U.S. under-23 men

Portugal is Vale do Tejo final foe after eliminating Russia in penalty kicks.

ALGERIM, Portugal (Wednesday, January 22, 2003) -- The United States under-23 men opened their 2003 international schedule by defeating Russia 4-1 in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the Vale do Tejo International Tournament today.

The U.S. advanced to Thursday's title match against Portugal, a 3-2 winner over Slovenia yesterday.

Alecko Eskandarian, the top pick in Major League Soccer's recent draft by D.C. United, opened the tiebreaker by knocking home his penalty with Jose Buciarga, Kelly Gray and Adolfo Gregorio following with successful attempts. Meanwhile, American goalkeeper D.J. Countess saved the second and third tries by the Russians to seal the U.S. advance.

Russia took a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute when captain and midfielder Alexander Belozerov found net.

Twelve minutes later, the U.S. pulled even at 1-1 when Eskandarian set up Nate Jaqua, the third overall MLS pick by the Chicago Fire, for a low blast from 25 yards that zipped under the arms of goalkeeper Maxim Kabanov,

The U.S. last met Portugal on the U-23 level last February 8 in the final game of the Madeira International Tournament with Eskandarian equalizing in the 70th minute to pull out a 1-1 draw, leaving the Americans second in the four-team event.

The U.S. began it's five-game tour of Portugal with exhibitions against reserve teams from Portugal's First Division, posting a 1-1-1 record. After dropping the first match 3-1 to the Sporting Lisbon January 14, the U.S. rebounded to tie Benfica 0-0 last Wednesday and shut out Santarem District 2-0 on Thursday.

Referee: Darko Ceferin (El Salvador). Assistant referees: Jose Manuel Cardinal (Portugal), Luis Costa Marcelino (Portugal). Attendance: 500 (approximate) in Almerim, Portugal. Weather: 45 degrees; cold, clear