Fulham’s foray into Stateside soccer began with a second half goal-fest
that saw a resolute Miami Fusion crumble as Jean Tigana’s players showed
their Premiership pedigree.
The first game of Fulham’s two-fixture post season tour was played
at a baseball ground south west of Miami rather than at the Fusion’s
regular Ft Lauderdale home in an attempt to expose Florida’s finest
football team to other communities in the locality.
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Pictures courtesy of Hector Gabino - El
Nuevo Herald |
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Despite these admirable intentions it came as shock to the travelling
side when they arrived at the stadium to see that a large portion of the
sandy pitching area of the baseball diamond was also within the confines
of the football pitch.
Despite the large volumes of water sprayed on the sandy arc (which ran
from the left hand side of the penalty area to the touchline just before
half way), it was always going to affect the game in that section of the
pitch.
With the temperature in the high 70s and a warm breeze blowing through
the surrounding palms, Fulham kicked off the friendly contest with a full
strength team, much to the delight of the handful of Fulham fans in the
crowd of just under a thousand.
If the first five minutes were to be anything to go by, it looked as
if the slow and lazy lifestyle of Florida was going to be replicated on
the pitch as Fulham kept possession at quite literally a walking pace.
But as soon as the home side intercepted, it became apparent that the
Americans were a force to be reckoned with.
As the tempo quickened and the physicality developed, it was Miami who
began to look dangerous, attacking in numbers with swift one-touch counter
movements which had the Fulham defence hard at work. With John Collins
watching from the stand after treatment for a hamstring problem, it was
Alan Neilson who replaced Sean Davis as Tigana made his first switch after
only 15 minutes. As the technique and vision of the locals continued to
surprise Fulham it was becoming increasingly urgent for the Whites (playing
in red) to stamp their authority on proceedings after a lacklustre start.
An Alain Goma header off a Lee Clark free kick had been Fulham’s
closest effort until the Geordie sent Luis Boa Morte on a run around the
Fusion keeper. When his shot was handled away by Carlos Llamosa, the referee
had no choice but to dismiss the US international. Shockingly, Louis Saha’s
penalty was parried out by Jeff Cassar in the Miami goal, which said it
all about Fulham’s performance so far.
Despite their one-man disadvantage the Fusion were still pushing on as
Diego Serna’s powerful shot was tipped over the bar by Taylor. After
a succession of dangerously in-swinging Fusion corners, which continued
to cause trouble in the Fulham penalty area, Saha, broke loose and unleashed
a powerful shot just wide of the top right-hand corner.
Having missed his first penalty the Frenchman was allowed a second chance
thanks once again to Luis Boa Morte who was brought down as he jinked
past a number of Fusion defenders. This time Saha made sure to take Fulham
into the interval with a one-goal advantage.
The second half saw sweeping changes in both sides as substitutes were
introduced almost constantly. However by now Fulham were playing with
more urgency and it was soon apparent that Miami would crack under the
pressure. Minutes into the second period, Fulham captain Lee Clark latched
on to a miss-kick from Fulham’s American midfielder, Eddie Lewis.
Clark shot low across the face of the goal to make it two.
Shortly after he was replaced by Andrejs Stolcers who quickly made it
three with a cheeky back-heel from a passing move between Eddie Lewis
and Kevin Betsy, who had replaced Hayles shortly before. Miami refused
to lie down and die and wasted a string of good chances, not least Englishman
Ian Bishop’s free kick from the edge of the box which soared over
Maik Taylor’s bar.
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Pictures courtesy of Hector Gabino - El
Nuevo Herald |
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Back at the other end it was Tigana’s newest recruit Alain Goma
causing trouble as he latched on to a cross from the far right. Arguably
Miami deserved at least a consolation goal for their labours, but it wasn’t
to be as an unsympathetic Fulham continued to up the anti.
On 38 minutes Kevin Betsy made it four after being put through by Lewis,
and literally a minute later Lewis switched from provider to taker when
he demonstrated the art of perfect execution from a Luis Boa Morte cross.
No one could dispute Fulham’s overall superiority, but Miami needn’t
feel embarrassed by a scoreline that misrepresents the quality of their
impressive passing game.
Fulham: Taylor, Finnan (W Collins), Brevett (Trollope), Symons (Melville),
Goma, Davis (Neilson), Lewis, Boa Morte, Clark (Stolcers), Saha (Betsy),
Hayles (Goldbaek)
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