Soccer-Guatemala hold U.S. to scoreless draw
Reuters
Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:51AM BST
DALLAS, March 28 (Reuters) - The United States were held to a goalless stalemate by a stubborn Guatemala in a friendly in Texas on Wednesday, bringing an end to interim coach Bob Bradley's perfect record.
Bradley coached the team to three wins in as many games after replacing Bruce Arena in December, but Guatemalan defended well to earn the draw as Clint Dempsey and Justin Mapp wasted the best chances for the hosts in the second half.
The sides will meet again in the first round of June's COCCACAF Gold Cup, the main tournament involving North and Central American nations and the Caribbean islands.
Bradley is lobbying to get coaching job on a full-time basis, but a decision has yet to be made on a permanent successor to Arena.
United States 0, Guatemala 0
whdh.com
FRISCO, Texas -- The U.S. soccer team's perfect run under interim coach Bob Bradley ended with a 0-0 tie against Guatemala in an exhibition game on Wednesday night.
The Americans had won their first three matches after Bradley replaced Bruce Arena in December. Bradley hopes to get the full-time job with the U.S. team, which is now off until June.
Goalkeeper Kasey Keller, playing with the national team for the first time since the World Cup, was hardly tested by the Guatemalans, the opening opponent for the Americans in the first round of June's CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region.
Clint Dempsey set up several scoring chances in the second half, most notably in the 62nd minute when his pass found an open Justin Mapp in the top corner of the box. Mapp's shot went wide of the far post.
About a minute earlier, Jonathan Spector had an open look from nearly the same spot, but he sent a weak dribbler wide of the net.
Dempsey nearly scored in the 78th minute. He beat goalkeeper Ricardo Trigueno to a Frank Simek cross, but his header was cleared off the line by Pablo Melgar.
Guatemala's best chance came in the 43rd minute when Carlos Ruiz, an FC Dallas player working on his home field, sent a volley straight down into the turf. It bounced high, coming down on top of the net.
The Americans had two solid scoring chances in the first half, the first on a combination from Dempsey to Landon Donovan to Eddie Johnson, whose shot from 15 yards out went straight to Trigueno.
The other U.S. chance came in the 35th minute, when Trigueno saved Dempsey's diving header off a Donovan free kick.
