World Cup Soccer : United States Holds Costa Rica to 1-1 Tie in Qualifying Match

The United States survived a 90-minute siege by Costa Rica Sunday and escaped with a 1-1 tie in a qualifying game for the 1986 World Cup soccer tournament.

The tie kept the United States one point ahead of Costa Rica, with the deciding match scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at El Camino College stadium in Torrance. The U.S. team needs either a victory or a tie in that game to advance to the final qualifying round against Canada and Honduras.

“It was a difficult game,” U.S. Coach Alkis Panagoulias said after the match in front of a sellout crowd at 25,000-seat Alajuela stadium 13 miles south of San Jose. “Costa Rica is a fine team. The race is still wide open.”

The U.S. team included five college players, and two of them, UCLA’s Jeff Hooker and Duke University’s John Kerr, combined to score for the United States in the 44th minute to silence fans who had gone wild a minute earlier when Costa Rica had taken the lead.

The Costa Ricans put the pressure on from the first minute but could not find a way through a stubborn U.S. defense led by Dan Canter and UCLA’s Paul Caligiuri.

Finally, in the 43rd minute, the Costa Ricans were rewarded when Oscar Ramirez scored to give them a brief 1-0 lead.

A minute later, Hooker received a pass at the top of the penalty area and slipped it to the onrushing Kerr, whose shot was partially blocked by a Costa Rican defender but still found the back of the net.

Costa Rica applied intense pressure in the second half, but the U.S. defense held firm.

“We are still struggling because of our (lack of) physical fitness,” Panagoulias said, explaining that the U.S. professional players are used to the indoor game with its unlimited substitution as opposed to the tougher demands of outdoor soccer where only two substitutions are allowed.