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U.S. goes down in flames to Iran 2-1
Punchless offense leads to World Cup elimination
Posted: Sunday June 21, 1998 05:27 PM
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Hamid Estili prays after scoring Iran's first goal in
its stunning win over the U.S. (AP) |
LYON, France (AP) --
The Great Satan is going home in humiliation. Iran, which has
been chanting "Death to America!" for nearly two decades, killed off the
U.S. soccer team from World Cup contention Sunday night, shocking the
Americans 2-1 in a game sure to set off wild celebrations back in Tehran.
Hamid Estili scored on a counterattack in the 40th minute, and Mehdi
Mahdavukia came through with a breakway goal in the 83rd. The
Americans spent almost the entire game showing they really are the gang who
couldn't shoot straight, scoring only with four minutes left when Brian
McBride put in a shot off defender Naim Saadavi. McBride hit the
crossbar in the third minute, hit the post in the 15th and Claudio Reyna
hit the post in the 33rd. It was more of the same in the second
half. Reyna missed on a bicycle kick in front of the net off a header pass
from McBride in the 57th. Preki Radosavljevic was wide on an open header in
the 63rd. David Regis hit the goalpost in the 68th and Frankie Hejduk sent
a header right into goalkeeper Ahmad Abedzadeh with the entire net to shoot
for in the 79th. The United
States, needing a victory following an opening 2-0 loss to Germany,
swarmed all over Iran through much of the game, but it was able to find the back of the net just once all game. Before a loud,
mostly pro-Iranian crowd of about 44,000 in Stade Gerland, the Americans
were shown they have a long way to go before they are considered a world
soccer power. Instead, they joined Saudi
Arabia, Japan, South Korea
and Jamaica
in being eliminated from this World Cup.
Cobi Jones (top) and the U.S. team was frustrated all night with its inability to score (AP) | |
Iran's victory undoubtedly
will set off months of soul-searching in the American soccer community and
probably will lead to the departure of Steve Sampson, the first
American-born coach of the national team. After advancing to the
second round as the host country in 1994, American soccer took a giant step
backward this time. While the U.S. team knew it would have a difficult time
advancing from a first-round group that included European champion Germany,
Yugoslavia
and Iran, the Americans never anticipated they would fail so completely.
Not even Sampson's all-out offensive lineup helped. Following the
dismal loss to Germany, he changed five of his 11 starters in a move to add
offense. While the Americans generated chances, they failed at
opportunities for goals that most world-class players would have put away.
The game had obvious ramifications beyond the field because of the
strained relationship between the United States and Iran. The nations broke
off diplomatic relations during the 1979-81 hostage crisis and President
Clinton and other American officials saw this game as an opportunity for a
thaw. Before the game, the starting lineups of both teams broke
tradition and posed for a joint picture instead of the usual separate team
photos -- as requested by FIFA on Fair Play Day. Iranian starters gave
their U.S. counterparts white flowers, and the Americans in turn gave them
U.S. Soccer Federation pennants. Iran presented U.S. captain Thomas Dooley
with a silver-colored plate. After the game, the teams exchanged
jerseys, but the Iranians did not put on the American shirts. In one
section of the stands, hundreds of fans wore T-shirts with the photo of
Massoud Rajavi, head of an Iraq-based group opposed to the Islamic regime
in place since the shah was ousted in 1979. About a dozen banners with the
name of Rajavi and his wife Marjam were raised, but stadium security
wrestled them away and forcibly removed some of the fans. The tone
was set in the first five minutes, when McBride hit the crossbar and then
fell down when Cobi Jones gave him a soft pass with an open net. McBride,
put in the lineup because he's good with headers, then clanked one off the
crossbar. By the time Reyna hit the post, the frustration was showing. Not
believing the shot didn't go in, he raised both hands to the side of his
head as a pained expression filled his face.
Notes: Sampson
inserted McBride, Moore, Tab Ramos, Roy Wegerle and Frankie Hejduk,
benching career scoring leader Eric Wynalda, Ernie Stewart, Brian
Maisonneuve, Chad Deering and Mike Burns. Stewart and Radosavljevic
replaced Ramos and Wegerle in the 57th minute.
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