Match reports from all over note Quakes’ win on Kamara’s day

We know some people were wondering about how the Quakes, and particularly the team’s forwards, would respond to the pressure of going two games without scoring. As it turns out, that was nothing compared to the challenge Kei Kamara faced: his brother Yusiffu, 41, had passed away nine days earlier, three days after he had three teeth removed.

“It’s just Africa, man, that’s all I can say,” Kamara told reporter Brian Howell, who covered last night’s match for the Mercury News. “Not good medical treatment.”

Kamara plans to pay tribute to his brother, who played goalie and followed his brother’s Major League Soccer career closely, this season. That made Saturday’s goal a special one.

“Every single game this year, my first goal and every goal, everything I do this year is just going to be for him,” said Kamara, who spent two months during the off-season with his brother. “Every game this season is going to be dedicated to him. It’s somebody that I love, somebody that raised me up. He’s resting right now, and I know he’s looking down on the whole team. He’s going to follow us this year, I know that.”

Kamara’s tale adds a poignant note to a solid effort from the Quakes. Everyone on the field made a contribution, from keeper Joe Cannon in the back to Kamara’s strike partner, Gavin Glinton, who was unlucky to have a goal called back in the 39th minute. The defense was solid and outside backs James Riley and Jason Hernandez got forward frequently to contribute to the team’s offense. The midfield may have had their best game yet: Ronnie O’Brien scored one and probably should have netted at least one more, Ned Grabavoy played well on both sides of the ball and provided a sublime through ball to Kamara on his goal, Ivan Guerrero was a threat on offense and a terrier on defense, and Ramiro Corrales was the anchor the team needed centrally. We could say equally good things about the subs.

What is perhaps most exciting to us at the blog is that this kind of team effort was a hallmark of San Jose’s teams from 2001-2005. Watching this team doesn’t feel like watching an expansion team; it feels like watching the Earthquakes.

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On with the press roundup:

MLSnet.com provides a match report and two post-game reports, one focusing on the Quakes with quotes from Frank Yallop and O’Brien and one about the Rapids, with quotes from Fernando Clavijo, Colin Clark, and Bouna Coundoul, the latter of whom had some kind words for the Quakes’ O’Brien:

“Ronnie O’Brien is a very smart player,” Coundoul said. “We’re talking about somebody who plays all over the world. He picks his times. When the team is focusing on somebody else, he sneaks through, and he catches it so many times. Finally one showed up. We need to do a little bit better.”

The Denver Post has a match report and the Rocky Mountain News‘ blog “FC Rocky” has a piece on the game.

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Finally, there’s news from Fresno Bee reporter Ken Robison that Fresno Fuego striker Pablo Campos spent two days last week on trial with the Quakes and is being considered for a Generation adidas contract. Campos was PDL Player of the Year in 2007.

(There’s one other story, too — the Mercury News has published an editorial about the proposed soccer stadium. We’re going to spend today basking in the glow of last night’s victory, but we’ll talk about it tomorrow.