Two Mikes help Metros break China
September 9, 2003 (Official Game Summary)
The MetroStars defeated the Chinese National Team 2-1 tonight at Giants Stadium in an international exhibition. MetroStars 19-year-old forward Mike Magee tallied a goal and an assist to give the team an edge over the 2002 FIFA World Cup participant.
MetroStars forward Mike Nugent scored the game-winner in the 67th minute on an assist by Magee. The Princeton product held off a China defender as he collected a pass from Magee in the box. Nugent fired a shot on goal, and China's goalkeeper Li Jian could only get his fingertips on it. The ball then bounced across the goal line before China defender Xiao Zhanbo could
clear it. The goal put the Metros up 2-1, and is Nugent's second career tally for the Metros. He scored his first in a 4-0, Third-Round U.S. Open Cup win against the Mid Michigan Bucks on July 16.
The MetroStars found themselves up on the Asian nation, in the 30th minute. Honduran midfielder Amado Guevara lobbed a 40-yard long ball down the center of the field. Magee slipped in behind the China defense, settled the ball with his chest, and flipped a shot over Jian. The ball settled into the back of the net to put the Metros up, 1-0.
China scored an equalizer in the 56th minute, to tie the game 1-1. China World Cup midfielder Zhao Junzhe sent a through-ball to Zhang Shuo. Shuo muscled through two MetroStars defenders and took a low shot. Grafer deflected the shot with his left leg, but the force of the shot caromed the ball into the goal.
The MetroStars outshot China 14 to 11 in the team's first international match since a 2-0 loss to Colombia in 1997. The Metros found a way to crack the stingy China defense and create chances on Jian early in the match. In the second minute, MetroStars midfielder Edgar Bartolomeu gathered a long ball up the left wing from Guevara. The Angolan winger sent in a cross
threading two China defenders and finding forward John Wolyniec. The Fordham product miss-hit a shot that Jian smothered.
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