Zungul Wasn’t Finished

Steve Zungul, to the Sockers, started the season sort of like a barnacle on a yacht.

Not only did he seem superfluous, but there was some thought he might be detrimental.

Zungul might well have been in 1989 what Mike Schmidt knew he was in 1989, which is to say over the hill. A load rather than a leader.

“Lots of people said the ability wasn’t really there anymore,” he said. “They’d written me off. I was an old guy bothered by injuries who couldn’t produce anymore. They didn’t believe in me.”

If someone had told you that the Sockers would be even going into Friday night’s Game 3 of the Major Indoor Soccer League’s championship series because of the heroics of a Yugoslav superstar, you undoubtedly would have thought today’s superstar was the guy. That would have been Branko Segota.

Wrong.

Yesterday’s hero may be the key player for the Sockers if they are to add to the six indoor soccer championship banners hanging from the Sports Arena.

You guessed it.

Steve Zungul.

Friday night’s game may well have been a desperate occasion for the Sockers had it not been for Zungul.

Flash back to Game 2 in Baltimore Tuesday night. The Sockers had blown a two-goal lead in the last minute Monday and lost Game 1 in overtime, 4-3. They also blew a two-goal lead Tuesday and went to overtime, 4-4.

What happened next was that Zungul went into the corner with Baltimore goalkeeper Scott Manning and shot at an impossible angle at the vacant goal mouth. Sandy Koufax never threw a more curvaceous curve. The ball went in, and the Sockers came home at one victory apiece.

“That was typical Steve Zungul,” said Kenny Cooper, Baltimore’s coach. “A brilliant individual effort.”

Thus, the other Yugoslav, the one who was once called The Lord of All Indoors, had done what everyone had expected teammate and countryman Segota to be doing. The problem was that Segota was in San Diego with a hamstring injury.

Even with Segota returning to the lineup Friday night, it somehow seemed incumbent upon Zungul to assume the leadership role.

Not so, Zungul said.

“All these guys I’m playing with have been in this situation,” he said. “I’ve been in seven championship series, and I was the guy everyone leaned on in most of those. Not this time. These guys have the experience. They can handle themselves.”

Indeed, the Sockers as a franchise have won their six indoor championships in the past seven years. The one year they did not was 1986-87, when they were ousted in the semifinals by Tacoma. Of course, Tacoma was led by Steve Zungul.

Zungul has been some kind of money player. He has played in 23 championship series games, for the Sockers and elsewhere, and scored goals in 20 of them. I doubt very many, if any, baseball players have scored runs in 20 of 23 World Series games.

Now let me give you the kicker on this kicker.

He is playing for minimum wage. He is soccer’s version of a busboy. Read my lips, George. This guy makes $25,000. Bruce Hurst gets almost that much for each trip through the batting order.

And it’s not as if no one but the Sockers wanted him.

“We had conversations about him coming to Baltimore,” Copper said. “He said, ‘Hey, I’m really flattered, but I want to go back to San Diego.’ ”

Not that San Diego was flattering him.

“The ownership wanted me to come back, and Branko Segota wanted me to come back,” he said. “I wanted to come to San Diego because this is where I want to live and where I want to retire.”

Zungul did not feel welcomed by Ron Newman, who only happens to be the coach.

“The coach wasn’t in favor of me coming back,” he said, “I’m not one of his favorites. We had some trouble at the start of the season, but we can work together.”

Newman has never been one to worry about being loved by his players.

“I’m a great fan of Steve Zungul’s,” he said, “but I was trying to drive him to get him fit faster. Eventually, he got fit, and he was one of our better forwards later in the season and in the playoffs.”

Even Zungul’s most sincere admirers, and this is not say Newman is not among them, realize this 34-year-old is both a veteran and a victim of 17 years of professional soccer. Because of that, Newman kept him out early Tuesday.

“I needed his coolness of head and unflappability late in the game,” Newman said. “I didn’t think I could expect that in back-to-back games without resting him a bit.”

Newman got the Zungul he wanted when he needed him.

And so it was that the Sockers came home in position to put a few stitches in yet another banner. Steve Zungul, you see, is not the barnacle on this yacht. In fact, he may well be the sail.