Sockers Let the Steam Out of St. Louis; Zungul Gone?

Branko Segota and Steve Zungul stole the show on the field, and Zungul and owner Bob Bell were the key protagonists off the field Saturday night.

Segota had three goals--all in the second half--and two assists, and Zungul had two goals and two assists in the Sockers’ 6-3 Major Indoor Soccer League victory over the St. Louis Steamers.

Zungul and Segota teamed up on three goals, and Jean Willrich scored his first goal of the season and gained an assist in an impressive offensive performance before a sellout crowd of 12,888 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

“I have really felt good and have gotten my speed back the last five or six days,” said Segota, who had a hat trick in the 11-9 loss to Wichita last Saturday night.

“As for me and Steve,” Segota said, “there is just a feeling between us. He knows where I am and he reads me. I know where he is and I read him. If I don’t see him, he screams.”

They read each other perfectly Saturday night, but there is a chance the game against St. Louis was Zungul’s last in a San Diego uniform.

There has been considerable speculation that Zungul would be sold or traded to Pittsburgh and thereby be reunited with Coach Don Popovic, who coached him with the New York Arrows and the Golden Bay Earthquakes.

During the game Saturday night, Bell said he would meet with Zungul today and would make a final determination as to his status.

The Spirit contacted Bell Saturday to inquire about the availability of Zungul, according to the Sockers owner.

“Up until now I haven’t been involved in this,” Bell said. “It is time to step in and settle it once and for all. The only reason I have let it go as far as it has is because of Steve’s relationship with Pop.”

In the locker room after the game, Zungul said he would not meet with Bell today.

“Tomorrow (Sunday) is my day off,” Zungul said. “I am not going to meet. I don’t know what he wants from me. I didn’t open the door for negotiations, and it’s not up to me. It’s up to Bob Bell. He keeps opening the door for those people.”

Zungul said the deadline for a possible deal, which was originally last Wednesday, was extended to last Friday and then to Saturday.

Neither party appears to have made its intentions clear to the other.

If Zungul had no desire to go to Pittsburgh, Bell said, “It is all academic. He will stay here. If he does have a desire to go, I’ll call Pittsburgh and tell them what I’d want.”

Bell would want a considerable amount of money, but he would not state his figure.

The Sockers owner gave three reasons why he would consider letting his top scorer and of the all-time greats leave San Diego:

--The Major Indoor Soccer League Players’ Union is negotiating a $1.2-million team salary cap that would go into effect next season.

“My payroll is a little over that figure,” Bell said, “and Zungul gets $200,000 of it. Jean Willrich, Brian Quinn and Kevin Crow altogether don’t make that much. We will be faced with the dilemma of keeping salaries under control.”

--”Ron (Newman) thinks we could still be the best team in the league without Zungul,” Bell said.

--The departure of Zungul would give the younger players on the Sockers more of an opportunity to play.

“Is Segota ever going to be the superstar he could be if he plays behind Zungul?” Bell asked.

On a night filled with questions, the answer to that last one appears to be a resounding “Yes.”