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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:20 EST |
U.S., Iran produce entertaining match
By Jamie Trecker
[Special to ESPN.com]
LOS ANGELES -- You could say that it was Iran's first home game ever in the USA, and it did not disappoint: For all the flaws in both teams' play (and they were on ample display) this was a solid, entertaining match.
The near-50,000 crowd -- overwhelmingly pro-Iran, from the attempts to paint the seats to match that nation's flag to the propaganda sheets handed out before the match -- didn't get to see the best U.S. performance, but saw enough. In fact, this may well be remembered as the worst post-Bruce Arena match to date, but one constant remained from last year's surprisingly refreshed side. Simply put, this American team gets stronger in the second half.
For all the niggles -- the fact that the Americans looked like three
units, not one team; the Iranians preferred to pack the box rather than
attack -- certain elements shone. The play of Claudio Reyna continues to improve. Jeff Agoos remains a stable presence. Chris Armas is still
irreplaceable. And despite badly missing key players Eddie Pope and Robin Fraser -- to say nothing of the mysterious absence of C.J. Brown -- the Americans did enough to hold the draw, even if it wasn't very pretty.
But there is some rust to be worked out. To wit: the Americans did not react quickly enough on the counter, in either direction. Eddie Lewis' crosses were too often loped-in rather than raked along the ground, meaning an easy clearance for any of the 10 red shirts hanging about the Iran box. Tony Sanneh, who seemed to be suffering from a hamstring pull on the left side, was not involved in this game. And Brian McBride, who tried to get into the flow of game play, seemed left out by an attack that too frequently exploited the left side at the expense of the right.
Much of this is due to MLS being in the off-season; perhaps those passes would have been crisper had the Cla -- oh, excuse me, Earthquakes -- been in season. Perhaps McBride would have been more available had he spent some time fighting through United's defenders.
Still, this match, and the pending game against Chile, show a U.S. team that remains potent, if a bit soft.
Jamie Trecker, editor of Kick! magazine, writes regularly for ESPN.com. You may e-mail him at jamie_trecker@go.com; while he guarantees he will read all letters, he regrets that he cannot guarantee a reply because of overwhelming volume.
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