Donovan Penalty Draws Denmark 18/01/04
The U.S. Men's National Team played Denmark to a spirited 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon in the team's first-ever appearance at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Landon Donovan connected on a 76th minute penalty kick to cancel out a first-half penalty for Denmark and see the U.S. off to a good start in their preparation for the start of World Cup qualifying which begins in June.
The U.S. dominated much of the action, out-shooting Denmark 16-4 for the game, which included a number of near misses in a second half that also included a shot by Donovan that caromed off the goal post. U.S. goalkeeper Jonny Walker made two saves in earning the draw in his first appearance for the national team.
Denmark got on the board first in the 28th minute on a well-taken penalty kick strike by Thomas Roll-Larsson. Denmark was awarded the penalty when Mexican referee Antonio Rodriguez Mendoza whistled Eddie Pope for exchanging arm-length pushes with Danish captain Morten Wieghorst as a Denmark corner kick sailed into the penalty area.
Before the U.S. broke through for their goal, the team had a number of close attempts, including two very near misses from Donovan. In the 70th minute, after an Eddie Pope slide tackle thwarted a dangerous attempt from Denmark, Walker immediately distributed the ball upfield to Chevrolet Man of the Match DaMarcus Beasley who dribbled forward about 50 yards into the a before hitting Donovan on a perfect run into the area. With no defenders nearby, Donovan took the ball into the area, beat the goalkeeper and then banged his shot off the base of the left goalpost from a tough angle.
Just four minutes later, Donovan was at it again, this time stealing an errant clearance from Skov-Jensen and dribbling around him and another defender before hitting his shot over the crossbar from eight yards out. Those attempts would finally pay off just a few seconds later, though, when the U.S. would earn their penalty kick in the 75th minute.
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