What We're Reading
Cooper's bad day ends with apology
- Portland Tribune, Tuesday, May 31, 2011 2:08 PM
In Sunday's 3-2 home loss to D.C. United, Portland striker Kenny Cooper squandered a one-on-one, had two goals disallowed because he was offside, had two penalty kicks stopped, and
got into an argument with his coach, John Spencer, and club captain Jack Jewsbury, earning him a spot on the bench in the 69th minute.
Cooper’s first
PK attempt, a soft lob to the bottom left corner, was blocked. The official ruled that keeper Bill Hamid had come off the line early, so Cooper got another shot, and failed
again. But Hamid had encroached again. Spencer signaled for Jewsbury to take third PK attempt. As Jewsbury stepped up to the ball, so did Cooper. The teammates argued with each other. Spencer had to
intervene -- and Cooper argued with the coach. Spencer subbed out Cooper while the captain converted.
But Stephen Alexander reports Cooper apologized
after the game and all is now well. "To be fair, he’s been great,” Spencer said, of Cooper. “He’s disappointed in himself. You’re talking about a guy that’s
probably made one mistake in his whole career, and that was today. ...
"After missing two, he’s wanting to stand up and say, ‘Listen, I’m not going to duck away from this,
I’m going to score this one,'" Spencer said. “And for me, we can’t put someone’s personal situation before the team’s situation. And I told him that."
