Team captain Mike Lawson goes up for a header against his Russian opponent in a recent men's competition. (Photo by Hugh Carey)
U.S. men's soccer loses controversial game against Russiaby Martin Dale-Hench on September 10, 2009 Two days after an improbable win against defending gold medalist Great Britain, the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team appeared the unluckiest team during its game against the Russian Federation. Although Russia was the better team in their 5-0 victory, their goals won no style points. “We handed them four goals,” defenseman Matthew Eby said. The first goal stunned the Americans, who appeared jittery, often fumbling the ball to the anticipating Russians. Less than a minute into the game, one of the Russians picked up a careless American turnover in the middle of the field and swiftly carried it down toward the U.S. goal, and as soon as he entered the penalty area, one of the U.S. players tripped him from behind, and the referee awarded a penalty kick. Russia found the back of the net to go up, 1-0. “Allowing the first goal, the penalty kick, was a mental mistake,” forward Michael Higgins said. During the next ten minutes, the Russians applied steady pressure on the U.S. defensemen with their quick-footed forwards. However, the Russians didn’t score their next goal. A Russian kicked the ball hard to the goal, and the U.S. defenseman David Rowse tried to redirect it away from danger, but instead headed it into his own goal, well away from goalkeeper Christopher Jones. Rowse held his head in disbelief, but the score had gone up to 2-0, Russia, in the ninth minute. Although the Americans would finally press the ball deep into Russian territory in the next few minutes, they repeatedly were driven back by the speed of the Russian front five. “The Russians have speed all over the field,” coach Ken McDonald said, “and [are] technically very good.” The Americans battled hard to counter the Russians’ speed, kicking long lobs over the Russians defensemen in hope that the offense would win the ball with forechecking. The U.S.’s first scoring chance was a shot by captain Michael Lawson, which was easily caught by the Russian goalkeeper in the 13th minute, and the Americans won their first corner kick in the 18th minute. The opportunistic Russians took advantage once again in the 34th minute, when the U.S. defenders failed to clear the ball out of their side, kicking a weak lob directly to a Russian forward at the top of the penalty area. He then kicked the ball low, hitting an American on the way, and the wavering ball slipped past the diving Jones. Down, 3-0, the U.S. lost a player to an injury in the 36th minute. Brandon Lemus and Lawson were homing toward the airborne ball, and they collided with a Russian in midfield. Lemus fell and did not get up until trainers came onto the field and supported him off. With Lemus out with an unspecified leg injury, Jason Panarra came in as a substitution. The halftime ended with the score at 3-0. The U.S. team made some grievances about the Russians’ play. The Russian players kept stumbling onto the ground and clamoring for a card, holding their legs. The Americans claimed their opponents were pretending they were violently hit and were trying to convince officials to issue a card to an American player. “The Russians totally outplayed the U.S. team,” McDonald said. “I can’t complain about the loss, but it’s the way the Russians won which was hard to take. They were continually cheating throughout the game, trying to get my players sent off by diving and faking injury.” The acting clinic continued through the second half, as the Russians went down often, and the U.S. players showed frustration, urging them to get back up by waving their hands upwards. At one point, an American refused to apologize per the referee’s request to a Russian he apparently had tripped. Their frustration mounted when the goalkeeper Jones made a miscue that led to the Russians’ fourth goal. He misfired a free goal kick from his end, landing the ball way short of his target deep into the Russian zone. The ball happened to land in front of a Russian walking back to his side, and he ran it back undefended and slid it past Jones to make the score 4-0 in the 63rd minute. After that fourth goal, the Americans made a concerted and heated effort to register a score late in the game, but the crossbar and wide shots denied them. The Russians finally made a legitimate goal in the 89th minute, when the Americans appeared to quit challenging them. After the game concluded, the Americans walked back to their tent somberly and the Russians paraded around the field in leaps and bounds. “We just lost focus,” Higgins said. Since the U.S.-Russia game was a quarterfinal, the loss means the U.S. was disqualified from medal contention. The Americans will play Argentina, who lost, 6-2, to Germany on Thursday, in the semifinals of the fifth through eighth-place bracket, at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. |
 Team captain Mike Lawson goes up for a header against his Russian opponent in a recent men's competition. (Photo by Hugh Carey)
 Justin Hefflefinger races past his opponent in a recent men's soccer match. (Photo by Hugh Carey)
Latest News
Donate
|