WORLD CUP ’90 : The Morning After: U.S. Show Goes On Despite Reviews
Humiliated in a 5-1 loss Sunday to Czechoslovakia in its World Cup opener, the U.S. soccer team could hardly have expected better reviews than the harsh ones it received the day after in the Italian press.
But because the International Federation of Assn. Football (FIFA) will not allow the United States to close the show until after its third and presumably final game, June 19 against Austria, workouts continued as scheduled at a seaside training camp Monday.
U.S. Coach Bob Gansler looked on the bright side. “Sun’s shining, let’s not dwell on what happened,” he said as he sent his team onto the field.
Following his lead, the players tried to act as if nothing had happened. But it was like trying to ignore a train wreck. They were still in shock.
“Look at it this way,” forward Bruce Murray said. “We can’t play any worse.”
But as the United States is likely to discover Thursday in Rome’s Olympic Stadium, the opposition can play better. Next is Italy, the tournament favorite.
The Italian press predicts a goleada , which, loosely translated, means rout.
“This could get ugly if we have the wrong attitude,” Murray said.
As if Gansler did not have enough problems trying to revive his team’s spirits, he must replace starting midfielder Eric Wynalda of Westlake Village.
Wynalda was issued a red card for a flagrant foul in the 50th minute, which not only disqualified him for the rest of the first game but the second game as well.
As part of FIFA’s stricter “fair play” rules, a red card also carries a $7,000 fine, which Wynalda may have difficulty paying on his salary of about $25,000.
Irish players have announced they will pool their money to pay for fines levied against them, but it is unlikely that Wynalda’s teammates will do the same for him.
They were not feeling charitable toward him after his ejection left them with only 10 men for the final 40 minutes. Some players said they felt as if there were only 10 men on the field when he was playing.
Wynalda, who prefers playing forward, has not been happy since he was moved last month to the midfield in an effort to inject more offense into the team. His negative attitude appears to have affected his play.
One player lectured Wynalda at halftime, calling him immature.
“Even if Eric could play against Italy, there might have been a change,” reserve forward Chris Sullivan said. “That’s a very special position, one that has to be effective for us. Eric wasn’t a factor there.”
Wynalda said he did not deserve the red card, which he got after shoving Jozef Chovanec. Wynalda said the Czech had been baiting him the entire game.
“It wasn’t a blatant foul,” Wynalda said. “I’m not a hothead. I would just call it a bad mistake, if anything.”
Gansler was not so easy on Wynalda. The coach said he had warned Wynalda at halftime that the referee would be watching him closely after his running battle with Chovanec in the first 45 minutes. Five minutes into the second half, Wynalda was sent off.
“He obviously forgot it quickly,” Gansler said. “That’s inexperience, exuberance or the stupidity of youth.”
Wynalda’s 21st birthday was Saturday.
Gansler said he will consider two defenders, Jimmy Banks and Paul Krumpe, and Sullivan for Wynalda’s position.
UCLA’s Chris Henderson has experience there, but he is the tournament’s youngest player at 19. If he were to start against the Italians, he might have to be sent home in a straitjacket.
Gansler said he may make other changes in the lineup but did not elaborate. Marcelo Balboa of Cerritos, a former San Diego State player, would seem a likely candidate to start in the midfield ahead of John Stollmeyer.
In the Italian newspapers, which evaluate the players after each game, only goalkeeper Tony Meola, midfielder Paul Caligiuri and midfielder Tab Ramos received high grades for their play against the Czechs.
The headline on the game story in Corriere dello Sport read, “The USA: What a Delusion.”
The correspondent for Gazetta dello Sport, Lodovico Maradei, wrote that Czechoslovakia won with “incredible ease.”
He added: “At the end, the soccer was reduced to a church-league level with farcical aspects that made it impossible to evaluate the potential of the Czechs.”
He praised the U.S. players’ “Marine spirit,” but said their unarmed offensive attacks resulted in “collective suicide.” He concluded, “The Czechs today are small stuff, but between their soccer and that of the Stars and Stripes there is a century of difference.”
Corriere della Sera’s correspondent, Claudio Colombo, said the U.S. players were “poor kids thrown to the massacre.”
The most scathing criticism came from Giorgio Chinaglia, a former Italian national team player who spent the final years of his career with the Cosmos in the North American Soccer League.
“Everything is wrong, everything has to be done over again,” he said in Corriere della Sera. “They need a professional league, a serious federation, motivated players and intelligent coaches. I look with concern toward 1994, when the United States will host a World Cup without having a team worthy of playing in it.”
Commenting on the United States’ impending game against Italy, he said, “The difference in the two teams is an abyss.”
It is fortunate that the U.S. players cannot read Italian. They felt discouraged enough already.
“To be at the losing end of a score like that is embarrassing,” Murray said.
