The U.S. national team fell to 1-0 Morocco in the first game of their Send-Off Series on Tuesday night in Nashville, Tenn., Mohamed Madihi spoiling an otherwise solid performance by the Americans with a goal in the 90th minute against the run of play.
U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo was dispossessed deep in his own half by Moroccan substitute Bouchaib El Moubarki, who found Madihi in space inside the penalty area. A cool, right-footed finish over U.S. veteran goalkeeper Kasey Keller was all the African side needed to claim the victory.
The day didn't start well for U.S. manager Bruce Arena either, as he was forced to remove captain Claudio Reyna after just a quarter-hour. The center midfielder suffered a strain of his right hamstring and was replaced by Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids).
Most of the play in the opening 45 minutes took place in Morocco's end, yet it was the North Africans that created the first legitimate scoring chance. Cherundolo was beaten when Aziz Ben Askar cut towards the middle, but the other U.S. defenders closed the space quickly and forced Ben Askar to fire his shot wide of the U.S. goal.
Three minutes later, at the 25-minute mark, the Red, White and Blue got their first goalward glance. A deflected ball deep in the Morocco half fell to the feet of former Chicago Fire midfielder DaMarcus Beasley. The speedster laid the ball off to striker Brian McBride, but the Fulham man's attempt also skipped wide of the target.
Chivas USA midfielder John O'Brien got a start in a midfield role for the U.S. and it was one of his visionary passes that gave the U.S. its best chance of the opening 45 minutes just moments after McBride's failed effort. O'Brien lifted a nice ball over Morocco's defense to an unmarked Landon Donovan, but the Los Angeles Galaxy's leader seemed to be caught a bit caught off guard and could only muster the slightest of touches. Moroccan goalkeeper Tarek Al Jarmouni easily picked the ball out of the air.
O'Brien was replaced by former D.C. United midfielder Bobby Convey for the second half, while Arena also opted to move to three at the back in an effort to create more offense. Convey made his presence felt early in the second half from his role on the left flank. Seven minutes after the restart he tucked further towards the middle and fired the first shot for the U.S. in the second half, a right-footed effort that El Jarmouni saved with a dive to his left.
Talal El Karkouri had a great look at the U.S. goal just a minute later when he connected on a powerful header after a cross from the right sideline. The U.S. defense wasn't organized and the defender had plenty of space and time, but he nodded his effort just over the crossbar.
Kansas City forward Eddie Johnson replaced his Wizards teammate Josh Wolff with half an hour to play and seven minutes later he could have given the U.S. the lead. Convey earned a corner kick, which he also took from the left side, finding Johnson in space in Morocco's penalty area. But Johnson couldn't get his header on frame and the ball flew over the top as the game remained deadlocked.
The U.S. turned up the pressure in the final 10 minutes and Donovan tested El Jarmouni with eight minutes to play. The Moroccan 'keeper could only bat down a powerful drive from Donovan, the rebound bouncing to Johnson at the top of the penalty area. However the young striker didn't make contact cleanly and shanked his effort badly.
Keller was tested by a long-range shot as well late in the game, batting away a drive by Nabil Masloub. But there was little he could do about Madihi's winner moments later.
The U.S. will continue the Send-Off Series on Friday when they face Venezuela at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Ohio. The final match for the Red, White and Blue before heading to Germany is set for Sunday, when Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., hosts the match against Latvia. Both games are set to kick off at 7 p.m. ET and can be seen live on ESPN2 and tape-delayed in Spanish on Telemundo.
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
