HAMILTON – Three late goals rescued the United States World Cup campaign in Hamilton today after falling behind to Paraguay in the first half.

With one eye on their final Group C match against heavyweights France, USA coach Kazbek Tambi decided to rest eight of his starting eleven who played in the opening loss against Japan.

And the move nearly backfired in the first half when Paraguay stole the lead against the run of play after 32 minutes when nippy striker Rebeca Fernandez poked home a cross from Gloris Villamayor from 8 yards out.

Fernandez – the smallest and lightest player on the field at just 45 kg’s exploded into a 60 yard celebration sprint after giving her side the lead and the Paraguay bench accepted her with open arms at the end.

Missed opportunities was the common theme for the USA in the first half and defender Lexi Harris had the best chance missing from inside the six yard box after a great cutback from Sam Johnson.

Fernandez had a great chance to make it 2-0 after 36 minutes when she wriggled free inside the box, but chose to pass instead of shoot and the opportunity was wasted.

Tambi made changes at half time bringing on the first choice striking partnership of Courtney Verloo and Vicki DiMartino and their impact was immediate, raising the tempo from the outset and putting pressure on the Paraguay defence.

Three minutes into the second half that pressure told, when Paraguay defender Cris Mabel Flores cushioned the ball into her own net after Elizabeth Eddy sent in a cross from the right.

It was a disappointing way to concede for Paraguay who had battled so hard to retain their lead in the first half.

After the equaliser the game opened up and the Paraguay defence was stretched by the quick American attack.

Bennet, Verloo and DiMartino all went close with good opportunities but the ball just would not go in for the US.

Verloo was guilty of arguably the worst miss of the afternoon when DiMartino’s perfect cross found her unopposed just outside the six yard box. Verloo smashed the ball over from close range and the USA bench held their head in hands in frustration wondering what was going wrong.

But in the 78th minute DiMartino swung the pendulum back in the USA’s favour, finishing off a simple chance after being played through by Mewis inside the box. The Paraguay defence was left appealing for an offside call that never came and were punished accordingly.

Five minutes later Verloo made amends for her earlier miss by sending a right footed rocket into the top corner of the Paraguay net from outside the box to cap off an impressive second half appearance by the US.

Paraguay were a different team to the one who conceded six goals against France three days earlier and will be disappointed with their defending late on – but they will be proud of their overall performance where they hustled all over the park and showed some impressive skill.

Tambi was relieved with the final whistle, and happy with his sides performance.

“Relief is a good word. We had a good game plan, and we knew we wanted to score goals today and that’s a poor result. It took us a while to put our chances away.

“If we had stuck more of those away it would have made for an easier game."

 

"I was really pleased with the kids, They didn’t get discouraged and we got three goals eventually."

“Our strategy (in resting so many who started against Japan) was to get fresh legs on the field. We figured if we had some fresh legs that would help us in creating early chances and keeping the pressure on Paraguay.

“I think the game plan was working and in the first 10 minutes we had three good chances and didn’t put them in the net.

“We are capable of beating France. They are a great side and it will be a great game”

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup – New Zealand 2008

 

Paraguay(PAR) (1) 1

USA (0) 3

Waikato Stadium

Hamilton

New Zealand

Saturday 2  November 2008

Kick-off: 13h00

PAR: 1. Zulma ORUE; 3. Cris Mabel FLORES; 4. Noelia CUEVAS (17. Maria TOLEDO 65’); 5. Paola GENES; 7. Rebeca FERNANDEZ; 8. Paola ZALAZAR; 9. Karen RUIZ DIAZ (C) (19. Melissa TALAVERA 65’); 10. Ana FLEITAS (18. Jacqueline RIVAS 88’); 11. Gloria VILLAMAYOR; 14. Evelyn ARMOA; 20. Mara TALAVERA;

Substitutes not used: 2. Erika ROLON; 6. Jacqueline GONZALEZ; 12. Sara TORRES; 13. Raquel CARRERAS; 15. Macarena TOLEDO; 16. Mirna DIAZ; 21. Vivian GONZALEZ;

Yellow cards: 5. Paola GENES 55’; 11. Gloria VILLAMAYOR 89’;

Red cards:

Coach: Carlos BAEZ (PAR)

USA: 18. Taylor VANCIL; 2. Lexi HARRIS; 4. Crystal DUNN; 6. Cloee COLOHAN (c); 9. Sam JOHNSONv(; 7. Courtney VERLOO 46’); 10. Kristie MEWIS; 12. Hayley BROCK (8.Vicki DiMARTINO 46’); 15. Kate BENNETT; 16. Morgan BRIAN 19.Elizabeth EDDY(14. Mandy LADDISH 78’); 20. Olivia KLEI;

Substitutes not used: 3. Amber BROOKS; 5.Erika TYMARK;21. Jenn PETTIGREW; 1.Alexa GAUL; 11. Sam MEWIS; 13. Julia ROBERTS; 17. Rachel QUON;

Yellow cards: 6. Cloee COLOHAN 69’;

Red cards:

Coach: Kazbek TAMBI (USA)

Referee: Thalia MITSI (GRE)

Assistant Referee 1: Maria LISICKA (SVK)

Assistant Referee 2: Romina SANTUARI (ITA)

4th Official: Michelle PYE (CAN)

Group C Standings:

 

 MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
Japan 2 2 0 0 10 3 7 6
USA 2 1 0 1 5 4 1 3
France 2 1 0 1 7 9 -2 3
Paraguay 2 0 0 2 3 9 -6 0

Paraguay defender Paola Genes shields the ball from USA Goalscorer Courtney Verloo

USA: Verloo challenging for a ball with the Paraguay defence.

Olivie Klei watches on as her team mate evades a Paraguay challenge

Photos: Grant Stantiall