Good times for the US men's soccer program. The main national team took two big steps last week toward qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany with consecutive 3-0 wins against Costa Rica in Salt Lake City and against Panama in Panama City. The US is the first team to win in Panama during this qualifying cycle. For my money, goalkeeper Kasey Keller was the man of both matches. His excellent performance in the 2nd half against Costa Rica kept the US ahead when it was only 1-0; he pulled off a ridiculous triple save midway through the first half against Panama when they were putting the US under tremendous pressure. Having a world class keeper like Keller is a tremendous advantage.
With their next two games at home (against weak Trinidad & Tobago in Hartford and against death rival Mexico in Columbus, OH), the US could qualify for Germany before Labor Day. That would be good since the pair of games after that are in Costa Rica and Guatemala, two of the most difficult places to play in Latin America.
The US under-20 national team pulled off a huge upset at the World Youth Cup in Holland. The Yanks stunned holders Argentina. I watched the game and the 1-0 result was certainly deserved. The US certainly was not intimated by a program that had won three of the last four Youth Cups and was far more dangerous in attack for most of the game. The U-20s next two games won't get much easier as they play Germany and African powers Egypt.
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