US Did Just Enough

Debate all you will the first-round performance of the U.S. under-23 national team, which scored just three goals -- the first on a free kick, the next two on penalty kicks -- but won Group A to move to the all-important semifinals of CONCACAF's qualifying tournament for this summer's Beijing Olympics.

The Americans failed to meet expectations while getting the needed results in Tampa, and that's all that mattered. Paired, surprisingly, with Canada in Thursday's semis in Nashville, the U.S. finally broke out of its slog, scoring three times to book its ticket to Beijing.

That two of the goals, both by Freddy Adu, were on free kicks -- the third, by Sacha Kljestan was from close range -- doesn't matter. This U.S. team struggled to put together goals in the run of play during this tournament, but the objective was met, and now head coach Peter Nowak can tinker with his roster and tactics before Olympic play begins in August.

It's a rewarding triumph after the U.S., which played in (and lost) the bronze-medal game at the 2000 Sydney Games, failed to qualify for Athens 2004, falling to Mexico in the semifinals. The prospect of that happening again was possible until the Mexicans, who had their own struggles in front of the goal, failed to finish in the top two in the other first-round group.

In Group A, the U.S. leapfrogged Honduras -- which also qualified for the Olympics, edging Guatemala on penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw Thursday -- on Eddie Gaven's spot kick with virtually the final boot of the group finale. It was a dull series of games, only one of which -- Panama's meaningless triumph over shorthanded Cuba -- featured more than two goals.

Across the country, it was something else entirely. Group B, played out at Home Depot Center, featured four tight clashes, including a controversial Haiti victory over Canada and stunning Guatemala win over Mexico, then climaxed with the most exciting 5-0 and 5-1 battles the sport perhaps has ever seen.

When it was done, it was Guatemala and Canada in the final four, and Mexico was done, with the media calling for head coach Hugo Sanchez's termination. Federacion Mexicana de Futbol officials said no decision would be made until the end of the month while hinting that Sanchez's contract, which runs through the 2010 World Cup, would be honored.

The drama began March 14: Canada watched an early lead slip away when Haiti scored two stunning goals in the final 20 minutes, an Alain Gustave volley and Leonel Saint-Preux's 35-yard floater to the upper-left corner. Canada coach Nick Dasovic cried foul afterward, blasting the Haitians for failing to return the ball after the Canadians had knocked it out of bounds so injured right back Nikolas Ledgerwood could receive treatment.

The unwritten rule for such situations would require Haiti to throw the ball in to Canada, but the Haitians instead attacked, stringing three quick passes to set up Gustave's volley as the flat-footed Canadians tried to fathom what was happening.

Dasovic called the goal "atrocious," said his players were "naïve" to believe Haiti would honor the tenets of fair play, and vowed that any side he coached would never again kick a ball out of bounds for an injured player. "If there are eight broken legs on the field," he said, "we will play on."

Mexico's path to Beijing was considered a done deal. Three wins in Carson would send El Tri to Nashville for a victory over Group A's runner-up -- Honduras, as it turned out -- in the decisive semifinals. Trouble is, Mexico hadn't been able to score goals with any consistency since the start of preparations for the qualifiers. The absence of stars Giovanni Dos Santos (with Barcelona), Andres Guardado (with Deportivo La Coruña) and Carlos Vela (with Osasuna, on loan from Arsenal) and an absence of finishing prowess among those available meant that Mexico's possession meant nothing.

The 1-1 draw with Canada in a Group B opener was a disappointment, but New Mexico-born Edgar Castillo's ninth-minute goal, from a mid-box scramble, against Guatemala was the start of good things, right? Not quite. Los Chapines, Central America's rising power, countered with Carlos Villa's strike before halftime, then pulled out the 2-1 triumph on Maynor Ignacio Lopez's goal in the 67th minute.

Guatemala clinched a berth in the semifinals, all but wrapping up the group title, and the knives were out for Sanchez. But Mexico still controlled its destiny. The top spot in Group B was out of reach, but if the Mexicans could beat Haiti by more goals than Canada beat Guatemala -- or win while the Canadians tied or lost -- they would head to Nashville needing a victory over the U.S. to book their ticket to Beijing.

Los Angeles has a reputation as a Mexican city, and it's true, but it also is -- among many things -- a Guatemalan city, and the Mexicans and Guatemalans don't have the warmest of relationships. Guatemala's victory over the Mexicans was played out to several fights in the HDC stands and one in, yes, a luxury suite. So as Canada pummeled the Guatemalans in the opener of Sunday's doubleheader, the Guatemalan fans cheered as loudly as the Canadians, whooping it up as the Canucks netted three, four, finally five goals -- more than enough, it would seem, to finish off the hated Mexicans.

Mexico would need a five-goal victory to keep pace with Canada -- a 5-0 win would force a coin flip for Group B's second slot; a 6-1 or 7-2 scoreline, anything along those lines, would give Mexico the edge on the second tiebreaker, most goals. Haiti, meanwhile, would advance if it triumphed.

Cesar Villaluz provided the Mexicans an advantage in the 18th minute, and Haiti was down to 10 men shortly afterward when Judelin Aveska was dismissed, and that's how it stood into the second half. Edgar Andrade made it 2-0 in the 61st minute, but Saint-Preux halved the deficit for Haiti a minute later, a goal that would prove all-important.

This is where everything went frenetic. The Mexicans, fueled by Villaluz and Luis Angel Landin, went on all-out attack. Twice they had five-on-goalkeeper breaks, and the goals started flowing: Santiago Fernandez in the 70th minute, Enrique Esqueda in the 83rd -- then another Haitian red card, for Jacqueson Jean, in the 84th -- and Landin in the 90th, and it was 5-1. The Mexicans needed just one more to advance, and five minutes of stoppage figured to be enough.

But two shots hit the post, and Haitian goalkeeper Johnny Placide stopped Villaluz's penalty kick in the 78th, raced off his line to thwart those five-on-nones, then made a miraculous foot save on Landin four minutes into stoppage. The final whistle blew, and Canada was through.

"When Haiti went down to nine men, I said to the rest of the coaching staff, 'We've got no chance,' " Canada's Dasovic said afterward. "Then when five extra minutes were added on, I thought we were dead. But to be fair to the Haitians, they did battle like madmen. They have a pride for their country, and you could see it on the pitch.

"But at the end of the day, I still can't believe the scenario. No one could have written this story. We're in L.A., so maybe somebody wants to pick this movie up."

It's a different story, of course, for Sanchez. He's the greatest figure in Mexican soccer, an all-world striker who starred at Real Madrid (and played in the NASL and MLS), but he's as loathed as he is loved south of the border. After taking charge of El Tri in 2006, he promised the CONCACAF Gold Cup title and an Olympic medal but has failed to provide either.

"Obviously, this is a failure," Sanchez said in the postgame news conference. "I don't like to use the word, but everyone wants to hear it, so I might as well say it. We planned to go to the Olympics. Not being there is a disappointment."

Enough so that Mexico's media demanded Sanchez quit or be fired. The sports daily newspaper Record, in a front-page editorial: "Hugo, have some dignity and quit. Don't bring on any more shame." Reforma and Diario Monitor chimed in, too, and tabloid Cancha ran Sanchez's photograph with the headline "Fuera!" ("Out").

Sanchez described the Olympics as part of a greater process leading to the 2010 World Cup and said he would not step down. "I have an objective, and the World Cup in South Africa is part of that objective," he said. "I think we should wait out the process ... wait it out to see how it unfolds."

Mexico's soccer chiefs, who addressed the HDC media after Sanchez's appearance, are awaiting a March 31 meeting of Mexico's club directors -- it is a gathering to study a full report on Mexican soccer -- before making a decision, but they hinted that they're in Sanchez's corner, that the greater objective is what matters most, and that they expect success leading to and in 2010. Sanchez, they said, would coach Mexico's senior team against Ghana on Wednesday in London.

Spot Kicks

-- Brian McBride scored his first goal since his knee injury last August to lead Fulham past Everton, 1-0, and provide a lifeline to the London club's survival in the English Premier League. Fulham sits 19th in the 20-team division, with three teams headed for relegation to the second-tier Championship, but the Cottagers are only three points from safety with eight games to play.

All five Americans -- McBride, goalkeeper Kasey Keller, defender Carlos Bocanegra, midfielder Clint Dempsey and forward Eddie Johnson -- played for Fulham, and Tim Howard was in the nets for Everton. Never before have six Americans been featured in a Premier League clash.

-- The U.S. women's national team claimed its record sixth Algarve Cup title in Portugal, edging rising Denmark, 2-1, in the final as Abby Wambach scored her 89th international goal and team-best third of the tournament. Canada's women, meanwhile, won the less prestigious Cyprus Cup tournament, holding off the U.S. U-20 team, 3-2, in the final. Christine Sinclair scored five goals for the Canadians, two in the title game.

The U.S. is 7-0 under Swedish coach Pia Sundhage, outscoring foes 21-2.

-- Devon McTavish hasn't scored in 29 MLS appearances the last two seasons for D.C United, but he netted his second and third goals in as many CONCACAF Champions Cup games, and 2007 MLS MVP Luciano Emilio added a pair, as D.C. advanced to the semifinals of the region's club championship Tuesday with a 5-0 romp over Jamaica's Harbour View at RFK Stadium. They'll face defending champion Pachuca on April 1-3 and 8-10, with the first leg in Mexico and second in D.C.

D.C. won the two-game series on 6-1 aggregate, but Harbour View had reason to cry foul: stars Kemeel Wolfe and Rafiek Thomas, who played pivotal roles in the 1-1 first-leg draw, were denied U.S. visas and could not travel to Washington. Also denied visas were the club's equipment manager and chef.

Santino Quaranta set up two of D.C.'s goals, a fine return to his first MLS club after stints with Los Angeles and New York left him out of contract following last season.

-- The Houston Dynamo, as expected, also pushed through to the semifinals, dominating Guatemala's Municipal, 3-1, as Dwayne De Rosario scored two goals. Next: Costa Rican power Saprissa, which overcame a first-leg deficit by spanking Mexican Apertura champ Atlante, 3-0, for a 4-2 aggregate conquest. Houston is home for the first leg and away for the second.

-- Los Angeles Galaxy castoff Kelly Gray has landed with the Colorado Rapids, and coach Fernando Clavijo has him penciled in at starting left back when the Rapids play out of 4-3-3 formation. Clavijo also will utilize a 3-4-3.

-- Here are the matchups for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup quarterfinals and beyond:

In the Champions League, AS Roma is home for the first leg against Manchester United and Schalke 04 is home against Barcelona on April 1. Second legs are April 9, and the winners meet in the semifinals. In April 2 first legs, Chelsea visits Fenerbahce and Arsenal is home against Liverpool. Second legs are April 8; winners meet in the semis.

In the UEFA Cup, Bayer Leverkusen will play host to Zenit St. Petersburg, Rangers to Sporting Lisbon, Bayern Munich to Getafe and Fiorentina to PSV Eindhoven in April 3 first legs. Second legs are April 10. Semifinal pairings: Rangers/Sporting vs. Fiorentina/PSV and Bayer/Zenit vs. Bayern/Getafe.

-- The U.S. and Canada have European friendlies Wednesday, and both figure to use Europe-based rosters. The Americans face Poland in Krakow, and Canada takes on Estonia is Tallinn.