Futbol en las Olimpiadas 2008

United States 1, Japan 0 - U.S. Men’s Team Ends Scoring Drought in Opener - NYTimes.com

TIANJIN, China — Two very different teams tried to employ contrasting tactics in the same oppressive conditions here Thursday when the United States men's Olympic team opened Group B play against Japan with a 1-0 victory.
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Vincent Yu/Associated Press



Brian McBride of the U.S. fighting for the ball with Japan's Hiroyuki Taniguchi.



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If the Americans felt any increased pressure to perform well after the American women’s team suffered an embarrassing defeat by Norway the night before, it could not have been heavier than the air here in the Olympic Stadium. A dense, humid haze hung over the field, weighing on players and spectators alike. Both teams started the game conservatively, tightly managing the defenses and making few runs of more than a couple of yards.

“It was a hot day and it was thick air,” said Brian McBride, the American team captain. “You have to be smart about it. When you have a chance to go forward, you go forward. When you need to keep the ball and take a little more time, you need to do it.”

Players’ passes were deadened by the 93-degree heat, and the crowd’s enthusiasm was dampened by the 85 percent humidity, which meant that both were judicious in how they expended their energy. “You’re never going to be able to buzz around for 90 minutes in weather like this,” said McBride.

The Americans attempted to control the early pace of the game by running all plays through their two central midfielders, Sacha Kljestan and Michael Bradley, and limiting the space between players. Those tactics had the effect of compacting the field, and resulted in dull soccer, giving an early indication of how conditions may affect athletes’ performances when the Olympic games begin in earnest this weekend.

Japan, unable to compete physically with the Americans in the center of the field, preferred to operate on the flanks and counterattack. When the players became less uncomfortable in the muggy air, they had some success springing Atsuto Uchida and Keisuke Honda on the outside with wide passes out of the back. Neither of the American fullbacks, Michael Orozco and Marvell Wynne, was able to keep up in the first half.

“We know the Japan team is very dangerous on counterattacks, and they find the good spots between the defensive line and midfield line,” said the United States coach, Peter Nowak. “We didn’t pay attention to who was coming from the defensive line.”

Japan’s midfielders and defenders repeatedly got behind the American back four. But high crosses were easily snatched out of the air by the goalkeeper, Brad Guzan. Low crosses into the box were frustrating for the 6-foot, 3-inch keeper, though, and they often surprised a criminally unsuspecting American defense. But no Japanese players could connect in the box.

“There were some lapses, there was no perfect game from us,” Nowak conceded.

Shini Kagawa of the Japanese team took a short corner kick in the 21st minute, playing a combination with Uchida that sprang Kagawa behind the American defense again. He sent a dangerous low ball across Guzan’s bow, but it was bungled badly at the far post by Mossato Morshige, a defender who pressed up for the corner kick. Another counter attack in the 40th minute saw a low cross from Uchida narrowly missed by Hirovuki Taniguchi before halftime.

The United States came out with renewed urgency in the second half, and it paid immediate dividends.

“For about five minutes, we wanted to press, press, press, and take the game to them — and we got a goal,” said Freddy Adu, a crowd favorite in Tianjin. “Once you get a goal, it’s very, very hard in these weather conditions to come back from a goal down.”

Stuart Holden took a pass on the right side of midfield in the 47th minute, working a few nifty combination passes with Wynne. Wynne mustered all of his effort to make an overlapping sprint with the ball down the right flank, deep into Japanese territory. His low cross was well defended, but the clearance fell to Holden at the top right of the box. Holden held his ground and released a low hard shot that had just enough force to be slowed, but not stopped, by Shusaku Nishikawa, the Japanese keeper.

Holden and Adu, who started up front next to McBride, were more active in the second half, pleasing a crowd that cheered loudest whenever Adu — and later Jozy Altidore, who replaced McBride in the 74th minute — touched the ball.

Both teams play their next qualifying matches on Sunday, with the United States team facing the Netherlands and Japan facing Nigeria.