U.S. Soccer Team Simply Outmanned, 2-0 : Italy’s Juventus Stays Under Wraps, Will Play Mexico in Title Game

The best thing that can be said for the U.S. national soccer team Thursday night at the Coliseum is that it gave Juventus of Turin, Italy, one of the world’s most successful teams, a workout, which is more than the Americans could have done in years past.

That does not mean the United States challenged La Juve, 22-time champion of the powerful Italian League and the only team to win all three major European cups (Champions, Cup Winner’s Cup and UEFA). Juventus won, 2-0, and could have scored two or three times as many goals.

Perhaps Juventus was saving its direct hits for the Marlboro Cup championship game, which it will play at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Coliseum against Mexico, a 4-2 winner over South Korea in Thursday night’s second game. The United States and South Korea will meet at 4 p.m. Sunday for third place.

Disqualified from the 1990 World Cup in Italy because it used over-age players in a youth tournament, Mexico is developing a team for the future. It appears to have found a good place to start in forward Ricardo Pelaez, who scored all four goals--a Mexican hat trick plus one--against the Koreans.

In a vastly more entertaining game than the first one, there were four goals scored within the first seven minutes of the second half. South Korea scored the two in the middle, cutting Mexico’s lead to 3-2. But then Paleaz added his fourth goal.

Whether the U.S. defense was responsible for Juventus’ difficulties in finishing its numerous scoring opportunities--the official statisticians counted 17 shots on goal for the Italians to only seven for the Americans--no doubt will be debated today in Turin, where European football is no more important than American football in, say, Columbus, Ohio.

But for the sake of argument, it appeared as if the United States frustrated Juventus for a time by crowding eight or nine men in the penalty box. It did not make for elegant soccer, this dime defense by the Americans, but it was effective for almost a half.

For one thing, it provided time for goalkeeper Tony Meola to settle his nerves. A third baseman from the University of Virginia who decided to devote his summer to soccer, he was supposed to make his debut against an Italian first division team in a tournament at Saint Vincent, Italy last Saturday, when the U.S. played AS Roma.

But Meola was hit in the head by a teammate’s shot during the warmup and was unable to play because of dizziness. So he had his initiation under fire Thursday night against the team in the black and white vertical stripes, which are as famous worldwide as the Yankee pinstripes are in the United States.

Although the spectators, 21,307 of them, were quiet for most of the first game, saving their voices for the Mexicans and Koreans as it became apparent later, Meola did earn the applause of Juventus midfielder Rui Barros after making a save on a header by Roberto Tricella near the end of the first half.

But Barros was not as kind with his feet as he was with his hands. With two minutes remaining in the first half, Meola made one of his best saves of the night on a shot by Giancarlo Marocchi, only to lose his balance. He watched helplessly as the rebound was converted into the game’s first goal by Barros.

Nine minutes into the second half, Juventus scored an insurance goal that it did not really need against the punchless Americans on a play that could not have been drawn better.

Angelo Allesio set up the goal with a run down the right sideline, followed by a pass toward the center of the field that appeared headed for a teammate positioned directly in front of Meola. But with Meola concentrating on him, the ball sailed overhead to Salvatore Schillachi on the left flank. His goal was virtually uncontested.

Juventus missed other opportunities to score by only the width of the posts, but that is what training camp is all about. After a disappointing fourth-place finish last year in the Italian League, La Juve is fine-tuning in preparation for its comeback. The regular season begins in about two weeks.

As for the U.S. attack, it did not appear to be that of a team that is in the middle of its World Cup qualifications. Some of that no doubt was due to the absence of midfielder Tab Ramos, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last week and may return in time for the Sept. 17 game against El Salvador, and Hugo Perez, who has signed with a second division team in France but will be available for qualification games.

The United States’ best chance to score came in the first half when forward Bruce Murray’s header hit the crossbar. Murray left the game with an injury in the second half, although it did not appear serious.

So the Americans are not ready to play in the Italian first division, at least not against Juventus. But they knew that before Thursday night.