and won in very convincing fashion.
Brian McBride and Josh Wolff continued their recoveries from long injury layoffs. Clint Mathis made his first appearance in nine months. Brian Maisonneuve's last cap was at the 1998 World Cup.
Young defenders Pablo Mastroeni and Carlos Bocanegra held their nerve under pressure. Teen terrors Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley humbled older, more experienced foes.
Euro recalls Frankie Hejduk and Eddie Lewis kept their names in play with good performances. And Kasey Keller was simply flawless.
GROUP PLAY. The U.S. stunned World Cup foe South Korea, 2-1, in stoppage time despite being overrun for much of the game and scraped past Cuba, 1-0, to win Group B.
Beasley blasted home the winner against South Korea and won the penalty kick that McBride converted for the only goal the U.S. needed to down Cuba.
South Korea had pinned the U.S. in its own half for long periods, but miserable shooting betrayed some threatening approach work. After scoring midway through the first half against Cuba, the U.S. suffered through its own series of misfires.
"The wings were wide open today, so we tried to utilize our speed on the outside and get at them," said Beasley. "We were more aggressive. We fought more as a team today but we just couldn't get that second goal. That was our only problem."
Arena used 17 players in the group games. Defender Danny Califf sat down after giving away a penalty in the opener, which just happened to be his full international debut. Mastroeni replaced him as Agoos' partner in the middle.
Lewis, who had an atrocious opener, lost a starting spot to Beasley for Cuba but regained it for the quarterfinals. Except for replacing an injured Ante Razov with Wolff, Arena fielded the same starting lineup in the knockout phase. That continuity bred cohesion, confidence and something Arena has put a priority on: team chemistry.
DOMINANCE REWARDED. McBride netted a hat trick to put the U.S. up, 3-0, after 21 minutes and take the sting out of the Salvadorans en route to a 4-0 victory.
McBride's firm header of a deflected Hejduk cross produced the first goal. His second and third goals and a fourth from Ante Razov were created by fluid movement and crisp passing.
The third goal was a masterpiece of movement and timing. Razov released Lewis into space, Lewis dodged the keeper, took the ball to the byline and cut it back for Donovan, who trapped and held the ball before laying it back for McBride to drill high into the net.
"Our runs in the box today were excellent," said McBride, who had two other scores disallowed for offside as the U.S. piled up a 19-5 advantage in shots. "Ante made a lot of runs that freed up space for me. It just so happened I was in the right place today.
"We came out wanting to get after them from the beginning. We talked about getting that second goal right away and continuing to push forward. Our finishing was much better today."
DUEL OF KEEPERS. Canada won the 2000 Gold Cup behind the stellar goalkeeping of Craig Forrest. A battle with testicular cancer ruled him out of the 2002 edition. Backup Pat Onstad was out because of injury, so in stepped Lars Hirschfeld, 23, who plays for the Calgary Storm, which will move from the PDL to the A-League this year.
Hirschfeld pulled off 15 saves, many of them superb, during a U.S. barrage that lasted during most of the 120 minutes of play.
In shots from the spot, though, Hirschfeld came out second best to Keller, whose impeccable handling during the tournament certainly strengthened his claim to the No. 1 shirt.
He had saved a penalty against South Korea in the opener by standing still as Yoo Sang Chul shot straight down the middle.
Keller snuffed two of four Canadian efforts by diving to either side. His teammates hit four straight kicks, the best of which was Agoos' laser into the top corner.
"We had a pretty good feeling that a majority of them would go to the left," said Keller, who had watched a tape of Canada's penalty-kick win over Martinique in the quarterfinals. "Against Korea, I just had a strong feeling he was going down the middle. But Canada was different. We had seen what they had done before, and most people in pressure situations like penalties will go with what they're comfortable."
In the 2000 Gold Cup, the U.S. lost on penalties to Colombia in the quarterfinals. It had not taken penalties in practice prior to that game.
The day before playing Canada, the Americans took penalties.
FINAL CURTAIN. Unlike the weakened squad that represented Mexico, all of Costa Rica's top players were on hand for the Gold Cup. Only Rolando Fonseca, injured in the Ticos' second Gold Cup match with Trinidad & Tobago, missed the U.S. game.
Costa Rica, first in the Hexagonal qualifying tournament by a margin of six points over Mexico and the United States, had easily disposed of South Korea, 3-1, in the semifinals after needing a golden goal to knock off Haiti, 2-1, in the quarterfinals.
The United States pressed the Ticos from the opening kickoff. It controlled play and kept the ball except for a brief period in the second half.
Midfielder Chris Armas led a furious midfield assault that shut down service to frontrunners Paulo Wanchope and Ronald Gomez. Cobi Jones and Lewis, whose flank play stretched the Costa Rican back line, also broke up attacks by tucking in.
"Tactically, we began to play much smarter," said Lewis. "As the camp went on, we stressed more and more there are times when we can be closer to the ball. A lot of times we were just too casual about things. Starting with the El Salvador game, we really tried to get after the ball."
A long ball by Hejduk fell to Wolff, who broke away to roll a shot past keeper Erick Lonnis for a 1-0 lead. Agoos bent home his free kick after a typically incisive move by Donovan forced a foul by captain Reynaldo Parks at the top of the box.
Even when it beat Costa Rica, 1-0, in qualifying last April in Kansas City, the U.S. seldom dictated play. The Costa Rican players may have lacked the same intensity they showed in qualifying, yet they were clearly second best.
"When you come into the tournament, there's a little uncertainty about how we're going to perform," said Wolff. "Korea put us under a lot of pressure, and it was hard to get a rhythm, hard to get a feel of the game. Everybody says it was a bad game, and they outplayed us, but we got the result.
"In the Canada game, we played pretty strong, and today clearly was our best game. When you can play your best game in the final, that says a lot about the team."
by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney in Pasadena, Calif.
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