Wednesday June 25, 2008
MIAMI—The Atlanta Silverbacks were knocked out of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tuesday night, falling to Miami F.C. Blues 1-0 at Tropical Park.

Alex Afonso tallied the winning goal in the 40th minute to put Miami through to meet F.C. Dallas in the third round of the knockout tournament.

“It was very much a tale of two halves,” said head coach Jason Smith. “They were the better team in the first half, and we were better in the second. Unfortunately, they earned a goal and we didn’t.”

The Silverbacks started the match with the same lineup that topped Puerto Rico last Saturday: Ryan McIntosh started in goal, with David Hayes, Josh Bolton, Matt Bobo, and Justin Moore along the back. Rodrigo Rios, Scott Buete, Tony McManus, and Jason McLaughlin made up the midfield, with Mac Kandji and Ansu Toure running up top.

After struggling to break down Miami’s five-man midfield, Smith switched the lineup to a 3-5-2. With 20 minutes to play Smith inserted the first of the three substitutes on the night, swapping Blake Camp for Rios. A few minutes later Nathan Knox replaced a spent Toure, and with less than 10 minutes to play Martyn Lancaster replaced a hobbled Buete.

Playing on natural grass for the first time in two weeks, the Silverbacks struggled to find its tempo in the first half. Despite being outplayed in the first stanza, the Silverbacks managed to hold off the Miami offense until the 40th minute when Afonso hit a pinpoint bomb past a diving McIntosh.

“We didn’t clear the ball and Afonso hit one heck of a shot,” Smith said. “We should have cleared the ball, but I can’t take anything away from the goal.”

The Silverbacks fought back valiantly in the second half, but could not find the back of the net against one of the stingiest teams in USL-1: in its last six games, Miami had only conceded one goal.

The Silverbacks ended up out-shooting Miami 11-8, with nine corner kicks to the Blues six.

The Silverbacks are back in league action Saturday night, hosting the Portland Timbers at Atlanta Silverbacks Park. Kickoff is set for 7:55.