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Portugal is U.S. Vale do Tejo final foe after eliminating Russia in penalty kicks. U.S. under-23 men Portugal takes Vale do Tejo title from Americans in penalty kicks.ABRANTES, Portugal (Thursday, January 23, 2003) -- After a 1-1 draw, host Portugal defeated the United State 4-2 in a penalty-kicks tiebreaker to win the championship of the third edition of the Vale do Tejo International Tournament before an estimated 5,000 at the Municipal Stadium this afternoon. The U.S. advanced to the final by prevailing in penalty kicks 4-1 yesterday to eliminate Russia after a 1-1 tie. It was an excellent trip for us," said U.S. coach Glenn Myernick. "Given the high level of competition, this group far exceeded our expectations. We had a lot of young players who took a great opportunity, rose to the occasion to represent the U.S., and gave us a chance to win a very good tournament." 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 the next day to tie Benfica 0-0 and shut out Santarem District 2-0 last Thursday. Today, Portugal was successful putting all four of its penalty attempts past U.S. goalkeeper D.J. Countess who stopped two of three Russian shots in yesterday's tiebreaker. After striker Alecko Eskandarian and defender Jose Buciarga found net with their tries, defender Kelly Gray and midfielder Seth Stammler saw their shots saved by Portugese goalkeeper Miguel. Neither team generated many scoring chances with the U.S. taking only four shots and Portugal three through 90 minutes. Portugal dominated much of the play in the first half, but it was the Americans who took a 1-0 lead in the 74th minute when midfielder and captain Brian Carroll sent a left-footed, in-swinging right-side corner kick to the far post where Jaqua leaped to snap a header back across the goal and into the right side netting. Portugal tied the match at 1-1 three minutes later with a goal by João Paulo. Jaqua scored both goals for the U.S. in this tournament. United States 1, Portugal 1 (Portugal wins 4-2 on penalty kicks) Lineups: Portugal - Miguel, Toni, Ricardo Silva (Ricardo Carvalho, 46), Rogério Matias, Areias, Flávio Meireles, Fangueiro (Rui Miguel 79), Silas (Miguel 46), Castanheira (Rui Lima 46), Ricardo Sousa (captain), João Paulo. United States - D.J. Countess, Chris Wingert (Scot Thompson 77), Kelly Gray, David Stokes, Jose Burciaga, Kyle Beckerman, Brian Carroll (captain), Adolfo Gregorio (Seth Stammler 58), Logan Pause, Nate Jaqua, Alecko Eskandarian. Scoring:
Penalty kicks scoring:
Shots: Portugal 3, United States 4. Saves: Portugal 3, United States 2. Corner kicks: Portugal 10, United States 3. Fouls: Portugal 20, United States 26. Offside: Portugal 0, United States 1. Yellow card cautions: Portugal - Areias 18; United States - Beckerman 35, D.J. Countess 85. Referee: Nikolay Ivanov (Russia). Assistant referees: Jose Manuel Cardinal (Portugal), Kermit Quisenberry (United Arab Emirates). Attendance: 5,000 (estimated) at Estadio Municipal de Abrantes in Abrantes, Portugal. Weather: 50 degrees, cold, clear. |
