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Saturday, September 23
U.S. shocks Japan with shootout victory
Associated Press
ADELAIDE, Australia -- Look out Sydney, here they come.
After edging Japan 5-4 in a sudden-death penalty shootout after
two periods of overtime in Saturday's quarterfinals, the U.S. men's
soccer team is Sydney-bound and hungry for that "Olympic
feeling."
|  | | U.S. players celebrate Saturday's victory against Japan. |
The U.S. men, who'd never before advanced out of the first round
at an Olympic tournament, now go into a semifinal Tuesday against
Spain, a 1-0 winner over Italy in another quarterfinal.
Josh Wolff scored the Americans' first goal to tie it 1-1, then
earned a last-minute penalty kick, which Pete Vagenas put home,
sending the game into overtime.
He then took the critical fourth kick in the shootout after
Japan missed its fourth. Wolff gave the United States an edge for
the first time, before leading the celebrations as the jubilant
bench spilled onto the field when Sasha Victorine nailed the
winner.
"We're pumped," said Wolff, who scored a goal, had an assist
and earned a penalty kick in the preliminaries as the United States
won Group C at 1-0-2. "Me, I'm just excited about going to Sydney
to be a part of the Olympics. It's going to be pretty wild. We're
going for a medal and its going to be exciting."
Victorine, who came on as a substitute in overtime, put the
fifth penalty kick just past the desperate dive of goalkeeper Seigo
Narazaki. He said minute-for-minute, it was the greatest game of
his career after he hadn't played a minute in the three
preliminaries.
"Coming off the bench into a situation like that is amazing,"
Victorine said. "I don't know, it was just incredible to be able
to come in and help the team like that."
While Wolff described the win as the defining moment in the
team's history, Vagenas said the entire game was "surreal."
"I don't think it's sunk in -- maybe when we leave to play in
the semifinal it might hit me," he said.
After Victorine scored just inside the post to the bloodied
Narazaki's left, the entire American squad sprinted onto the field
as if it had won the World Cup, tearing off shirts and pumping
clenched fists in triumph.
Japan, which led twice, stood back bewildered, jaws dropped.
The Americans rallied twice, including Vagenas' penalty kick
after a dubious call by Zimbabwean referee Felix Onias Tangawarima.
Wolff and Tomoyuki Sakai were vying for the ball when the
American striker was barely pushed from behind and appeared to take
a dive near the end line as the ball went out of bounds.
His performance convinced Tangawarima it was a foul.
Wolff defended the referee's decision, saying the penalty was
warranted.
"I got myself in front, he clipped my feet and I was forced
down," he said. "It was a good PK to give us a tie, and
fortunately we won it on penalty kicks.
"I don't think we were dead at any point. We were down twice,
but we kept up the spirit ... and deserved what we got," he said.
Philippe Troussier, head coach of the Japanese team, said he
didn't want to dwell on refereeing decisions.
"Of course we're a little frustrated," he said. "We have to
accept the result. The USA won, Japan lost.
"We had a lot of chances to score, it's a pity for us. Today
was a very good match for both teams. Good luck to the USA."
Exhausted, and with the bulk of the 18,345 crowd at Hindmarsh
Stadium cheering on the Japanese, the Americans huddled as Vagenas
stepped up for the first U.S. kick in the shootout. The screams of
"Nippon, Nippon, Nippon," overwhelmed the "U-S-A, U-S-A" chants
as the Japanese fans and flags outnumbered the Americans at least
4-1.
In the shootout, Vagenas, Jeff Agoos and Landon Donovan all
scored, while Japan's Shunsuke Nakamura, Junichi Inamoto and Ryuzo
Morioka beat goalie Brad Friedel.
Then Hidetoshi Nakata, who plays in Italy for AS Roma, struck
the left post with a right-footed kick as Friedel, flat on the
ground, punched the air in celebration. The United States had the
opening it needed.
Wolff didn't waste it, lifting his shot into the roof of the
net. After Japan scored again, Victorine ended it -- and began the
wild exultations.
Friedel, who made a stunning, diving save in overtime, getting
his fingertips to Nakata's drive to keep the Americans alive, said
it was the biggest thrill of his career.
"This is a big moment for American soccer," said Friedel, one
of three over-age players on the under-23 roster. "To make it this
far in a tournament of this magnitude, this is just fantastic."
Earlier, Atsushi Yanagisawa scored the opener at 30 minutes with
an angled header.
Wolff tied it at 68 minutes when he fired a right-footed drive
past Narazaki after the Japanese defense deflected a cross from
Agoos.
The Americans sprinted to the left corner to celebrate, but
Japan struck back almost immediately. Naohiro Takahara took two
shots to get around Friedel in the 72nd minute.
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