What began as a dominating performance by the United States turned into a surprising struggle Tuesday night.
Instead of celebrating a victory, the USA settled for one point after a rather disappointing 1-1 draw with Cuba in Group A of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.
The result was considered even more confounding because the U.S. team is supposed to be the finest under-23 side assembled by the country, the first such team that boasts only professional players. Early on it lived up to its hype, but could not put away a goal or the game when it counted at Raymond James Stadium.
The U.S. now trails Honduras in Group A, 1-0 winners against Panama in the opener of the doubleheader. The last thing the U.S. wants to do is finish second in the group, which could set up a potential semifinal confrontation with Mexico (assuming the Mexicans finish atop Group B in Carson, Calif.). The U.S. was eliminated by Mexico in the semifinals during the 2004 qualifying competition.
"Obviously, it does get a little frustrating," said midfielder Freddy Adu, who connected for the hosts' lone goal. "You just rebound. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't."
The U.S. started out strong, dominating the match for the first half hour before the Cubans regained their composure and confidence.
"We had a good start," U.S. coach Peter Nowak said. "We need to keep our shape and keep calm. We could play better."
It certainly did not help the U.S. that it lost 18-year-old star striker Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls) to an injury at halftime. Altidore was fouled roughly twice by defender Yendry Dias, falling hard to the ground both times. He was replaced by midfielder Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA).
"Jozy got knocked a couple of times," Nowak said. "We talked to our doctor. It was precautionary stuff. We have another two games. Hopefully, he will be ready for Thursday."
The U.S. plays Honduras on Thursday in what is now a must-win situation.
"Three points are vital," Toronto FC midfielder Maurice Edu said. "We've got to win. We've got to create chances and get goals."
From the opening kickoff the U.S. dominated the match as Adu seemed to have the ball at his feet most of the time doing just about whatever he wanted.
His persistance paid off in the 14th minute off a corner kick. After a feed from Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Adu fired a 14-yard shot from the edge of the left side of the penalty area. Charlie Davies, situated in front of the goal, jumped out of the way and allowed the ball to wind up in the far corner for a 1-0 lead.
"We talked about it and when would be the right time to do it in a game," Adu said. "Charlie Davies -- I give all the credit to him. He made a great dummy and it went into the back of the net."
Whatever momentum the U.S. had gained just vanished as the Cubans slowly, but surely gained composure and confidence.
"Maybe, maybe, we took our foot off the pedal," Adu said.
The USA paid for it big time in the 42nd minute, when Cuba equalized. Leonel Duarte sent a pass to Yordany Alvarez on the right side of the penalty area. Noticing Rigoberto Linares open, Alvarez placed a diagonal pass to his teammate that went through the legs of defender Patrick Ianni as Linares beat Seitz from six yards.
"We need to play compact," Nowak said. "It some places there were a few holes and we lost our composure."
The U.S. played a man up for the final seven minutes after Linares was red-carded by referee Walter Lopez in the 83rd minute. Linares, who was yellow-carded for his goal celebration in the first half, was slapped with his second yellow and subsequent ejection for kicking the goal after an offside call.
Playing a man up, the U.S. tried for the game-winner. Their best opportunity came in the 90th minute, when Adu's 24-yard free kick sailed wide right. Kljestan had a so-so header to goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda in stoppage time.
The U.S. could not pull off similar heroics that Honduras did in its victory against Panama.
Hendry Thomas connected for the game-winning goal from 12 yards in the 90th minute. Thomas converted a pass from 24 yards by Oscar Morales from the left side.
Then, during stoppage time, the crossbar and goalkeeper Kevin Hernandez saved the Hondurans.
Second-half substitute Nelson Barahona fired a 23-yard shot off the crossbar about a minute into stoppage time. Gabriel Torres gathered in the rebound, but his attempt was tipped over the net by Hernandez.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News 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.
