Ecuador handed the US their third loss in four games, winning 1-0 in a friendly with a goal in the 79th minute by Jaime Ayovi on Tuesday at the Red Bull Arena.
It marked the third time in five matches the US team had failed to score under new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who took over from Bob Bradley in July.
Walter Ayovi set up the goal with a cross from the left wing, which Jaime Ayovi headed past US goalkeeper Tim Howard from the middle of the penalty area.
Photo: Reuters
“It’s going to take time,” Howard said of the start made under Klinsmann. “People are going to ask questions and that’s natural, but it’s still in the infant stages.”
Ecuador opened their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday with a 2-0 home victory over Venezuela. Jaime Ayovi scored in that game as well. He entered Tuesday’s game as a substitute in the second half.
Jozy Altidore had one of the US’ best opportunities to score in the opening minute of the game.
The US beat Honduras 1-0 for their first win under Klinsmann on Saturday.
Once again the US must have felt like they were playing on the road instead of at home as the crowd of 20,707 was decidedly pro-Ecuador.
The US are now winless in their last 13 games against South American teams, dating back to a win over Ecuador four years ago.
Since drawing with Mexico, the US have lost to Costa Rica, Belgium and Ecuador, and beat Honduras since former German national team star and coach Klinsmann took over.
The US made just one change from Saturday’s win, putting Oguchi Onyewu in at defense in place of Michael Orozco Fiscal.
Ecuador used just five of the starters who began Friday’s game in Quito.
MEXICO 1, BRAZIL 2
Reuters, MEXICO CITY
Goals by Ronaldinho and Marcelo in the last 11 minutes gave 10-man Brazil a victory over Mexico in a friendly in the northern city of Torreon on Tuesday.
Brazil defender Daniel Alves was sent off just before halftime after his foul on Javier Hernandez in the box earned him a second yellow card.
However, Mexico failed to add to their early lead after an own-goal by defender David Luiz, with Jefferson saving Andres Guardado’s penalty.
Ronaldinho equalized when he found the top corner with a shot in the 79th minute and defender Marcelo hit the winner five minutes later after a one-two with Neymar.
It was Mexico’s first defeat in 15 matches under coach Jose Manuel de la Torre, though their under-23 side lost three matches at the Copa America in July under assistant coach Luis Fernando Tena.
There was a massive police presence at the international friendly match after a shooting incident outside the ground at a league match in August.
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
Taiwan’s top table tennis player Lin Yun-ju made his debut in the US professional table tennis scene by taking on a new role as a team’s co-owner. On Wednesday, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), founded in September last year, announced on its official Web site that Lin had become part of the ownership group of the Princeton Revolution, one of the league’s eight teams. MLTT chief executive officer Flint Lane described Lin’s investment as “another great milestone for table tennis in America,” saying that the league’s “commitment to growth and innovation is drawing attention from the best in the sport, and we’re
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
RSS