U.S. U-18 MNT Rounds Out Lisbon International With Hard-fought 1-0 Loss to Host Portugal

LISBON, Portugal (May 30, 2009) -- The U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team battled through the end, but eventually fell to host Portugal 1-0 to finish the Lisbon International Tournament. A fluky own-goal in the 29th minute was enough to decide the game despite numerous chances at both ends of the field.

It was the first international loss of the year for the U-18s, who are led by head coach Mike Matkovich. The team's international record is now 4-1-1 in 2009.


Match: U-18 United States Men's National Team vs. Portugal
Date: May 30, 2009
Competition: Lisbon International Tournament
Venue: Estadio 1 De Maio - Inatel; Lisbon, Portugal
Kickoff: 11:30 PM (6:30 AM ET)
Attendance: n/a
Weather: Sunny and Hot

Scoring Summary: 1   2   F
USA                          0    0   0
POR                         1    0    1

POR – (Own Goal) Valentin 29th minute


Lineups:
USA: 24-Zachary MacMath (1-Justin Luthy, 30); 12-Kofi Sarkodie, 2-Gale Agbossoumonde, 15- Zarek Valentin, 3-Paolo Del Piccolo; 17-Amobi Okugo, 16-Nicholas Millington (14-Miles Byass, 45), 8-Dillon Powers; 13-Jose Altamirano (10-Hasani Sinclair, 67) 9-Will Bates (4-Chad Barson, 77), 7-Gregory Garza (11-Dion Acoff, 14)
Subs not used: None
Head Coach: Mike Matkovich

POR: 1-Joao Guerra; 7-Cedric Soares, 3-Filipe Paiva, 13-Tiago Gil, 2-Tiago Gomes; 10-Alexander Zahavi (17-Ricardo Cardoso, 70), 16-Judilson Gomes, 6-Danilo Pereira (14-Alexandre Freitas, 70), 8-Luis Almeida (15-Kevin Pires, 89), 11-Rui Caetano (4-Anibal Capela, 89); 18-Andre Claro (9-Diogo Ribeiro, 85)
Subs not used: 5-Bruno Silva, 12-Claudio Pires
Head Coach: Frank Engel

Stats Summary: USA / POR
Shots: 14 / 6
Shots on Goal: 6 / 3
Saves: 2 / 1
Corner Kicks: 9 / 2
Fouls: 11 / 14
Offside: 2 / 0
 

POR – Cedric Soares (caution)                  44th minute.
USA – Amobi Okugo (caution)                  45th minute.
USA – Miles Byass (caution)                     58th minute.
POR –Rui Caetano (caution)                   75th minute.
USA – Gale Agbossoumonde (caution)    86th minute.

Officials:
Referee: Toni Pohjoismaki (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1 Gabinio Evaristo (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Luis Campos (POR)
Fourth Official: Helder Malheiro (POR)