One by one the U.S. players fell to the ground, exhausted, disappointed and stunned they had just been eliminated from the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
But then again they had no one to blame but themselves. Entering the match as favorites, the USA allowed the match to get away from them, especially in the second half. They lost the lead and relied on goalkeeper Chris Seitz on too many occasions to keep them in the game in what turned into a 2-1 loss at the National Soccer Stadium.
"Out of the first round, all games become really tight," U.S. coach Thomas Rongen said. "They were well organized and their set piece were very dangerous. We knew that there weren't going to be too many chances. We didn't take our chances, and they took theirs. It was a battle, like we expected and they took the few chances they made.
"We fell short of our goal here in Canada, and we are bitterly disappointed about that."
Indeed, the U.S. should be.
The USA missed out on reaching the semifinals of the competition for only the second time, duplicating the 1989 team's effort. Instead, Austria will take on the winner of today's match between Spain and the Czech Republic in Edmonton on Wednesday.
Erwin Hoffer, who was in the game for two minutes, scored the game-winner during a scramble in front of the net in the 105th minute, the final minute of the first extra-time period.
"Nobody would have thought we could reach the semifinals," Hoffer said.
The U.S. was dumbfounded on what transpired.
"I think we did well in the first half," said Jozy Altidore, whose fourth goal of the tournament gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. "In the second half, we just weren't there mentally. It happens. Unfortunately, it happened to us in the quarterfinals."
Freddy Adu, whose left-wing cross set up Altidore's goal, didn't have an answer as well.
"It's difficult," the Real Salt Lake midfielder said. "I don't know what it is. Things didn't go our way today. But that's soccer for you. Sometimes the bounces go your way and sometimes they don't. It's about inches and bounces and they didn't go our way today."
Austria seemed to adapt better to the rain, which started early in the first half and came down heavily at times in the second half.
"It moved faster without a doubt," Rongen said. "We couldn't move the ball as well as we would have liked."
Altidore agreed. "I thought it did," he said. "But you can't make excuses. You clearly saw the first 20 minutes. Then the rain came in. It was uncomfortable. It just wasn't our day."
The game turned for Austria during a two-minute span late in the first 15-minute extra-time period. First, Hoffer replaced Zlatko Junuzovic in the 103rd minute.
Then barely 30 seconds later in the 104th minute, U.S. defender Anthony Wallace (FC Dallas) was given his marching orders by referee Martin Hansson of Sweden for fouling midfielder Martin Harnik near the sideline at midfield. It was Wallace's second yellow card of the afternoon, and one of 12 that Hansson handed out (eight were given to Americans, four to Austrian players).
Off the ensuing long free kick, Hoffer scored in the 105th minute, poking the ball in from the near post.
Real Salt Lake's Seitz was magnificent, making 11 saves. Ironically, he will remember a save he didn't hold on to that gave Austria its first goal.
Altidore had lifted the U.S. into a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute, connecting for a spectacular goal. Adu, taking advantage of a ton of space given to him, brought the ball into the left corner and lofted a cross to Altidore in the middle of the box. Altidore rose into the air and beat his man, defender and Austrian captain Sebastian Proedl, besting goalkeeper Michael Zaglmair from seven yards.
"It was a great ball from Freddy," Altidore said. "We've been working on that a lot, trying to find each other. I was just trying to do my best."
It was the New York Red Bulls striker's fourth goal of the competition, putting him among the scoring leaders, behind Argentina's Sergio Aguero and Spain's Adrian Lopez, who have five each.
Seitz, back after missing the quarterfinal win against Uruguay with a bruised thigh, made two key saves within seconds in the 38th minute. He dived to his right to deny Veli Kvalak's long-range blast, only to leave the rebound. Martin Harnik, who just entered the game a minute prior for Bernhard Morgenthaler, raced and and fired a point-blank shot that Seitz blocked with his face.
The USA managed to clear the ball out of harm's way as Seitz rubbed his jaw.
"That was a tough one," Rongen said. "It was a little bit of a gamble, but at the end of the day, the right one because he kept us in the game with some crucial stops. He wanted to play. We felt his mobility was good enough to make the saves he needed to as a goalkeeper.
"Chris was pretty darn, darn good."
The U.S. and Seitz, however, never were the same.
In fact, Seitz paid dearly for another rebound off a save that helped Austria equalize in the 43rd minute. Proedel unleashed a 30-yard blast that bounced once in front of Seitz, who could not gather in the ball off the wet turf. With the ball loose in the area, forward Rubin Okotie got possession on the left side as he avoided Tony Beltran. Through a maze of three defenders and Seitz, somehow Okotie put the ball past the goalkeeper with defender Nathan Sturgis on the near post from seven yards.
At halftime, Austria closed down the left-wing gap and Adu wasn't as dominant the rest of the way. A number of his free kicks were off target, as were several of his his passes in the attacking third.
Both teams had chances to win in regulation and in extra time.
Former MetroStars midfielder Michael Bradley tried for a goal, but his shot from the middle of the penalty area went wide left as he fell to the ground in the 75th minute. A little more than a minute later Bradley put a 25-yard rocket on goal that Zaglmair knocked away.
The U.S. survived another two blasts within a five-second span in the 78th minute. Michael Slanislaw fired a long-range shot that Seitz sprawled to knock away. The rebound went to Junuzovic, whose half-volley was saved by Seitz and bounded off the left post out of bounds for a corner kick.
Adu had a great opportunity to put the U.S. into the lead in the 98th minute as Dax McCarty led him with a perfect pass down the left wing. Adu rounded the goalkeeper, but could not catch up to the ball in time. So he was forced to take a difficult shot from a severe angle that traveled wide left.
Michael Lewis has covered every MLS Cup Final and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
