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UNITED-STATES 1 / BRAZIL 0, February 10, 1998. |
LOS ANGELES, California February 10, 98 (AP). In one of its biggest soccer upsets, the United States beat Brazil for the first time ever, advancing to the championship of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 1-0 victory over the world champions Tuesday night. Preki Radosavljevic scored on a booming shot from about 23 yards out 10 minutes into the second half, and the United States held on. "They were missing a few players. You have to give them credit. It wasn't their full team," said U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who stopped Romario four times in the first half. "But it still was a tremendous occasion for us. "There's a lot of times when you make one or two saves to keep your team in the game, but to make three or four is rare." The Americans had been 0-8 against Brazil and had been outscored 19-0 by the Brazilians since a 4-3 loss in an exhibition game on August 17, 1930. They advance to the final of the championship of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region, and willplay Mexico or Jamaica on Sunday. It was a stunning loss for Brazil, which in 1994 won its record fourth World Cup title by beating Italy at the Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena. Brazil already had been under intense criticism back home following ties against Jamaica and Guatemala in the first round. The Brazilians were missing about half their regular starters, including star forward Ronaldo, the two-time FIFA world player of the year. But their lineup included Romario, the MVP of the last World Cup. Radosavljevic, a naturalized American from the former Yugoslavia, replaced Roy Wegerle early in the second half. He got the goal after Eric Wynalda streaked up the left side, then crossed to the center of the field. Radosavljevic's shot to the near post easily beat goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel. "It feels great. To come off the bench and score against a team like Brazil is great," Radosavljevic said. It was his goal Sunday that gave the United States a 2-1 victory over Costa Rica and a berth in the semifinals. Until the goal, the Brazilians had dominated the game, outshooting the Americans 13-3 in the first half. Romario had four good scoring chances in the first half, but was stopped each time by goalkeeper Kasey Keller, just in from Leicester of England's Premier League, where he had consecutive shutouts of Leeds, Manchester United and Liverpool. Romario had an open net late in the second half following a great through ball by Edmundo but his shot went wide. Keller made another good saves with three minutes to go, pushing aside a shot by Elber. "I was betting a few times in the second half Romario would have put one away," Keller said. "It was just our night." The win was the sixth straight for the Americans, the most ever for the team, and the United States extended its unbeaten streak to nine, tying the team record. Notes: Cobi Jones played his 100th game for the United States, third most behind Marcelo Balboa (124) and Paul Caligiuri (114). ... Jamaica and Mexico play Thursday night in the other semifinal. ... The other big wins for the United States were 1-0 against England in the 1950 World Cup, 2-0 over England in the U.S. Cup '93 exhibition tournament and 2-1 over Columbia in the 1994 World Cup. 
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