Carson, Calif. (Jan. 20, 2007) - The U.S. Men's National Team came from behind to earn a 3-1 win against Denmark in their first match of the 2007 at The Home Depot Center. The match was also the first under head coach Bob Bradley, who earned his first win as U.S. Men's National Team head coach.
Denmark opened the scoring in the 37th minute when Simon Poulsen crossed the ball in to Dennis Sorensen, who sent a header past U.S. goalkeeper Matt Reis. Seven minutes later, Ricardo Clark had his jersey pulled just inside the Denmark area as he tried to push his way through several defenders. The tug did not escape the referee, who awarded the U.S. a penalty kick that Landon Donovan was able to convert, tying the match at one just before halftime.
In the second half, Bradley brought on Justin Mapp, who made his presence felt in the 57th minute. Mapp danced his way through two defenders before slipping through two more. He raced to the endline before cutting the ball back with a dangerous cross to Jonathan Bornstein in front of the goal. Bornstein didn't disappoint, sending the ball past Danish 'keeper Jesper Christiansen to put the U.S. ahead, 2-1.
The USA's third goal came in the 80th minute when second-half half subsitute Heath Pearce sent a ball past the Danish backline to fellow second-half sub Kenny Cooper, who found himself on a breakaway. With the Danish defense hot on his heels, Cooper waited until the last second before slipping it past Christiansen and into the lower right corner of the goal.
Both Bornstein and Cooper scored their first international goals in their first-ever cap for the full U.S. Men's National Team.
The U.S. will next face archrival Mexico on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. MT in Pheonix, Ariz. The MNT will also take on Ecuador on March 25 in Tampa Bay and Guatemala on March 28 in Dallas, Texas.
A full match report will be posted shortly.
-- U.S. Men’s National Team Game Report --
Match-up: USA vs. Denmark
Date: January 20, 2007
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: The Home Depot Center – Carson, California
Kickoff: 2 p.m. PT
Attendance: 10,048
Weather: 59 degrees, cool, sunny
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 1 2 3
Denmark 1 0 1
DEN – Dennis Sorensen (Simon Busk Poulsen) 37th minute
USA – Landon Donovan (penalty kick) 44.
USA – Jonathan Bornstein (Justin Mapp) 57.
USA – Kenny Cooper (Heath Pearce) 80.
Lineups:
USA: 24-Matt Reis; 5- Chris Albright (6-Bryan Namoff, 63), 12-Jimmy Conrad (capt.), 23-Bobby Boswell (4-Dan Califf, 89), 3-Jonathan Bornstein; 25-Pablo Mastroeni (14-Kyle Beckerman, 86), 13-Ricardo Clark, 10-Landon Donovan, 17-Chris Rolfe (19-Heath Pearce, 74); 9-Eddie Johnson (20-Kenny Cooper, 63), 11-Nate Jaqua (21-Justin Mapp, 46)
Subs not used: 1-Joe Cannon
Head Coach: Bob Bradley
DEN: 16-Jesper Christiansen; 6-Michael Gravgaard (capt.), 7-L ars Jacobsen, 10-Anders Moller Christensen, 17-Chris Sorensen (14-Christopher Poulsen, 68); 9-William Kvist Jorgensen, 12-Peter Nymann (19-Christian Keller, 46), 20-Rasmus Wurtz (2-Kristian Bak Nielsen, 81), 21-Niki Zimlig (13-Hjalte Do Norregaard, 58); 5-Simon Busk Poulsen (11-Morten Nordstrand Nielsen, 68), 18-Dennis Sorensen (3-Jesper Bech, 46)
Subs not used: 1-Casper Ankergren, 4-Jonas Borring, 15-Michael Ribers
Head Coach: Morten Olsen
Stats Summary: USA DEN
Shots 13 11
Saves 0 4
Corner Kicks &n bsp; 2 5
Fouls 14 17
Offside 1 5
Misconduct Summary:
USA – Chris Albright (caution) 33rd minute
USA – Pablo Mastroeni (caution) 51.
DEN – William Kvist Jorgensen (caution) 54.
USA – Kenny Cooper (caution) ; 81.