LYON - For the second straight game, fans at the Confederations Cup [soccer tournament] booed when the "The Star-Spangled Banner'' was played before the United States took the field. The whistling sounded louder at Saturday night's 1-0 loss to Brazil than it was before the Americans lost to Turkey 2-1 on Thursday in Saint-Etienne. "I think it's disrespectful,'' U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. "We respect the national anthem of every country, so I was disappointed with that.'' U.S. players said the whistling disturbed them. "It's upsetting,'' said Earnie Stewart, the U.S. captain Saturday. "On the other hand, it gets you a little riled up, too. We came out of there, everybody had the same feeling, that you want to give 110 percent to make sure that they think about it twice when they do that.'' Forward Landon Donovan was among the more outspoken American players after Thursday's game and again was angered. "It's sad,'' he said. "True colors show.''
Donovan also was upset Portuguese referee Lucilio Cardoso Batista didn't award a penalty kick to the United States after Donovan was tripped up by Brazilian defender Kleberson in the penalty area during first-half injury time. Replays appeared to show the trip occurred after Donovan took the shot, which went wide. "We're Americans. We're not going to get those calls,'' Donovan said. |