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Tribute Game

Thursday 17th October 2002

DC United : - Rimando, Reyes, Moreno, Etcheverry (Quintanilla 71), Agoos, Olsen (Villegas 78), Convey, Williams, Pope (McKinley 45), Barrett, Quaranta (Curtis 83)

DC United -  Black shirts, Black shorts, Black socks

DC United -  Barrett 84

DC United -  None

The night started with the whiff of nostalgia hanging heavy in the cool night air.  Seeing Klinsmann, Ginola, the two Allens (Clive and Paul), Waddle and Gazza shaking their old bones in the warm up was a joy, only tempered by the omission of Gary Mabbutt and Glenn Hoddle, as originally promised.  They showed a passion and a pride in the pre-match preparation that showed they wanted to take this seriously, although, for some, their legs prevented them from doing so.  

For all the world, it looked like the Americans would walk over these aged superstars, but they did put up a decent fight and restricted the Yanks to one goal, which came four minutes from the end of an entertaining rather than fiercely contested game.  It came when the ball bounced off Jaime Moreno (ex-Boro) to Wade Barrett, who swept the ball past Hirschfeld.  It had been coming s during the second half, they had become much more threatening and with a target to hit, the Americans are always happy.  They were denied on more than a few occasions by their near neighbour from Canada - Lars Hirschfeld.  He made four good saves to deny Quaranta three times and then when they did beat him, they were denied three times too.  Twice the linesman flagged for offside (one when Olsen's chip bounced back off the bar) and the third time, Dean Marney, playing his first first team match raced back to hack the ball away as Moreno stepped over the ball and it headed just inside the post.  Convey is supposedly one of the blue eyed boys of Soccer, but his major contribution was a shot from way out that went off for a throw in.

There was more attacking potency from the American side, as in the first half Moreno hit a fierce shot that Keller did well to get round the post and he also denied the same player and Olsen (ex-Forest) by diving at their feet.  Bolivian World Cup star Marco Etcheverry also tested Kasey with a curler from outside the box.

Spurs were trying to set up Klinsmann for a goal on his return, but the slick passing was a little bit off and when Ginola got his crosses in, they were either too far ahead of the forwards or got blocked.  Marney got the best cross of the half in from the right, after winning the ball and he saw it headed wide by Teddy, when he should have got it on target.  Much the same could be said for Steffen Freund's effort which went 15 feet over.  He's getting closer !!

Sheringham got the closest, when he twisted away from his marker in the box and hit a shot that struck the base of the right hand post.  For the audience watching on Fox TV in America, they perhaps found it hard to assimilate what they were seeing, but a scoreless match went into the intermission and there was no big show at half-time US style, but something much more British.  

Martin Peters appeared to introduce a number of players who starred for Tottenham down the years.  Dave Dunmore, Len Duquemin, John Ryden (Peters introducing him as "Dryden"), Tommy Harmer, Eddie Clayton, Mel Hopkins, Ron Henry, Cliff Jones, Dennis Bond, Ralph Coates, Phil Beal, Tony Galvin, John Pratt and finally, to a standing ovation (as always) "Sir" Bill Nicholson, the architect of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.  There may be some that I have forgotten to mention, but these are the players the Tribute Trust is intended to assist and they are the players who helped form the tradition that we follow today.

The second half saw Tottenham strike wood again with Ronnie Henry's header coming back off the post, while a Clive Allen flick set up Rebrov, who just failed to make a clean contact with the ball and it flew across goal.  The main interest of the second half was the Chris Waddle show, as he played to the East Stand, exasperated at not getting the ball and when it did come t him, Stephen Carr rushed in to nip it off his toe.  Wad's arms outstretched and a shrug of his shoulders helped everyone have a good laugh.

There was a nasty moment or two, when the uncalled for Mexican Wave started to go around the ground. Now maybe this was started by some of the folks who don't go to football regularly or those who were trying to make DC United feel at home, but (as my little one said) thank goodness the goal came along as it killed the Wave stone dead.  There is no place for such outrages in English football !!  That and the fact that DC did not seem to appreciate the nature of these games and went for the win, while stopping our old boys from scoring, were the only down sides of the evening.  Well, that and ...

Ginola had been shorn and jokingly stroked his locks as the crowd sung his name.  He showed some nice moments on the ball, but failed to produce a great deal at the end of it, but then he hasn't played a great deal since joining Everton before transfer deadline day last Spring.

The goal at the death didn't really affect the enjoyment of the evening.  It showed that some things are more important than results and the players who did so much for the club deserve some of the pay-out from the money taken on the night.  It is to the credit of the Supporters Trust and the club that this match came about and hopefully, there might be more nights like this where those not usually able to get in to see Spurs can come along and enjoy the experience.

MEHSTG TOP MAN : - DEAN MARNEY

Keith Mendament

Hot shots DC United overcame the illustrious Spurs of Tottenham in this all-star benefit match.  The DC squad gave the soccerists of Tottenham a real "soccer" lesson in this one to zero final result line.

Playing in a black outfit, DC made offensive assaults on the Tottenham goal tender, American Kasey Keller and his deputy Canudian Lars Hirschfeld.  Only their hand play stopped DC from returning home with a heavier credit total in their favour.

With much good pedal play, DC made the English side seem old and leaden footed in their game.  It was the high point of the match when Convey footed the ball into the penalty zone, where Moreno made a hip connection, before the globe was scored into the onion net by Wade Barrett to give DC United a winning points total.

Tottenham had gone close with Tedward Sheringham striking the goal stick, as did Ronward Henry in the second period.  With touch judges giving adverse opinion on two DC goals for being off the side, it could easily have been a double score tie at the end of the match.  However, the offensive team of Tottenham changed frequently and there was little direct goal action from their best players.  Paul Gascoigne, who trialled at DC in summer 2002, made an appearance and could yet become a DC player, but his mobility in the centre field made him look like he may need some fitness counselling before the draft picks come up in late February.

There was little hair in the Spurs roster and the need to add to this department might have helped them stay on terms with DC.  Even the player Ginola, who we had heard had great locks, had been trimmed for the occasion.  These guys won't get many endorsements on top of their basic salary without the length of hair of Agoos or Reyes.

When the defense was called upon, Big Mac McKinley was like a man mountain, coming from the reserve seats to make a serious play in the back line.  While Chris Waddle made the same move into the Tottenham offense, there was no productive outcome result from his right wide air passes into the scoring zone, where nobody went the last six yards.

Russian Sergei Rebrov was introduced to try and break the Glasnost of the Tottenham strike force, but he was unable to employ Eastern technology in braking the defensive armour of DC.  With DC consultant Klinsmann off field and with the Mexican Wave floating around the stadium, it was a home from home for United.  The win was achieved by the one score-shot to zero, avoiding the shoot-out scenario at the after game and there could be a rematch in USA, which will be one to look out for.

So, from the White Hart Lane soccer stadium, this is Hack Mychain, for WKLTV, saying "GO DC !!"