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O'Brien, Van der Meyde square off in USA-Netherlands
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International
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CMGI Field in Foxboro, Massachusetts
Sunday, 19 May, 2002 |
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The United States and Netherlands played a lively match in
front of 36,778 fans at the newly opened CMGI Field in Foxboro,
Massachusetts on Sunday. Ajax' John O'Brien and Andy van der
Meyde represented their respective countries, with Van der
Meyde claiming bragging rights by scoring a goal in his
inaugural public game for Oranje.
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| John O'Brien pursues Frank de Boer. [Photo: Scott
Bales/YCJ] |
In their last and most challenging preparation match before
departing for the World Cup finals in Japan/South Korea, the US
played arguably their best match this year. They tested their
highly regarded guests, and especially goalkeeper and Man of
the Match Ronald Waterreus, with numerous volleys at the Dutch
goal. In all, the US managed 18 shots at goal, forcing 11 saves
from PSV's Waterreus.
However, it was the men in orange who scored the goals,
though neither were entirely of their own making. Two fits of
suspect defending helped the Netherlands to notch two goals
against an otherwise resilient US team.
First, it was Roy Makaay who collected a poor clearance and
then beat first-half goalkeeper Brad Friedel with ball from a
difficult angle. (45)
In the second half, Andy van der Meyde made sure his first
game for the Netherlands was a memorable one, as he stole the
ball from David Regis and dribbled deftly past a charging Kasey
Keller before slotting home the second and final goal of the
match. (76)
"I think that both sides created a lot of chances. It was a
wide open game," noted Dutch coach Dick Advocaat. Speaking
about their chances against tough competition in the first
round of the impending World Cup, Advocaat added, "If they play
the way they can play they can be very difficult for any team.
There's a lot of quality players there."
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| Andy van der Meyde steals the ball from USA's David
Regis, moments before scoring his first-ever goal for
Oranje. [Photo: Scott Bales/YCJ] |
Van der Meyde also had praise for the Americans, and for
O'Brien in particular:
"If he plays like he normally plays, every one will see that
he's a great player."
Meanwhile, O'Brien returned the compliment to his Ajax
teammate. "It's his debut with the national team, and it's good
to see him do well. It was a good goal. He had a good
game."
After the match, US coach Bruce Arena was philosophical
about the loss.
"We're not supposed to be ready today. We're supposed to be
ready on June 5th." (JM)
GOALS
- 45' 0-1 Roy Makaay
- 76' 0-2 Andy van der Meyde
Referee: Archundia (MEX)
Yellow cards: Stam (Netherlands); Berhalter, Lewis
(USA)
Attendance: 36,778
US line-up: Brad Friedel (Kasey Keller, 46), David
Regis (Joe-Max Moore, 81), Jeff Agoos (Gregg Berhalter, 41),
Eddie Pope, Tony Sanneh, DaMarcus Beasley (Eddie Lewis, 87),
John O'Brien, Claudio Reyna, Earnie Stewart (Cobi Jones, 73),
Clint Mathis (Landon Donovan, 56), Brian McBride (Josh Wolff,
65).
Netherlands line-up: Ronald Waterreus, Michael
Reiziger, Fernando Ricksen, Jaap Stam (Andre Ooijer, 81), Frank
de Boer, Arthur Numan, Danny Landzaat, Andy van der Meyde,
Edgar Davids, Roy Makaay (Pierre van Hooijdonk, 76), Philip
Cocu (Paul Bosvelt, 76), Boudewijn Zenden (Victor Sikora,
76).
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