USA beat Angola 1-0 Behind Closed Doors

June 5th, 2006 | by: Daryl |

Details are scarce, but the US beat Angola 1-0 in a behind closed doors game.

A spokesman said that Brian McBride scored the only goal, but wouldn’t reveal who played, what formation was used or any other details, presumably to stop nosy Group E rivals Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana from knowing too much.

Angola were down to 10 men in the 30th minute after the appropriately named Loco picked up two yellows. Angola coach Luis Oliviera Goncalves had this to say: “In the second half we dominated most of the game, but in general it was very balanced.”

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Razzle

Angola team spokesman Arlindo Macedo said U.S. captain Claudio Reyna was impressive for the Americans, though Kammarman declined to say if Reyna played or not.

Huh??
http://usa.worldcupblog.org daryl

Maybe he was impressive on the sidelines, telling jokes, doing impressions, juggling?

Seems like the US have tried to keep it super-secret and Angola have been a bit more relaxed.

If the Angola spokesman is right (and there’s no reason for him to lie) then that has to be good news.
Rick

I’m trying not to read too much into it, since this basically was just a scrimmage, but I have a tinge of concern over the fact that we only scored once despite an hour-long man advantage.
http://ecuador.worldcupblog.org/ Trent

daryl, you must be right. No way Reyna gets to be Captain for club and country without some mad vaudeville skillz.

Also, Angolan PR would like me to say that I may or may not have posted this comment.
Miguelinho

Awww shucks, here come the mind games. Before you know it, the US will emerge for the Czech game with Phil Jackson as coach and Rasheed Wallace as the creative midfielder.
NBlue

good decision to edit your blog — would have been better if you just posted a follow-up rather than erasing and then posting it back again.
Stephanie

Hi, will im a new-be in the whole football thing, so do you think you can fill me in on more details of the teams and the stats of the World Cup? please….you can email me at cjhftballchck009@yahoo.com

Thanks a bunches
Colin

The lack of scoring doesn’t alarm me too much – I’d be more worried about defensive breakdowns at this point, and 3 zeros, and only one goal in the last four games, is encourging indeed. Once we have a full lineup with Reyna back in, we’ll control the games more, and get more chances, I’m hoping.