U.S. team feels at home in win over Costa Rica
SALT LAKE CITY – Landon Donovan, Brian McBride and Kasey Keller gave a rare pro-American soccer crowd a lot to cheer about.
Donovan regained his scoring touch with goals in the sixth and 62nd minutes, McBride added the final goal, and Keller came up with three huge saves to lead the United States over Costa Rica 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier Saturday night.
Often booed at home by fans cheering their former homelands, the U.S. team came to Rice-Eccles Stadium for the first time. The biggest sporting event in Salt Lake City since the 2002 Winter Olympics drew a red-white-and-blue clad crowd of 40,586 to the scenic stadium, located at the foot of the snowcapped Wasatch Mountains.
“They were tremendous. They were passionate. They were loud,” Donovan said. “I really hope that we come back here.”
Heading into Wednesday night’s qualifier at Panama, the United States (3-1) is second in the final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region with nine points, one behind Mexico (3-0-1), which won 2-0 at Guatemala.
Costa Rica, Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago (all 1-2-1) each have four points, and Panama (0-2-2) has two after losing 2-0 Saturday at Trinidad. The top three nations qualify for next year’s World Cup in Germany, and the No. 4 team goes to a playoff against the fifth-place team in Asia.
“Now we put ourselves in a great position to go to Panama, a team that’s a little bit down after losing today,” Donovan said, “If we can find a way to win there, we’re pretty close to on our way to Germany.”
U.S. coach Bruce Arena switched formations, starting three forwards instead of two and three defenders instead of four. He did it partly to get his players into an attacking mindset and partly because of injuries.
“This game speaks volumes for our team,” he said. “This certainly tested our depth.”
Much happier since he left Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen this spring and joined Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, Donovan had his fourth multigoal game with the national team, increasing his totals to 21 goals in 63 international appearances. He ended a five-game scoreless streak and tied Bruce Murray for fourth on the career scoring list, trailing only Eric Wynalda (34), McBride (27) and Joe-Max Moore (24).
After a quiet first half, Keller made six saves in the second, including three that were spectacular. He stopped Jafet Soto by going to his right in the 47th, then just got his left hand out to bat away Soto’s header in the 60th.
Keller, who got his 38th shutout in 80 appearances, then made a great one-on-one stop on Douglas Sequeira, who was ejected in injury time and is suspended for Wednesday’s game.
“Kasey’s reactions on the line are fantastic,” Arena said of his 35-year-old goalkeeper. “He’s still every bit as quick as he was five years ago.”
Donovan thought all those shots were headed into the net and called Keller “probably one of the top three goalies in the world, if not the top goalie in the world.”