U.S. eliminated from men's soccer tournament

BEIJING --The width of a crossbar made all the difference in the world on Wednesday.

Had forward Charlie Davies’ last-minute header off a Dax McCarty free kick been just a couple of inches lower, the U.S. might have tied Nigeria and earned a place in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men's soccer tournament.

But the ball clanged off the bar at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing and rebounded away, taking with it American hopes as Nigeria survived to win the match, 2-1, in front of 48,096.

That result, combined with the Netherlands’ 1-0 victory over Japan, sent the Dutch and the Nigerians through to the last eight and ended U.S. participation in the tournament.

The American team’s hopes were dealt an early blow when defender Michael Orozco was ejected by German referee Wolfgang Starg for throwing an elbow into a Nigerian player just three minutes into the match. The foul occurred at midfield and was totally unnecessary.

The red card caused Coach Peter Nowak’s side to have to play short-handed for 87 minutes plus stoppage time. It was too great a wall to climb, even in China.

But the Americans gave it everything they had. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan was in phenomenal form, time and again making world-class saves.

There was nothing he could do about Nigeria’s two goals, however. The first came in the 39th minute when Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi, Nigeria’s liveliest player, got around defender Michael Parkhurst to the right of the American net and then provided the pass that left Promise Isaac with the simplest tap-in for the goal.

The second came in the 79th minute and again Parkhurst was the unfortunate victim, this time slipping and falling in the penalty area while trying to tackle the ball away from Victor Obinna, who curled a shot past Guzan at the far post.

The U.S., playing inspired soccer considering it was exhausted from having to make up for Orozco’s absence, managed to pull a goal back in the 88th minute on a penalty kick by Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan after Nigeria goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin had fouled Maurice Edu.

The Americans kept pressuring Nigeria in search of the tying goal that would have sent them into the quarterfinals at the expense of the Dutch, but their luck ran out when Davies’ header sailed just a little too high and hit the crossbar instead of the back of the net.

Overall, Nigeria outshot the U.S., 20-8, but it had only a 5-4 advantage in shots on target.

The U.S. finished with four points after defeating Japan, 1-0, and tying the Netherlands, 2-2, and while the team did not make it out of the group play, its performance in the tournament was worthy of a quarterfinal place.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Photo: Maurice Edu of the U.S. and Nigeria's Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi, right, fight for a header during their Group B game Wednesday evening in Beijing. Credit: Petr David Josek / Associated Press

Comments

[Skip]

Kudos to the American team for a great effort and congrats to the victorious Nigerian squad.

Having said that, let me also say that once again we have the course of an important game altered by an unprofessional overreaction by a referee, in this case Wolfgang Starg. For those who did not see the game, Orozco took the ball from Nigeria's #11 and turned away, whereupon the Nigerian player grabbed first Orozco's jersey and then his shoulder from behind. Orozco passed the ball and swung his left arm around. It was impossible to tell if he was intentionally striking the Nigerian player or just trying to clear the guy off his back. In any case, the Nigerian took a flop, clutching his chest as though pole-axed in a display of thespianism worthy of an Academy Award, whereupon Starg showed Orozco the red card.

Bad play by Orozco; bad judgment if indeed the elbow was an intentional blow. Jersey pulling and other unsportsmanlike play (flopping, for example) can be very frustrating; still you must maintain your composure. But terribly bad judgment by Starg, whose premature and unwarranted ejection of Orozco almost certainly cost the Americans the chance to advance. With 10 on 11 they still played a highly competitive game against the oft disorganized Nigerian side, whose players seemed more intent on individual grandstanding than team play once they had the man advantage.

Why do I criticize Starg? Because he should have better awareness of the situation and act with appropriate restraint. It was only four minutes into the game, and he was confronted with a foul me/foul you situation in which no damage had been done. A better referee would have yellow carded Orozco and given him a stern warning against further transgressions, and then warned the Nigerian player about flopping and jersey grabbing. And then let them play on.

Alas, Starg wasn't that good a referee. But we can be proud of the tremendous effort of our team who fought against the odds to the bitter end.

[Don]

I did not see the game, but I have visited Germany several times and I am not surprised that a referee from that country made a controversial call against an American soccer team in these 2008 Olympics. Many Germans have an extreme dislike for the USA, that go way back in history.
One only has to hear some of the absurd comments about America from many of the citizens directed at the States to really understand just how deep the animosity runs over there.
This is not the first time that a German official has determined a crucial international game (on the negative side) that the USA came close to either winning or tying.