The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - September 7, 2004 - 23A

Ching's early goal
lifts U.S. soccer

Williams, Miami
in contract dispute

FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) - Little-
used forward Brian Ching led the United
States to a 2-0 win over a short-handed
El Salvador in a World Cup qualifying
game here Saturday.
Ching's goal in the fifth minute gave
the home team a much needed boost in
the game, which was marked by an ejec-
tion, aggressive play and a brawl.
U.S. coach Bruce Arena said: "The
game got a little ugly. We knew well
in advance that was how the game was
going to look. It's about having patience,
composure, all about movement, give
yourself room to create chances."
Ching, who salvaged a tie against
Jamaica last month with a goal in the
89th minute, has two scores in four
appearances. Landon Donovan added
the insurance in the 69th minute, send-
ing home 25,266 happy fans.
The win placed the United States at
the top of its qualifying group with four
points and four matches left, including
tomorrow's contest at Panama. It is 6-1-4
this year and 3-0-1 in qualifiers. Arena is
50-23-20 as coach of the United States.
Ching's goal came when he beat Sal-
vadoran captain Victor Velasquez to

head Bobby Convey's cross off the near
post and into the net. Given time and
space on the left flank, Convey was able
to serve the ball into the penalty area.
Ching, about seven yards from the
net, had no trouble nodding it in.
Ironically, Ching was carried off
here just over a year ago when he tore
his anterior cruciate ligament in a Major
League Soccer match.
"Last year being carried off here pro-
vided a lot of motivation to get to where
I am now," he said. "It put a lot of moti-
vation into me to get where I am today.
Today, I tried to do the things I am good
at - you don't see me taking five or six
guys on."
The game was marred by rough play,
frequent stoppages, eight minutes of
injury time in the first half and a near
brawl on the sidelines that resulted in
the ejection of Salvadoran coach Juan
Parades.
Following a 20-minute stretch that
saw several tough tackles, Salvadoran
midfielder Denis Alas was tossed in the
26th minute by referee Neal Brizan after
his second caution. The ejection fol-
lowed a rough tackle on DaMarcus Bea-

AP PHOTO
Brian McBride goes for a header during USA's 2-0 win over El Salvador on Saturday.

MIAMI (AP) - The Miami
Dolphins have filed a grievance
against Ricky Williams , asking an
arbitrator to uphold their contrac-
tual right to recover $8.6 million
paid to the retired running back
between signing bonus and incen-
tives, the Miami Herald reported
on its website Saturday.
NFL Players' Association attor-
ney Richard Berthelsen told the
newspaper that the Dolphins asked
that the hearing be expedited so
the case can proceed within the
next few weeks.
The union and teams are limited
to four such requests each year,
Berthelsen said, saying that most
such arbitration hearings are held
after the season. Berthelsen said
the request was made through NFL
Management Council attorney
Dennis Curran.
Berthelsen said he plans to argue
that Williams be allowed to keep
the money.
"First of all, you're talking about
signing bonus that the club didn't
pay," Berthelsen told the Herald.
"How do the Dolphins have a right

to ask for money back that they
didn't pay? As for the incentives,
that's money that Williams earned
for his performance the past two
years. The Dolphins will have to
prove that they were irreparably
harmed, and I'm not sure how they
can do that."
Prior to the grievance, the Dol-
phins mailed a letter to Williams
asking him to report or pay the
money back by Yesterday.
The Herald reported last week
that Williams called the team, tell-
ing them he would come back if he
received a new contract. The Dol-
phins declined that request.
The Dolphins refused to com-
ment on the grievance.

sley at midfield by Jorge Rodriguez and
sparked a melee on the sideline. Parades
had to be restrained and escorted from
the field.
According to reports from the fourth
official on the field, Alas was shown
his second yellow for wearing jewelry,
a prohibition put into force by match
commissioners and discussed with both
teams before the game. He will miss
tomorrow's match against Jamaica in
San Salvador.
El Salvador wasted time and played
negatively trying to disrupt the flow of a

fitter, bigger and stronger opponent it has
not beaten in 12 years.
The game deteriorated in the 57th
minute when goalkeeper Santos Rivera
kicked Beasley in the face after the play
was over. That sparked a brawl between
the teams that spilled into the goalmouth
and halted play for several minutes.
"It was not intentional," Rivera said.
"I didn't mean to kick him at all."
The Americans kept their cool and
were rewarded with Donovan's rocket
from the top of the arc.


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