2000 Nike U.S. Cup

The 2000 Nike United States Cup (U.S. Cup), a Nike-sponsored, United States Soccer Federation (USSF)-organized round robin tournament, took place in June 2000. The 2000 U.S. Cup was the seventh, and last, in the series, which began in 1992.

For this year’s U.S. Cup, USSF invited three nations, Ireland, South Africa and Mexico, to join the U.S. team. Of the three teams invited, Ireland was playing its third cup, Mexico its sixth and South Africa, its first. Ireland had first played in the inaugural cup in 1992 while Mexico had won three straight coming into the 2000 tournament. South Africa made its U.S. Cup debut this year, becoming only the second African team to compete, after Nigeria in 1995.

Pre-Tournament Controversy

USSF had deliberately scheduled the 2000 U.S. Cup to fall during 2000 European Championship. USSF hoped to attract two European nations from the pool of countries that failed to qualify for EuroCup. Once EuroCup qualifications solidified the final field, USSF approached Ireland, Russia and Scotland, but only Ireland accepted the offer. In order to make up for the lack of European participation, USSF extended an invitation to South Africa, an African Cup semifinalist six months earlier. However, South Africa elected to use the U.S. Cup to give several younger players international experience and therefore did not bring its full senior team. While both the lack of European participation and South Africa’s decision on player selection disappointed USSF, these paled in comparison to the controversy surrounding Mexico’s participation.

After the 1999 U.S. Cup, USSF had negotiated a three year contract with the Mexican Soccer Federation, obligating Mexico to send its full international team to the next three U.S. Cups. By the time the 2000 Cup was staged, three major developments threatened Mexico’s participation. First, in May 2000 Alberto de la Torre became the new Mexican Football Association president. He took control of a federation which had just failed to qualify for the Summer Olympics and had lost badly at the Gold Cup. He quickly fired Hugo Enrique Kiese, chief of the national team commission and the official most responsible for Mexico’s three year contract with USSF. De la Torre was publicly critical of both Kiese and the U.S. Cup contract. To make matters worse, the Mexican League had also extended its season due to weathered out games. This meant that many of the top Mexican players would still be in the post-season during the U.S. Cup. Finally, FIFA had pressured CONCACAF to alter its World Cup qualification schedule, making the games earlier than anticipated. In fact, the U.S. and Mexican teams would leave the U.S. Cup and go immediately into preparation for those games. This meant that Mexican players, coming off their domestic league schedule, would have no time to rest before beginning a grueling World Cup qualification campaign. Therefore, de la Torre, just weeks before the cup, asked USSF to reschedule it for August. With Ireland and South Africa confirmed and stadiums scheduled, USSF refused. De la Torre then told USSF that he would refuse to send the Mexican team, but USSF threatened a lawsuit, as well as FIFA sanctions. De la Torre brought Kiese back into the Mexican Federation and sent him to break the to USSF, Mexico would send its “national team”, but the national team would look a lot like the UNAM Pumas. ^{[http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=52652]} After the tournament, USSF considered canceling its U.S. Cup contract with Mexico, a point which became moot as the 2000 tournament was the last played.

June 4: Opening Day

The 2000 U.S. Cup opened with two games on June 4, 2000. The first match pitted South Africa against the host U.S. in Washington, D.C.’s RFK Stadium. While the U.S. team had typically drawn well at RFK Stadium in the past, only 16,750 fans showed for a game played on clear, 78 F day. USSF later blamed the low turnout to poor marketing by the local professional club D.C. United with which USSF had contracted, but this was merely one in a series of missteps associated with this cup. On the field, the U.S. dominated South Africa. In the 36th minute, Cobi Jones took a pass from Chris Armas, and cut from right to left across the box. As Jones recalls it, "As I was dribbling across the box, the player who was marking me said, ‘Shoot it! Shoot it!’ So I said, ‘OK, I’ll shoot it.’ I think he was a little bit surprised after the fact." Jones would score again, then assist on second half goals from Claudio Reyna and Ben Olsen. The game was also notable as U.S. defender Jeff Agoos reached his 100th cap.footballbox | date = June 4, 2000
16:00
team1 = fb-rt|USA |score = 4–0|report= [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/news/2000/06/03/usa_safrica_ap/ (Report)] |team2 = fb|RSA |goals1 = Jones 36’
Jones 43’
Reyna 65’
Stewart 68’; |goals2 = |stadium = RFK Stadium
Attendance: 16,570
Referee: Marrufo (Mexico)

United States - Kasey Keller; Tony Sanneh, Carlos Llamosa, Jeff Agoos, David Regis; Earnie Stewart (Steve Ralston 82'), Chris Armas, Claudio Reyna ("captain"), Eddie Lewis (Ben Olsen 66'); Brian McBride (Ante Razov 70'), Cobi Jones (Jason Kreis 84')

South Africa - Andre Arendse; Cyril Nzama, Pierre Issa, Andrew Rabutla, David Kannemeyer (Jacob Lekgetho 73'); Helman Mkhalele, Dumisi Ngobe, Thabo Mngomeni, Ivan McKinley (Delron Buckley 33'); Benedict McCarthy (George Koumantarakis 73'), Shaun Bartlett ("captain")

----The second game began half an hour later in Chicago’s Soldier Field where Mexico and Ireland played to a 2-2 tie. In this game, over 36,000 fans came to the game despite heavy and nearly constant rain. Mexico dominated the first half but Ireland made a late game comeback on goals by Richard Dunne and Dominic Foley. In the last minutes of the game, both teams had opportunities to gain the winning goal, but Ireland’s Kevin Kilbane shot just wide and Mexico’s Joaquin Beltran saw his header punched over the bar by Ireland’s goalkeeper, Dean Kiely.

Ireland - Dean Kiely, Stephen Carr, Terry Phelan, Gary Breen, Richard Dunne (Phil Babb 82'), Jason McAteer, Matt Holland, Mark Kennedy, Barry Quinn (Kevin Kilbane 41'); Niall Quinn ("captain"), Robbie Keane (Domonic Foley 46')

Mexico - Sergio Bernal, Joaquin Beltran, Christian Ramirez (Gilberto Jimenez 69'), Raul Alpizar, Israel Lopez, Gerardo Torrado, Luis Perez, Antonio Sancho ("captain") (Gerardo Galindo 81'), Horacio Sanchez, Luis Ignacio Gonzalez, Daniel Osorno

June 6: U.S. vs. Ireland

Only a single game took place on this day. when Ireland and the U.S. played to a 1-1 before another disappointingly low turnout. Only 16,319 fans, from a heavily Irish immigrant community, came to see the game which was played in a driving rainstorm in Foxboro Stadium. Once again, USSF blamed local promoters for the poor numbers. On the field, Ireland’s Dominic Foley scored first, taking a feed from Stephen McPhail before slipping past U.S. defender C.J. Brown and beating U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel. The Irish retained their lead until Ante Razov evened the match with a controversial goal. Earnie Stewart hit a clearly off-side Razov who scored as the Irish players stood still anticipating that the referee would whistle the ball dead. Instead, the referee and linesmen, all from Mexico, allowed the goal. Three minutes later, the stadium lost power for ten minutes. The game was delayed a further ten minutes as the lights warmed up. The low turnout, off-side goal and power outage merely added to the sense that this was a poorly run tournament.

After the game, the Irish hinted at a conspiracy between the U.S. and Mexico as an Irish victory would have won the tournament. Whatever the reason the Mexican officials allowed the goal, USSF secretary general Hank Steinbrecher denied it was a conspiracy, saying, "I wish we were that sophisticated."

footballbox | date = June 6, 2000
20:00
team1 = fb-rt|USA |score = 1-1|report= [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/2000/06/06/us_ireland_ap/ (Report)] |team2 = fb|IRL|goals1 = Razov 68’|goals2 = Foley 31' |stadium = Foxboro Stadium
Attendance: 16,319
Referee: Archundia (Mexico)

United States - Brad Friedel, Frankie Hejduk, C.J. Brown, Gregg Berhalter, Greg Vanney, Steve Ralston (Earnie Stewart 46'), John O'Brien (Claudio Reyna 60), Jovan Kirovski, Ben Olsen (Tony Sanneh 75'); Jason Kreis (Cobi Jones 65'), Ante Razov (Brian McBride 88')

Ireland - Alan Kelly; Stephen Carr, Gary Breen, Phill Babb, Terry Phelan; Stephen McPhail (Jason McAteer 37'), Matt Holland, Gareth Farrelly (Mark Kennedy 72'), Kevin Kilbane, Gary Doherty (Niall Quinn 72'), Dominic Foley (Barry Quinn 88')

June 7: Mexico vs. South Africa

A day after the U.S.-Ireland match, Mexico met South Africa before 27,815 fans in the Cotton Bowl. Mexico, clearly the superior side, defeated South Africa 4-2. The Mexican victory ensured that its game with the U.S. would be for the Cup championship. The Mexican team scored twice in the first half before South Africa staged a brief come back when Benni McCarthy scored in the 52nd minute making it 2-1. Mexican substitute and coach’s son Horacio Sanchez came into the game in the 79th minute and scored two quick goals to put the game out of reach. Thabo Mngomeni put away a penalty kick close to time to make the score respectable.

footballbox | date = June 7, 2000
20:00
team1 = fb-rt|MEX|score = 4-2|report= [http://www.soccertimes.com/international/2000/games/jun07.htm (Report)] |team2 = fb|RSA |goals1 = Olade 39’
Perez 43’
Sanchez 80’
Sanchez 83’|goals2 =McCarthy 52’
Mngomeni 89’|stadium = Cotton Bowl
Attendance: 27,815
Referee: Hall (USA)

Mexico - Sergio Bernal, Joaquin Beltran, Christian Ramirez, Raul Alpizar, Israel Lopez, Gerardo Torrado, Luis Perez, Paulo Cesar Chavez (Carlos Cariño 68'), Jesus Olade (Horacio Sanchez 79'), Luis Hernandez (Luis Ignacio Gonzalez 68'), Daniel Orsono (Jaime Lozano 79')

South Africa - Andre Arendse, Cyril Nzama, Fabian McCarthy, Pierre Issa, Jacob Lekgetho, Dumisi Ngobe (Thabo Mngomeni 71'), Helman Mkhalele (Arthur Zwane 85'), Godfrey Sapula, George Koumantarakis (Patrick Mayo 71'), Benni McCarthy, Delron Buckley

June 11: U.S. Takes Title

The final day of the cup, June 11, saw a double header at Giants Stadium. In the first match, the U.S. and Mexico faced each other for the Cup title while Ireland and South Africa would play for second place.

In the first game, the U.S., for the first time in years, easily handled Mexico pasting them with a 3-0 loss in front of 45,008 fans. In the 33rd minute, Brian McBride took a cross from Earnie Stewart and easily scored from 10 yards. Mexico kept it close until Christian Ramirez received his second yellow of the match in the 70th minute for pulling Cobi Jones to the ground. With Mexico down to ten men, the U.S. put the game out of reach nine minutes later when Frankie Hejduk scored off a rebound from a Cobi Jones shot. Ante Razov scored his second goal of the tournament, this time without controversy, when he intercepted a poorly timed pass between Mexican defender Paul Cesar Chavez and his goalkeeper. With this victory, the U.S. claimed its third U.S. Cup.footballbox | date = June 11, 2000
13:00
team1 = fb-rt|USA |score = 3-0|report= [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/news/2000/06/11/usa_mexico/ (Report)] |team2 = fb|MEX|goals1 = McBride 33’
Hejduk 79’
Razov 85’|goals2 = |stadium = Giants Stadium
Attendance: 45,008
Referee: Prendergast (Jamaica)

United States - Kasey Keller, Tony Sanneh, Carlos Llamosa (Gregg Berhalter 71'), Jeff Agoos, David Regis, Earnie Stewart (Frankie Hejduk 76'), Chris Armas, Claudio Reyna ("captain"), John O'Brien (Ben Olsen 64'), Brian McBride (Ante Razov 81'), Cobi Jones (Jovan Kirovski 89')

Mexico - Sergio Bernal, Joaquin Beltran, Israel Lopez ("captain"), Gerrado Torrado, Luis Perez (Luis Ignacio Gonzalez 66'), Paulo Cesar Chavez (Carlos Carino 85'), Horacio Sanchez (Jaime Lozano 46'), Jesus Olalde, Christian Ramirez Raul Lapizar, Daniel Orsono (Ignacio Flores 77')----In the second game of the day, Ireland claimed the second spot in the Cup standings with a 2-1 victory over South Africa. South Africa got on the board first when captain Shaun Bartlett fed Benni McCarthy for a 14th minute goal. Ireland came back with a Stephen McPhail goal in the 24th minute. Late in the second half, Niall Quinn scored the winning goal. This was his 20th international goal, placing him in a tie with Frank Stapleton on Ireland’s all time goals list. footballbox | date = June 4, 2000
15:30
team1 = fb-rt|IRL |score = 2-1|report= [http://www.soccertimes.com/international/2000/games/jun04.htm (Report)] |team2 = fb|RSA |goals1 = McPhail 24'
Quinn 80'|goals2 = McCarthy 14’ |stadium = Giants Stadium
Attendance: 45,008
Referee: Badilla (Costa Rica)

Ireland - Shay Given, Stephen Carr, Terry Phelan, Phil Babb, Gary Breen, Jason McAteer (Mark Kennedy 45'), Matt Holland, Stephen McPhail (Barry Quinn 86'), Alan Mahon (Kevin Kilbane 42'), Dominic Foley (Robbie Keane 46'), Niall Quinn ("captain")

South Africa - Andre Arendse, Cyril Nzama, Andrew Rabutla, Jacob Lekgetho, Aaron Mokoena, Quinton Fortune (Arthur Zwane 75'), Dumisi Ngobe (Patrick Mayo 46'), Helman Mkhalele (Thabo Mngomeni 75'), Benni McCarthy (Dillon Sheppard 46'), Delron Buckley (Godfrey Sapula 46'), Shaun Barlett ("captain")

Champion

corers

Three Goals
*flagicon|MEX Horacio Sanchez (Golden Boot)

Two Goals
*flagicon|USA Cobi Jones
*flagicon|USA Ante Razov
*flagicon|IRL Dominic Foley
*flagicon|RSA Benni McCarthy

One Goal
*flagicon|USA Claudio Reyna
*flagicon|USA Earnie Stewart
*flagicon|USA Frankie Hejduk
*flagicon|USA Brian McBride
*flagicon|IRL Richard Dunne
*flagicon|IRL Stephen McPhail
*flagicon|IRL Niall Quinn
*flagicon|RSA Thabo Mngomeni
*flagicon|MEX Jesus Olade
*flagicon|MEX Daniel Osorno
*flagicon|MEX Luis Perez

Final Rankings

External links

* [http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=52643 Pre-Tournament Q/A with U.S. Team]