Last-gasp US pip Ecuador in Copa America warm-up

Goal-line tech to be used at Copa Centenario

WASHINGTON, May 26, (AFP): Liberian-born striker Darlington Nagbe scored in the 90th minute Wednesday to give the United States a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in a warm-up match for the Copa America Centenario.

Nagbe, a 25-year-old midfielder for the reigning Major League Soccer champion Portland Timbers, netted his first goal for the American squad in dramatic fashion after becoming a US citizen last September and making his American debut last November.

Bobby Wood, a 23-year-old forward of Japanese and African-American heritage who signed with Bundesliga side Hamburg 10 days ago, centered the ball in the dying seconds of regulation time and raced onto a high header that failed to clear the penalty area, outleaping a defender and nodding the ball to unguarded Nagbe.

Nagbe took the ball on his chest and fell to the turf while sweeping his right leg around and blasting the winning shot into the back of the net past Ecuador goalkeeper Esteban Dreer, who entered when starter Alexander Dominguez injured his left leg making a free kick catch in first half stoppage time.

Nagbe, a half-time substitute for Kyle Beckerman, was five months old when his mother fled their homeland due to a civil war. They joined his father, a footballer in France, and moved to Greece and Switzerland before setting in the United States.

Three days after the Americans won 3-1 at Puerto Rico in their first Copa America Centenario warm-up match, they improved their all-time record against Ecuador to 3-5 with five drawn. Since 2001, the Americans are 3-1 with two drawn.

The US team will face Bolivia on Saturday in its final tuneup match for the Copa America Centenario opener on June 3 against Colombia at Santa Clara, California. The Americans also face Costa Rica and Paraguay in group play.

Ecuador kicks off its Copa run on June 4 against Brazil at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and plays other group matches against Peru and Haiti.

Goal-line technology will be used in next month’s Copa America Centenario, organizers announced Wednesday, selecting Hawk-Eye as the supplier for the camera replay system.

Five of the 10 top-ranked national teams in the world will take the field for the 100th anniversary edition of the South American tournament, a special event hosted by the United States starting June 3.

Top-ranked Argentina are in the 16-team tournament, which will feature stars such as Lionel Messi, Javier Hernandez, Luis Suarez and James Rodriguez.

The Hawk-Eye system was used at last year’s women’s World Cup in Canada and is used by UEFA, the English Premier League, German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A.

It will deploy seven cameras for each goal in all 10 stadiums to be used in the Copa America, using vibration and visual signals on each match official’s watch to indicate a goal within one second of the ball crossing the goal line.

Such technology is unprecedented for South and North American events.

The Copa Centenario opens June 3 when the US entertain Colombia at Santa Clara, California.

Argentina and Chile will meet in a repeat of last year’s Copa America final on June 6, while Mexico and Jamaica meet in a North American rematch of last year’s Gold Cup final on June 9.

The final wil be staged June 26 at East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Also Wednesday, match officials from 18 North and South America nations were named for the tournament, though not appointed to specific matches.