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Gulati Lauds "Extraordinary Resolve" In USA Draw
USSF president Sunil Gulati was in high spirits after the 2-2 draw with Costa Rica, joking with reporters while discussing the resolve the U.S. team showed to come back from two goals down.
Oct 15, 2009 1:11:16 AM
WASHINGTON D.C. -- A man down, a goal down, with World Cup qualification already assured, the United States pressed deep into injury time to claw out a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica, then proceeded to celebrate as if it had won.
Given that the match was meaningless for the U.S., the desire and celebrations felt odd. To USSF president Sunil Gulati, though, they showed a heart-warming resolve.
"I think in the last two qualifiers in particular we've show extraordinary resolve to get the two results," Gulati said after the Costa Rica match, referring to a 3-2 win in Honduras four days earlier. "In a game that we don't have to get a point out of to qualify, down a man, how often are you going to see teams press forward to try to get that point? We did. So I think that's extraordinary."
Jonathan Bornstein's headed goal five minutes into injury time effectively stole two points from Costa Rica, condemning the Ticos to a playoff with Uruguay for a spot in South Africa. Costa Rica, leading going into the final day of qualifying, ceded the last automatic slot to Honduras, which beat El Salvador 1-0 thanks to a Carlos Pavon goal.
"The first question that was asked Bob after the Honduras game, and was asked two or three times, was are we going to play today," Gulati said, "because it was critical to Honduras. We assured them that we would put out a team to try to win this game or get a point, which obviously we did."
Besides playing the spoiler, the point also assured the USA finished top of the Hexagonal, one point ahead of Mexico. El Tri drew 2-2 with Trinidad & Tobago.
Placement in CONCACAF, however, has no implications for the World Cup, as Gulati explained:
"World Cup seeding has never been based on where you finish in your group. It has everything to do with your rank and your performance in the last two or three World Cups. In a technical matter, it doesn't affect anything. It helps our rank by not losing but I think it will be very hard to get seeded. With Argentina qualifying today, it makes it a little harder."
Throughout the post-match interview, Gulati showed his good mood with some lighthearted jokes, including one about Conor Casey's ninth minute miss. He added a little gag about how he'd like FIFA to rearrange the seeding process.
"We've been pushing hard that it should be based on the last official FIFA tournament, which would be the Confederations Cup," Sunil jested to laughter from the congregated reporters. "I guess that would make Brazil first, we'd be seeded second."
World Cup qualification in the bag, a tremendous fight-back to draw, and a moral victory over rivals Mexico -- it's difficult to begrudge Gulati his good mood.
Shane Evans, Goal.com, with assistance from Zac Lee Rigg in Los Angeles
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more
Given that the match was meaningless for the U.S., the desire and celebrations felt odd. To USSF president Sunil Gulati, though, they showed a heart-warming resolve.
"I think in the last two qualifiers in particular we've show extraordinary resolve to get the two results," Gulati said after the Costa Rica match, referring to a 3-2 win in Honduras four days earlier. "In a game that we don't have to get a point out of to qualify, down a man, how often are you going to see teams press forward to try to get that point? We did. So I think that's extraordinary."
Jonathan Bornstein's headed goal five minutes into injury time effectively stole two points from Costa Rica, condemning the Ticos to a playoff with Uruguay for a spot in South Africa. Costa Rica, leading going into the final day of qualifying, ceded the last automatic slot to Honduras, which beat El Salvador 1-0 thanks to a Carlos Pavon goal.
"The first question that was asked Bob after the Honduras game, and was asked two or three times, was are we going to play today," Gulati said, "because it was critical to Honduras. We assured them that we would put out a team to try to win this game or get a point, which obviously we did."
Besides playing the spoiler, the point also assured the USA finished top of the Hexagonal, one point ahead of Mexico. El Tri drew 2-2 with Trinidad & Tobago.
Placement in CONCACAF, however, has no implications for the World Cup, as Gulati explained:
"World Cup seeding has never been based on where you finish in your group. It has everything to do with your rank and your performance in the last two or three World Cups. In a technical matter, it doesn't affect anything. It helps our rank by not losing but I think it will be very hard to get seeded. With Argentina qualifying today, it makes it a little harder."
Throughout the post-match interview, Gulati showed his good mood with some lighthearted jokes, including one about Conor Casey's ninth minute miss. He added a little gag about how he'd like FIFA to rearrange the seeding process.
"We've been pushing hard that it should be based on the last official FIFA tournament, which would be the Confederations Cup," Sunil jested to laughter from the congregated reporters. "I guess that would make Brazil first, we'd be seeded second."
World Cup qualification in the bag, a tremendous fight-back to draw, and a moral victory over rivals Mexico -- it's difficult to begrudge Gulati his good mood.
Shane Evans, Goal.com, with assistance from Zac Lee Rigg in Los Angeles
Visit the U.S. national team page on Goal.com for more
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