- Title: SOUTH KOREA: US. FOOTBALL COACH CONFIRMS HIS TEAM FOR MEXICO -US WORLD CUP MATCH
- Date: 16th June 2002
- Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 16, 2002) (REUTERS) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) COACH BRUCE AREAN CONFIRMING HIS TEAM WILL BE WITHOUT DEFENDERS JEFF AGOOS ADN FRANKIE HEJDUK SOUNDBITE (SPANISH) LANDON DONOVAN SAYS "THE USA HAS ALREADY PLAYED TOUGH DEFENSIVE TEAMS, PORTUGAL KOREA AND POLAND AND WE'VE DONE WELL AGAINST THEM SO WE WILL TRY THE SAME APPRAOCH WITH MEXICO AND ATTACK THEM WHENEVER WE CAN." SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) COBI JONES SAYS HIS TEAM WERE PROUD TO HAVE REACHED THE LEVEL OF PLAYING AGAINST BRAZIL BUT THE U.S. HAD LOST AND THEY HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF LOSING. THEY WANT TO PLAY AT THE TOP LEVEL AND WIN." Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st July 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA2ZXUBEM6I1D27H7NUUBF5T2U6
- Story Text: With United States central defender Jeff Agoos ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a calf injury, coach Bruce Arena has limited options for his back four in what is expected to be a very defensive game with Mexico on Monday.
The abscence of Agoos puts Carlos Llamosa in line to make his first start of the tournament.
Left-back Frankie Hejduk is suspended for the match, with David Regis likely to replace him.
The United States expect a defensive game with few goals when they meet rivals Mexico for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals on Monday, coach Bruce Arena said on the eve of their second round match.
Midfielder Landon Donovan said the U.S. team were familiar with Mexico and their defensive game and that the first round opponents they had already faced posed similar challenges.
"We've already played three teams that play very well defensively," Donovan said.
"We've done fairly well against them and we're going to take the same approach.
Wherever we can attack Mexico we're going to." he said.
The U.S. finished second in group D, upsetting Portugal 3-2, drawing with South Korea 1-1 and losing 3-1 to Poland.
They were helped by the co-hosts, who beat Portugal 1-0 on Friday to finish top of the group and eliminate their opponents from the finals.
Arena stayed tight-lipped about who would replace defenders Jeff Agoos and Frankie Hejduk for Monday's game. In Friday's loss to Poland, Agoos injured his right calf and Hejduk got suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament.
"I'm confident in the guys we have," Arena said.
"The options we have at the back are (Carlos) Llamosa, (David) Regis, (Gregg) Berhalter along with (Eddie) Pope and (Tony) Sanneh," he said, naming almost every defender in the squad. "Take your choice." The Mexicans have played the U.S. 46 times -- winning 28, losing nine and drawing nine. But the U.S. have beaten Mexico in four of the five meetings over the last two years.
The neighbours have met twice in World Cup qualifiers, with a home win apiece, but have never played each other in the finals. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
