Friedel Keeps U.S. Perfect in Games Against Paraguay

FENTON, Mo. — His name is Jose Luis Chilavert and two things about him are true:

--He is the world’s best goalkeeper, as voted by the readers of the London magazine World Soccer.

--He is South America’s player of the year, as voted by soccer journalists from that continent.

But on Wednesday night, the man whose ambition is to be president of Paraguay--”I will cut military spending and give the money to the poor”--was not the best goalkeeper here.

That was Brad Friedel, the former UCLA and current U.S. national team keeper whose stunning first-half save on a point-blank shot helped the United States tie Paraguay, 0-0, before a sellout crowd of 7,016.

The score was a fair reflection of a pulsating game played at what used to be known as St. Louis Soccer Park, but now bears the more cumbersome corporate label of the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Centre.

Played at a fast pace with chances created at both ends, the game kept intact two records for the U.S. team:

--It has never lost to Paraguay. The previous meeting was a 3-0 American victory in Montevideo, Uruguay, in the 1930 World Cup.

--It has not lost at this tiny stadium in 40 years. The last defeat here was to Canada in a World Cup qualifying game in 1957.

The U.S. almost won on Wednesday. It outshot Paraguay, 10-5, and striker Eric Wynalda was unlucky that his fierce volley in the 28th minute beat Chilavert only to glance off the right post. John Harkes, too, missed a splendid opportunity in the 80th minute when, after a give-and-go series of passes with Wynalda, he skied his shot over the crossbar.

The U.S. captain ran toward the sideline, covering his head with his jersey. Reminded that such a celebration only follows a goal, Harkes said: “I was trying to hide what I was saying.”

Chilavert had to make a foot save to prevent the speedy Michael Mason from getting off a shot in the 35th minute and did well to handle a powerful strike from Jovan Kirovski just before halftime.

But Friedel made the save of the night.

It occurred in the 26th minute when Jose Cardozo got behind the U.S. defense and sent a sharp cross from right to left across the face of the net. Friedel, who had been guarding the near post, raced back across the goal in time to block a point-blank header midfielder Gustavo Sotelo, then watch overlapping defender Juan Carlos Villamayor slam the rebound into the side netting.

The quality of the save even prompted Sotelo to slap Friedel’s hand in congratulation.

“On paper, the result is very good for us,” said U.S. Coach Steve Sampson, “but I think it was a game we could have won. We created some very good opportunities.”