Dramatic game-winning goals make the highlights, the goal-scorer gets heroic pats on the back and the headlines will flash his name.
In Philadelphia Arturo Alvarez got the game-winning goal, it went in the stats and he got the headline mentions, but anybody who watched the game knows that the number one hero of the Quakes 2-1 win at PPL Park was goalkeeper Jon Busch. It was Busch who made that last-minute game-winner possible.
“If not for him it would have been a different story,” Alvarez said. “We have to give it up to Busch for keeping us in the game.”
The sixth and most important second half save for Busch came just three minutes before Alvarez’s stoppage time winner. He took a point-blank, sure-fire goal away from Sebastian Le Toux.
“I just did my job,” Busch said in his typical team-first kind of awe-shucks manner. “At the end of the day that’s what I get paid to do. I get paid to make saves and catch crosses. Some games are busy and some games aren’t busy. I’m glad I could help this team and we got three points tonight.”
“As we always say, that’s why he’s there, that’s why the goalkeeper is there,” said coach Frank Yallop. “Jon didn’t panic and he looked good at everything he did.”
And what looks good is Busch’s 1-0-2 record as a starter and his 0.67 goals-against average. Take into consideration the 0-0 game at Salt Lake that certainly could have gone the Quakes way and the disappointing come-from-ahead tie at home against D.C. United and things might be different.
Frank Yallop on Saturday’s game with Tottenham Hotspur:
“We’ll play it like we’re playing any game. Whether we play 90 minutes for everybody, I don’t know. I’d like to get most of my guys on the field because I think playing against an opposition like that is a joy.
“I’d like to get some of my young guys some experience. Maybe we’ll talk to (Spurs Coach) Harry (Redknapp) and see what they’re going to do. We want to win the game and we want to entertain the crowd. We want to make sure Tottenham come in and play well and that we play well. It is a friendly, but it will be nice to get some guys experience.”
The Quakes now have identical home and road records (3-2-2). Yallop on why they’re playing much better on the road this year:
“They’re buying into the game plan. We try to tell them it’s okay to not have the ball a lot away from home as long as you’re defending well. We feel our road plan is great, we just have to get better at home. Maybe the injuries haven’t allowed us to be as good at home.”
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Jon Busch was certainly our man of the match. We played a terrible game. We didn't hold possession, we didn't play through our midfielders. We gave up way too much space in the center of the pitch. Our offensive efforts were crap. We had two good plays and scored on both. Why does Arturo Alvarez play with only one foot?! Playing with both feet is a skill soccer players should learn in elementary school. And we were dead lucky that the Filly defender was so dumb that he didn't know Arturo was going to shoot with his left foot.
ReplyDeleteOur team is awful. We got dominated by an expansion team. But for a terrific performance by Jon Busch, we'd have lost by two or three goals. This is all down to terrible coaching and poor organization. If our team is to get better, we need to replace both Frank Yallop and John Doyle, right away.
GO QUAKES!!
MarkMCF
I concur. Front office, time to show Doyle and Yallop the way OUT of San Jose.
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