|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Most exciting game ever
Defender Brian Dunseth is the captain of the U.S. men's Olympic soccer team, which headed Down Under and did what no other men's team had ever done: make it out of the first round alive. Dunseth, 23, left Cal. St. Fullerton early to join Major League Soccer and the New England Revolution, where he has now played four seasons. Dunseth last checked in just hours before the U.S. team's historic quarterfinal win over Japan. September 25, 2000
What were the emotions of beating Japan and reaching the Olympic semifinal? That game was one of the most exciting games I have ever been involved with. We played with so much desire, knowing that any little mistakes could cost us. After the first overtime, we saw that they were really struggling. We tried to put them away early, but they still came at us with everything they had left. [U.S. goalkeeper] Brad [Friedel] came up with a huge save, just pushing the ball around the post on what should have been a goal. Then, after Hidetoshi Nakata hit the post with his penalty kick, Sasha Victorine stepped up and put the game away 5-4 on penalties... we just went nuts. We were so happy that we didn't know what else to do besides run into each other and not let go.
What did coach Clive Charles say to you and the team after the Japan game? After the game, Clive said to us it was the best game he'd ever been a part of, and I think we all pretty much agreed with him. We, as a team, then reminded ourselves that we still had to win two more games to come home with the medal we came here for. What is the U.S. team's tactical approach? We've played a 4-4-2 for the last couple of years, and the only time we've ever changed that was when we felt we could put a team away early. We did that against Kuwait (and in the second half against Japan), going with a 4-3-3 and going in for the kill. What do you know about Spain, and how will the game be approached? We've had good scouting on Spain, figuring we had a good chance to meet them at some point in the latter rounds. Obviously, they're a great team with very good individual players, but we know that, just like with Japan, we have to play our game and take advantage of their mistakes while pressuring the defenders. We need to continue to prepare with all of our 18 players, as some of the guys have played every minute so far, and after playing that many minutes, you begin to feel it. --Brian
| |||||||||||||||||||||
