USA’s Clint Dempsey (left) celebrates after scoring against Ecuador during their Copa America Centenario football tournament quarterfinal match, in Seattle, Washington, United States, on Friday.
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Each team saw a player sent off, after Ecuador’s winger Antonio Valencia received a second yellow in the 52 minute, and the US’ Jermaine Jones received a red card for a subsequent confrontation with Valencia. Dempsey then was a main catalyst again on the attack in the 65th minute as Bobby Wood kept the ball alive and connected with Dempsey who edged one past the goaltender as Gyasi Zardes knocked it in at the goal line to put the US up 2-0 at that point.
The subsequent 10 v 10 circumstances should’ve benefitted Ecuador, but the USA scored in the 75th minute on tap-in from Gyasi Zardes off a Dempsey cross.
Enner Valencia should have scored at least twice from close range headers but it was Arroyo who cut the lead after 73 minutes when he found the net with a low drive from the edge of the box after the defense had given him too much space. In the fracas that followed Jermaine Jones was sent off for jabbing Arroyo in the face and Bobby Wood picked up a yellow card, meaning both will be absent for the semi-final.
U.S. will now meet the winners of the quarter-final between Argentina and Venezuela, for whom Watford’s Adalberto Penaranda may again start when they meet at midnight on Saturday UK time.
U.S. were thankful for the wasteful Enner Valencia, who spurned two glorious chances to score within the space of a minute by directing both of his headers wide.
Peru also drew with Ecuador and beat Haiti, and Feyenoord midfielder Renato Tapia said: “Now we must fully focus on Colombia”.
“It was an absolute joke”, Klinsmann said. But our program is maturing. “It’s that striker mentality”.
I, like most sane sports fans, only sort of half-watched the U.S. -Ecuador match while devoting most of my attention on LeBron and company’s noble attempt to do what me and my coworkers try to accomplish every day, which is make Kevin Draper cry.
The only previous knockout win for the USA over a non-CONCACAF team was against Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup semifinal. Arroyo’s goal came off Walter Ayovi’s free kick from a flank.
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At the other end, Brad Guzan did well to turn an Enner Valencia shot round the post as he honed in on goal. Cheer up, Ecuador. We’ll see you in three months for the World Cup qualifiers. Ecuadoran players seemed to take exception, and players and game officials had to step in. They have only made the semi-finals once before, finishing fourth in 1995.
