U.S. and Denmark Are Bit to Be Tied

Down Mexico way, Antonio Rodriguez Mendoza is regarded as an up-and-coming referee in the local professional league.

His distinctive looks -- dark hair worn slick and combed straight back from his forehead, heavy dark eyebrows and sunken cheeks -- quickly brought him to the attention of Mexican fans, who gave him an appropriate nickname.

They called him “el Vampiro” -- the Vampire.

On Sunday afternoon at the Home Depot Center, United States Coach Bruce Arena and Denmark Coach Morten Olsen were calling Rodriguez Mendoza something else altogether after he made a couple of curious penalty-kick calls as the Americans and Danes settled for a 1-1 tie in front of 10,461.

First, “el Vampiro” spotted what he considered was a foul by defender Eddie Pope on Danish captain Morten Wieghorst in the 28th minute.

The two appeared to be doing nothing more than a little harmless arm wrestling while awaiting a corner kick, but Rodriguez Mendoza pointed to the penalty spot and Thomas Roll-Larsen made no mistake with the resulting kick.

Why was the call made?

“I have no idea,” Pope said. “I have absolutely no idea.

“What makes it evident to me that he probably made a mistake was the second one. I mean, what was that one but a make-up call?”

The second call came in the 76th minute, when a Danish player was judged to have fouled defender Chris Albright. Landon Donovan, who earlier had missed an open net by skying the ball into the stands, made up for it by tucking away the penalty kick to earn the tie.

The 1-1 result was probably a fair reflection of a match that never rose to any great heights but in which the Americans outplayed the Danes in the second half, producing more attacking moves and creating scoring chances that they squandered.

The U.S. edge was shown in the statistics, with the Americans outshooting the Danes, 16-4, and earning five corner kicks to three for the Danes.

“For the first time out this year, given the relatively long period of inactivity for our players [since the end of the Major League Soccer season], it was a pretty decent performance,” Arena said.

“Whenever you play a Danish team, they’re well-organized, they’re difficult to break down. However, I think during the game we still managed to create half a dozen good [scoring] chances. So that part I was pleased with.

“I thought overall for 90 minutes our guys did a good job. They kept their composure [despite trailing by a goal for nearly 50 minutes]. We did a pretty solid job hanging in there and then putting pressure on them in the second half.”

And the two penalty kicks?

“I didn’t see [either incident] up close,” Arena said, “but I would think there wasn’t a deserved penalty kick in this game today. That’s my opinion. I don’t referee, but that’s the way I saw it.”

American goalkeeper Jonny Walker, who made his international debut and played the full game, had a better view of the first penalty kick, the one called against Pope.

“All I do remember is that right before the corner, he [Rodriguez Mendoza] did stop the play and signal to either Chris Albright or Eddie Pope that if there was any more tugging on jerseys he was going to point to the spot.

“I didn’t see anything crazy [on the resulting corner] but he called the penalty.”

Walker, now with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars after spending the last six or seven years playing in Chile’s first division, most recently with perennial power Colo Colo, turned in a workmanlike performance but was seldom tested by the Danes.

Still, he said his first game for the U.S. was something special.

“Obviously, the most important thing for a professional, especially a goalkeeper, is you have to look at everything sort of coldly, emotionless,” he said. “You have to keep everything in proper perspective.

“But now, looking at it afterward, it has been a very emotional thing for me to come back and play for the country that I left for six or seven years just to grow as a professional player.

“To have the opportunity to come back and play in New York, after everything that happened in the country after I left -- Sept. 11 -- and now having the opportunity to play for the national team, it’s a huge roller-coaster ride.

“I’m happy to be here and hope I can continue to perform well.”