TIE, TIE AGAIN
U.S. draws once more in Cup qualifying
NASHVILLE — The remade U.S. soccer team quickly got itself into trouble in World Cup qualifying, wasting Brenden Aaronson’s second-half goal when Cyle Larin scored to lift Canada into a 1-1 draw Sunday night.
U.S. star Christian Pulisic returned after missing Thursday’s opening 0-0 draw at El Salvador while regaining fitness following a positive COVID-19 test. Pulisic was dynamic and injected some creativity the Americans lacked on the road, contributing to the buildup leading to Aaronson’s goal in the 55th minute.
But defenders DeAndre Yedlin and John Brooks were at fault for Larin’s goal in the 62nd, and the U.S. emerged from its opening two matches of the 14-game qualifying tournament with just two points heading into Wednesday’s game at Honduras.
Miles Robinson came closest to a winner, heading Pulisic’s corner kick over the crossbar in injury time. An overhwelming pro-American crowd of 43,023 at Nissan Stadium booed loudly at the final whistle.
Mexico (2-0) leads the North and Central American region with six points, followed by Panama (1-0-1) with four, and Canada (0-0-2) is third with two points, ahead of the U.S. on total goals, with El Salvador and Honduras further back. Costa Rica (0-1-1) and Jamaica (0-2) trail.
The top three nations qualify for next year’s tournament in Qatar, and the fourth-place nation advances to a playoff.
Argentina’s World Cup qualifier in Brazil was interrupted after just seven minutes Sunday when local health officials went onto the pitch in a wild dispute over coronavirus concerns.
The match featuring Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar was ultimately suspended by the referee with the score at 0-0.
Brazilian health officials alleged three Argentine players did not reveal on arrival last Friday that they had recently been in England, and should have been in quarantine rather than playing in the match.
The Argentina team responded by walking off the field at NeoQuimica Arena in Sao Paulo.
Argentina tweeted that the game would not resume. South American soccer’s governing body, CONMEBOL, said the match had been suspended. FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, also confirmed the game had been suspended and said it was yet to decide what to do next.
Antonio Barra Torres, the president of Brazil’s health agency, Anvisa, said four Argentina players would be fined and deported for not following Brazil’s COVID-19 protocols.
The four — all players from the England-based Premier League — had been ordered to quarantine by Brazil’s health agency ahead of the match. Despite that order, three of the four started for Argentina.
Aston Villa players Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia, and Tottenham duo Giovanni Lo Celso and Cristian Romero, traveled to play for Argentina despite the Premier League not wanting players to be released for international duty because of the need to quarantine for 10 days in a hotel on their return. Now they have been caught up in Brazilian quarantine restrictions.
Brazil’s health agency said all four allegedly told immigration officers that in the previous 14 days they hadn’t been to Britain or anywhere else that Brazil puts on its own red list for COVID-19 risks. Those who have been in countries on the red list face a 14-day quarantine in Brazil.
Martinez, Romero and Lo Celso started the match. Buendia was not included in the match squad.
Anvisa said in a statement that it realized the four players were in an irregular situation since their arrival in Brazil. It had prompted a meeting Saturday involving representatives from CONMEBOL, Brazilian football confederation and Argentina’s squad.
“At that meeting, Anvisa and local health authorities determined the players should quarantine,” it said. “However, even after the meeting and the report to authorities, the players took part of Saturday evening’s training session.”
The agency added that all attempts to remove the players and take them to the airport were frustrated on Sunday “since the squad left the hotel and also much before the match began, when Anvisa had its action blocked” at the NeoQuimica Arena.