WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 8, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- On a night when Kasey Keller was honored for his 100th cap and Landon Donovan earned his, the United States answered recent criticism by shutting out world number one Argentina in a 0-0 draw at Giants Stadium.
US and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard played the full 90, stopping multiple Argentine chances and making seven saves while the US responded with several close shots of their own.
“He saved us and kept us in the game," Donovan said of Howard. "In certain moments, when things aren't really going well for you, you hope that your goalkeeper can make a few saves and Timmy went above and beyond that tonight. We can't rely on that all the time because that's not fair on him, but you hope in certain moments he can make those types of plays. He's shown that he can rise to that level over and over again.”
With both teams looking for the winner late, an odd sequence while the US formed a wall in the 71st minute ended up with Pablo Mastroeni being shown a red card.
Whether a case of mistaken identity or just botched officiating, Mastroeni was off and the US were down to ten men. Argentina would lose a player of their own fifteen minutes later, when Javier Mascherano was shown a second yellow.
The game ended with the United States pushing the attack, as Freddy Adu and Sacha Kljestan got quality looks after coming on as second half subs.
With World Cup Qualifying a week away, the US relocates to the Home Depot Center to prepare for Barbados on June 15th.
-- Game Report --
Match-up: USA vs. Argentina
Date: June 8, 2008
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Giants Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Attendance: 78,682
Weather: Warm, 85 degrees
Scoring Summary:
1 2 F
USA 0 0 0
ARG 0 0 0
Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 22-Oguchi Onyewu (23-Jay DeMerit, 61), 5-Danny Califf, 15-Heath Pearce (7-Eddie Lewis, 78); 4-Michael Bradley (26-Maurice Edu, 46), 25-Pablo Mastroeni; 8-Clint Dempsey (19-Freddy Adu, 61), 10-Landon Donovan (capt.), 17-DaMarcus Beasley (2-Frankie Hejduk, 91+); 9-Eddie Johnson (12-Sacha Kljestan, 74)
Subs not used: 18-Brad Guzan
Head Coach: Bob Bradley
ARG: 1-Roberto Abbondanzieri; 3-Gonzalo Rodriguez, 4-Nicolas Burdisso (2-Martin Demichelis, 46), 6-Gabriel Heinze, 13-Pablo Zabaleta (8-Javier Zanetti, 77); 5-Fernando Gago, 7-Maximiliano Rodriguez (20-Fernando Cavenaghi, 74), 14-Javier Mascherano (capt.); 9-Julio Cruz (19-Lisandro Lopez, 64), 11-Sergio Aguero (15-Ever Banega, 88), 18-Lionel Messi (17-Jose Sosa, 46)
Subs not used: 12-Sergio Romero, 16-Jonas Gutierrez
Head Coach: Alfio Basile
Stats Summary: USA / ARG
Shots: 9 / 10
Shots on goal: 4 / 7
Saves: 7 / 5
Corner Kicks: 7 / 6
Fouls: 19 / 18
Offside: 3 / 2
Misconduct Summary:
ARG – Nicolas Burdisso (caution) 18th minute.
USA – Pablo Maestroeni (caution) 60.
USA – Maurice Edu (caution) 70.
USA – Pablo Maestroeni (caution) 71.
USA – Pablo Maestroeni (sent off) 71.
ARG – Gabriel Heinze (caution) 84.
ARG – Lisandro Lopez (caution) 84.
ARG – Javier Mascherano (caution) 86.
ARG – Javier Mascherano (sent off) 86.
Officials:
Referee: Joel Aguilar Chicas (SLV)
