By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – The men’s World Cup is still three months away, but the U.S. soccer team showed Saturday that it doesn’t need too many more tune-ups.
In front of a crowd of 38,534 passionate fans, the Americans breezed to a 4-0 win over Honduras in a “friendly” at Safeco Field.
Two days before his 20th birthday, young phenom Landon Donovan scored twice, while Clint Mathis added two goals of his own to lead the U.S. team.
“It was a good afternoon for our team,” said coach Bruce Arena, whose team improved to 5-1-1 in 2002. “I thought our guys gave good effort, and it was a positive for us to be able to look at 15 guys today.”
The U.S. dominated every facet of the game while playing against a Honduras team that failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup. The Americans had 11 shots on goal, compared to only one by Honduras. The visiting team only had one genuine scoring opportunity, but Lacey native Kasey Keller made an impressive save to thwart that chance.
The U.S. scored the game’s first goal on a Mathis header in the 14th minute after teammate Brian McBride headed the ball to him in front of the Honduras goal. Mathis nearly scored again six minutes later, but the ball trickled just wide.
In the 28th minute, Keller came up with the most impressive save of the game. Honduras forward Saul Martinez got a step on two U.S. defenders and had a breakaway. Martinez shot the ball toward the lower left side of the goal, and Keller went down to knock the ball away with his right hand.
“The key to something like that is the defense not giving up and continuing to put pressure on the man so he doesn’t have much time,” Keller said. “If he only has one shot and he’s hurried, he can’t make a lot of moves on me.”
Keller, who played collegiately at the University of Portland, recorded his fifth shutout in six games with the national team this year. He has to make the most out of any opportunity since he is battling Brad Friedel for the starting job at the World Cup in June. Keller found out last week that he will have to return to his English Premier League team this week. Keller won’t be able to play at next Sunday’s game against Germany in Birmingham, Ala.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Keller said of Tottenham Hotspur’s decision to make him play during the national exhibition schedule. “I want to be playing as many games as possible for my country.”
Asked about the competition among goalkeepers, Arena remained non-committal.
“Whatever decision we make, we’re going to have a good goaltender on the field,” Arena said.
After Keller’s save, the Americans took the game over. Donovan scored a goal just before halftime, then he and Mathis each added another in the second half.
“If we get two goals in the first half, we’re feeling pretty comfortable” said Donovan, a natural forward who is being tested out as a midfielder. “It allows us to go forward more.”
It marked the first time since 1993 that two U.S. players have scored multiple goals in the same game.
Mathis’ day was unexpected considering the fact that he’s still rehabilitating from a knee injury that kept him out of last year’s Major League Soccer season.
“I still think it’s going to take him another two months or so before he’s in form,” Arena said. “Although he had two goals today, which is the way you grade strikers, he needs to be better than he was today.”
All in all, the U.S. team was pleased with its experience while playing in Seattle for the first time in eight years. Safeco Field, for all its baseball amenities, turned out to be a pretty good facility for soccer. The dirt basepaths were filled in with grass, making the stadium look like a natural home for soccer. But, with the Seahawks’ multi-purpose stadium scheduled to be completed this summer, Safeco is unlikely to host another soccer game.
“It’s been a great week here,” Arena said. “We never thought we’d have to be concerned about skin cancer here in Seattle, but the sun’s been out ever since we’ve been here. I think they put on a real good show. Thirty-eight thousand for a friendly in March is impressive. I think people at U.S. soccer will continue to give Seattle strong consideration down the road.”
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