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U.S. soccer team hears Osama chants in Mexico

Associated Press
Feb. 6, 2004 12:30 PM

ZAPOPAN, Mexico - The Mexican crowd hooted "The Star-Spangled Banner." It booed U.S. goals. It chanted "Osama! Osama! Osama!" as U.S. players left the field with a 2-0 victory.

And that was in a game against Canada on Thursday before just 1,500 people.

A game Tuesday in neighboring Guadalajara will determine whether the U.S. under-23 soccer team heads to the Athens Games.

"This is what it is all about," coach Glenn Myernick said. "You are 90 minutes away from being in the Olympics."

The U.S. team faces Honduras on Saturday in its last first-round game, which will determine if the Americans play Costa Rica or Mexico in the deciding game on Tuesday. While the Americans will surely face a hostile crowd against Costa Rica, a matchup with Mexico would mean a game in front of more than 50,000 hometown fans seeking revenge.

The United States knocked Mexico out of the World Cup in 2002, and Mexican fans will be looking for some retribution if the teams meet in the semifinals.

Myernick refused to say which his team would prefer to play.

"I think both Mexico and Costa Rica are very good teams," he said. "We don't fear either team. We would be delighted to play either one."

On Friday, Costa Rica plays Mexico to determine which finishes first in Group B. Saturday's match against Honduras will determine the winner of Group A. The winner of each group faces the No. 2 team in the other in Tuesday's doubleheader. The winner of each game goes to Athens.

Honduras coach Edwin Pavon was more explicit when asked which team he would rather play in the semifinals, although he went out of his way to avoid offending Costa Rica.

"I am not going to tell you the name, but imagine a full Jalisco Stadium while facing Mexico, with all the stands dressed in green," Pavon said. "I think I won't answer the rest of the question."

Myernick said his team will use the game against Honduras as preparation for the semifinal. Myernick said he wanted "to continue to improve and not just use the Honduras game as a nothing game."

On Thursday, U.S. midfielder Bobby Convey scored twice on passes from Landon Donovan. Convey also had scored twice against Panama on Tuesday.

Earlier, Emil Martinez scored twice to lead Honduras to a 3-1 victory over Panama. The losses eliminated Panama and Canada from advancing.

In eight games so far in the qualifying tournament, none has ended in a tie. Mexico and Costa Rica each routed Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States and Honduras beat Panama and Canada.