WORLD CUP ’90 : Argentina Beats Soviets Like a Drum, 2-0

The Argentine drums, silenced in Milan in the World Cup opener five days ago, beat out a loud and insistent rhythm Wednesday night.

Long after Diego Maradona and the rest of the world champions had left the field at San Paolo Stadium, the drummers kept up their beat, celebrating Argentina’s crucial, 2-0 victory over the Soviet Union.

Had Argentina lost, it faced almost certain elimination from the monthlong tournament. As it is, the Soviets now are unlikely to reach the second round.

The Group B match seldom rose to any great heights in terms of technical skill, but it contained enough incidents to keep the crowd of 55,759 absorbed for the full 90 minutes. The goals--one in each half by Pedro Troglio and Jorge Luis Burruchaga, respectively--were merely the highlights of a night in which:

--Argentine goalkeeper Nery Pumpido suffered a broken right leg and left the stadium in an ambulance.

--Swedish referee Erik Fredriksson saw fit to issue one red card--tossing Soviet defender Vladimir Bessonov out of the game early in the second half--and no less than six yellow cards.

--Despite playing a man short for almost a half, the Soviets could have won the match had they not missed two open-net goals.

--Maradona was held scoreless for the second time in a row and showed little, if any, of the flair that made him the world’s No. 1 player four years ago.

--Maradona apparently used his hands to block a Soviet shot, but the infraction was not called by the referee and Maradona denied it afterward.

Both teams came in needing a victory after having lost their initial outings. Argentina was upset by Cameroon, 1-0, in its first match, and the Soviet Union was beaten, 2-0 by Romania.

There was no doubt which team the crowd favored. San Paolo Stadium is the home of Maradona’s club team, Napoli, and it was awash in the sky blue and white colors of Argentina. There were few Soviet flags in evidence, and the constant drum beat and chanting of the Argentine fans drowned out whatever support there might have been for the Soviets.

Both coaches made wholesale changes in the lineups they had fielded in their opening games. Argentine Coach Carlos Bilardo brought in five new starters, the most noticeable being the long-haired, blond striker Claudio Caniggia, a friend of Maradona’s.

Soviet Coach Valery Lobanovsky made three changes, but one of them was monumental. Lobanovsky dropped Rinat Dasayev, one of the world’s top goalkeepers, and also left his backup, Viktor Chanov, on the bench. Instead, Alexandr Uvarov, a virtual unknown, started in the nets.

The Soviets started cautiously, content to see what Argentina had to offer. Andrei Zygmantovich was assigned to guard Maradona, and Sergei Gorlukovich had the task of keeping Caniggia in check.

After rebuffing Argentina’s early offensive thrusts, the Soviets began to mount a few attacks of their own. These forays invariably caused a little panic in the Argentina defense and during one of them, Pumpido, the Argentine goalkeeper, collided with his own defender, Julio Olarticoechea, and had to be carried off on a stretcher. He was taken to hospital for X-rays and treatment.

Bilardo sent on Sergio Goycochea in his place, and apart from two shaky moments in the second half, the substitute played reasonably well.

The first goal was a strange affair, more the result of Soviet inattention than anything especially creative from the Argentines.

A cross from the left in the 27th minute found onrushing midfielder Troglio unguarded, and his looping header dropped into the net just under the crossbar.

Goalkeeper Uvarov and the Soviet defenders were caught momentarily flat-footed and paid the price.

Burruchaga scored in the 79th minute and it was all over.