On This Day in 2002, a Bruising Win Over Ecuador Further Sharpened the Americans' World Cup Credentials
Eight days after Clint Mathis announced his return to form with a brace against Honduras in Seattle, the U.S. Men's National Team headed to Birmingham, Alabama, for another World Cup tune-up, and found themselves in anything but a friendly.
Legion Field had become something of a sanctuary for Bruce Arena's side. The venue had hosted the national team in 1996 during the Atlanta Olympics and again in 2000 against Tunisia, and Arena had specifically pushed for the Ecuador match to be played there. The reason was simple: in too many American cities, the home team wasn't really the home team. "There's nothing worse than playing at home against some of these Latin American, South American and Central American teams and having more of their fans," midfielder Chris Armas said before the match. "Soccer is a sport in which the home crowd makes a difference, and sometimes that works against us." Birmingham, Arena believed, wouldn't have that problem. He was right. A crowd of 24,133 turned out, waving flags in the post-September 11 atmosphere that gave the fixture a charge beyond the usual pre-tournament tune-up. "It's always an honor to represent your country," Armas said, "but now there is something a little bit extra because we're at war."
The stakes for individual players were just as pointed for this March 10 match. With Arena set to finalize his 23-man World Cup roster by the end of April, every minute of every match carried roster implications. 12-to-14 of those spots were expected to go to Europe-based players when the squad traveled to Germany on March 27, leaving a handful of MLS players fighting for the remainder. "Everybody's still fighting for jobs here," Brian McBride said, "and I think that transfers on to the field in games like today."
Ecuador arrived in similar circumstances—making their first-ever World Cup appearance that summer, their own players equally desperate to impress. The result was a match that had, as Arena would later put it, "the look and smell of a World Cup qualifier." There were 36 fouls called and, by some estimates, 36 more that weren't. Ecuador midfielder Edwin Tenorio shoved the referee in the first half without consequence. Late in the game, McBride took a two-footed challenge to the chest from goalkeeper Jose Francisco Cevallos while chasing a long ball. And after the final whistle, Tenorio inexplicably struck Landon Donovan in the head. Arena, somehow, was smiling.
The goal that settled it came in the 21st minute and was a product of the partnership that had been building all camp. Mathis, dangerous and direct on the left, stretched Ecuador's defense and drove a precise through ball into the path of Eddie Lewis, who had ghosted into space inside the area. Lewis didn't need a second touch as he buried it left-footed into the far corner.
It was a finish that likely did more than just put the Americans ahead. Lewis, a reserve for Fulham in the English Premier League, had been teetering on the edge of Arena's roster plans. The goal, combined with his bending service and defensive discipline, may have pushed him off that bubble and onto the plane to South Korea. "Clint did a good job breaking off wide," Lewis said afterward. "There was quite a bit of space inside. Clint did a good job setting me up on my left foot."
Mathis, for his part, would not finish the match. Warned once in the 39th minute, he received his second yellow card in the 58th after retaliating to an uncalled foul on McBride. "Clint wanted someone to stick up for me," McBride said, "and unfortunately, he was the closest man, and he had a yellow already." The ejection left the U.S. to defend for 32 minutes with 10 men. And defend they did, limiting Ecuador to three shots on goal and surrendering nothing.
With Brad Friedel on club duty at Blackburn and Keller recalled by Liverpool, the goalkeeping assignment had fallen to 23-year-old Tim Howard. He was chosen ahead of veterans Zach Thornton and Tony Meola for his first senior international appearance. He had been here before in some sense: the youth camps, the Under-23 setup, an Olympic campaign, but this was different. "You walk out to the music at the youth level and then for the MetroStars, and those are amazing experiences," Howard said, "but it's a little different when it's for your country on the senior team."
He made the most of it. Ecuador's best chance came in the 33rd minute when Carlos Tenorio got in behind the U.S. defense. Howard came out and made a strong kick save. Minutes later, Tenorio's header from a corner drifted wide. Three saves in total, a clean sheet, and a composure that belied the occasion. "I was really pleased with Tim Howard getting a shutout in his first game," Arena said. MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano, who had watched Howard develop for years, put it plainly: "He's the goalkeeper of the future for the United States national team. It might as well be now that he gets the chance to experience what it's all about."
Howard was careful not to overplay his hand. With Friedel and Keller firmly established as the top two options, he understood he was competing for the third spot, but he also understood what a debut shutout meant. "It certainly didn't hurt my chances," he said. "I was given the opportunity yesterday, and I took it. Hopefully, it's good enough to get me selected."
The final scoreline—1-0, the Americans' first-ever victory over Ecuador after four losses and four draws —told only part of the story. The U.S. had been shut out in seven of those previous eight meetings. Now they had broken through, kept their opponents to three shots, and won with 10 men for the final half-hour.
The record now stood at 6-1-1 (WDL), with the squad having outscored opponents 14-2. Germany away was next on March 27, then Mexico at home in Denver on April 3, before final preparations against Uruguay, Jamaica, and the Netherlands in May. The World Cup, with Portugal, South Korea, and Poland in the group stage, was less than three months away. For Lewis, for Howard, for every MLS player who had spent 90 bruising minutes in Birmingham proving themselves, the window was narrowing. But it was still open.


