The United States was held to an unimpressive 0-0 draw by Scotland in a friendly on Friday, although the Americans had several good scoring chances in the final minutes.
The United States was held to an unimpressive 0-0 draw by Scotland in a friendly on Friday, although the Americans had several good scoring chances in the final minutes.
Substitutes Aron Johansson and Brek Shea gave the Americans a spark in the second half after they were held in check for the first 45 minutes.
It was the first game for the U.S. since completing qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The Americans, ranked 13th in the world after winning CONCACAF qualifying, finish their 2013 schedule Tuesday at Austria.
Scotland, ranked 35th, did not qualify for Brazil.
Johansson, whose goal beat Panama in the last match of qualifying, was part of two late threats. In the 83rd, with Jozy Altidore keeping the ball alive in front of the Scotland net, Johansson pounced on the left side. Goalkeeper David Marshall made a diving stop. Two minutes later, Shea broke down the left wing and fed Johansson, whose left-footed shot went just wide.
Beyond that and several misses by Altidore, there wasn’t much to the American attack. Still, Tim Howard got his 34th career clean sheet for the national team.
The Americans were sloppy throughout the first half, which Scotland controlled until the final minutes. Even when the U.S. was presented with a scoring chance in the 43rd minute, Altidore misplayed a pass in the box and never got off a shot.
The Scots, who twice beat Croatia in World Cup qualifying, established a slow tempo that suited them. Rarely did the visitors attack early on, and even when the Scots had some opportunities, they weren’t particularly good ones.
Craig Conway had the best chance in the 36th from close range after being set up by Steven Fletcher. But Conway’s right-footed shot went wide of Howard’s net.
The Americans looked smoother early in the second half as the pace picked up. Altidore’s right-footed shot after a nice passing combination was caught by Marshall. Altidore also missed wide from close range in the 59th.
When Scotland went back on attack, Howard was forced to make a spectacular save from Robert Snodgrass. Marshall matched it with his sprawling stop from Johansson.
Midfielder Michael Bradley returned for the U.S. after missing four qualifiers with an ankle sprain and played the entire match. The Americans were missing two key injured players — Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey.
International roundup
LONDON — Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the battle of the superstar forwards to give Portugal the edge over Sweden in the World Cup playoffs, while France’s chances of qualifying took a big hit by losing 2-0 in Ukraine.
Ronaldo transferred his prolific scoring form for Real Madrid to the international stage, diving to head home an 82nd-minute winner and give Portugal a 1-0 cushion to take to Stockholm for Tuesday’s second leg.
France faces missing a major tournament for the first time since 1994 after Roman Zozulya and Andriy Yarmolenko scored second-half goals for Ukraine in a feisty match that saw both teams finish with 10 men.
Kostas Mitroglou’s double helped Greece claim a 3-1 win over Romania and tiny Iceland overcame a sending-off early in the second half to hold on for a 0-0 draw with Croatia, keeping alive its hopes of becoming the least populous nation to reach a World Cup.
All four return matches take place on Tuesday, when the 13 qualifiers from Europe will be finalized.
Italy drew 1-1 with Germany and an experimental England side slumped to a 2-0 home loss to Chile in headline friendly matches as the countdown to next year’s World Cup begins in earnest.
One of the world’s top forwards will be absent in Brazil next summer — and it looks more likely to be Ibrahimovic, not Ronaldo.
The heavily billed showdown between two of the biggest stars — and egos — in football looked like falling flat in Lisbon, only for Ronaldo to take center stage like he so often does for Madrid.
He dived to glance in a left-wing cross for his 44th goal in 108 international appearances, and almost added another when he headed against the crossbar late on.
Ibrahimovic was largely anonymous in Lisbon and, at the age of 32, could be set to miss out on what would likely be his final World Cup campaign.
Another star of the world game, Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery, may also be absent in Brazil after France tumbled to defeat in Kiev.
By wire sources