The New England Revolution suffered through a frustrating night Wednesday, playing to a scoreless draw with LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarterfinal -- a result that might well have been compounded by a serious-looking injury to Pat Noonan.
Noonan collapsed to the ground in agony in the 79th minute and limped off shortly afterwards, dealing a blow not only to his team's chances of overcoming the Central American side in the return leg in two weeks time, but also putting his World Cup hopes at risk ahead of next week's friendly in Germany against Poland.
Noonan lined up on the right side of the Revolution midfield in a lineup that had a makeshift look to it. Clint Dempsey partnered Taylor Twellman at forward as head coach Steve Nicol elected to switch from the side's regular 3-5-2 formation, to 4-4-2. In central defense, Daniel Hernandez partnered Jay Heaps, in the continued absence of an injured Michael Parkhurst. Meanwhile, Tony Lochhead, usually a defender, lined up for his Revolution debut wide on the left of midfield.
Despite its unusual look, it was the Revolution that created the best chances of the game and there is no doubt that Nicol's side should be taking a lead to Costa Rica, for the return leg on March 8.
Before his injury, Noonan was involved in much of what was good from the home side. He was the catalyst for the Revs two best chances of the game, when his pull-back from the right touchline in the 24th minute found Lochhead, who fired wide with the goal gaping.
Then, 12 minutes into the second half, his perfect cross found Twellman, but his header was straight at Wardy Alfaro in the Alajuelense goal.
Twellman's miss was one of several created by the Revolution in the opening minutes of the second half. Just seconds after the restart, the striker, playing with so much confidence following his recent successes with the USA, blasted a left-footed volley just inches over from 25 yards. Showing the all-round ability that so pleased U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena, Twellman had created the chance himself when he tracked back to win possession and linked well with Dempsey and Lochhead.
Twellman had a further chance to break the deadlock in the 63rd minute, only to shoot wide from 20 yards having received a flick from Noonan, who ran intelligently on to a pass from Shalrie Joseph.
The St. Louis native's chances sandwiched another opportunity that should have seen the Revs take the lead. In the 50th minute, a Heaps header across goal from Andy Dorman's free kick found the unmarked Noonan, but he fired a left footed volley over the bar.
The first period had seen both sides largely cancel each other out. The exception to that came in a three-minute spell in which Rolando Fonseca, the leading scorer in Costa Rican national team history, showed the watching fans what a danger he could be.
On the quarter hour, his cross shot skidded across goal and just wide of Matt Reis' left post. Two minutes later, Hernandez might have considered himself lucky to stay on the field, when he was caught out of position and appeared to hold back the Alajuelense striker. Fortunately for the Revs, referee Hu Liu judged that Joe Franchino was in close enough proximity to the play and Hernandez saw yellow instead of red.
As the game petered out towards a draw, Ryan Latham replaced the unfortunate Noonan, having been preceded off the bench minutes earlier by Jose Cancèla, who was sent in for Andy Dorman who faded after a bright start.
However, a combination of the conservative play of Alajuelense and the inability of the Revolution to increase the pace, which, after just three weeks of preseason training is perhaps not surprising, meant that the two sides will reconvene in Costa Rica will all to play for.
Andrew Hush is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP QUARTERFINAL
National Stadium, Hamilton, Bermuda
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 0, LD ALAJUELENSE 0
Revolution: Matt Reis - James Riley, Jay Heaps, Daniel Hernandez, Joe Franchino; Pat Noonan (Ryan Latham 82), Shalrie Joseph, Andy Dorman (Jose Cancela 74), Tony Lochhead; Clint Dempsey, Taylor Twellman
Substitutes not used: Doug Warren, Avery John, Willie Sims, Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz
Cautions: Hernandez, Twellman
LD Alajuelense: Wardy Alfaro - Harold Wallace, Luis Marin, Rafael Rodriguez, Carlos Castro; Carlos Hernandez, Christian Oviedo, Christian Montero, Wilmer Lopez (Emil Martinez 58), Bryan Ruiz (Erick Scott 85), Rolando Fonseca (Roy Myrie 73)
Substitutes not used: Pablo Izaguirre, Erick Jimenez, Pablo Nassar Bolanos, Patrick Pemberton
Cautions: Oviedo, Ruiz
Referee: Hu Liu
Referee's Assistants: Craig Lowry, Tom Supple
Fourth Official: Alex Prus
