Super-Subs Surface to Make Waves in World Cup Games

From a 38-year-old recently summoned out of retirement to a goalkeeper with one game of international experience, the World Cup has been a stage for substitute stars.

Players coming off the bench have inspired their teams to great achievements. Depth has become so important that Argentina has used 22 players in its four games, including goalie Sergio Goycochea.

“Now, I look to the sky and I give credit to God,” Goycochea says of his unexpectedly crucial role with the defending champions. “I am the backup for Pumpido, but if I have to play, I know my teammates have faith in me and I know I can justify all the faith people have shown in me.”

Goycochea has to play in this World Cup because Pumpido, who backstopped Argentina to the 1986 title, sustained a broken leg in the middle game of the opening round.

The second-string goalie suddenly became No. 1, even though his only previous action on this level was in an exhibition against Italy in January. And Goycochea has responded well, although he did make several mistakes against Brazil, which either hit the goal post or crossbar or shot wide with him out of position.

Goycochea had little hope of being with the national team after a shoulder injury sidelined him for seven months last season.

“Considering that I had been injured,” said the goalie for Millionarios in Colombia, “for me now to play on the national team is my reward.”

Also being rewarded by Coach Carlos Bilardo is Claudio Caniggia, a forward who has become a favorite of team captain and resident superstar Diego Maradona. Caniggia might not have been on the team if not for the insistence of Maradona and, of course, what Diego wants, Diego gets.

So Caniggia made the squad. When the offense stalled against Cameroon in the tournament opener, Caniggia moved into the lineup. Argentina began playing better.

Against Brazil, it was Caniggia who scored the only goal--on a setup by Maradona, naturally.

“Claudio scored the goal, Claudio deserves the credit,” Maradona said of the 23-year-old striker for Atalanta of the Italian League. “He has become a great player.”

Another substitute who seems headed for stardom is Italy’s Salvatore Schillaci. The hosts have won four games and he has scored the winner in three of them.

Schillaci began the tournament on the bench, playing behind Andrea Carnevale and Gianluca Vialli. His first international game was in March.

But when he connected against Austria and Vialli and Carnevale did little against the United States, Schillaci moved into the starting lineup. He won’t be moved out, at least not in this World Cup.

“He has done very well in creating scoring advantages for us,” Italian coach Azeglio Vicini said. “He also has finished off some plays on his own.”

Two other Italian replacements have scored goals. Roberto Baggio got a superb one in a 2-0 victory over Czechoslovakia that clinched the Group A title, and Aldo Serena assisted on one and scored the other in a 2-0 second-round win against Uruguay.

Baggio has been considered one of Italy’s brightest young stars. He played for Fiorentina last season and was the league’s second leading scorer.

Then he was sold to Juventus, where Schillaci plays, and the multimillion-dollar deal angered fans in Florence. When Italy trained near Florence before the tournament, Baggio was whistled at and yelled at by fans.

But his play for the national team should quiet those critics.

Two teams from the United Kingdom, England and Ireland, have made the quarterfinals with great help from benchwarmers.

The English have yet to display much offense in the World Cup, but their biggest goal, in the final minute of overtime against Belgium, got them into the final eight. It came off the foot of David Platt, who was on the field mainly because team captain Bryan Robson is back home with a foot injury.

Platt scored one of the nicest goals of the tournament, volleying a free kick from Paul Gascoigne while turning.

“It was just an instinctive thing,” said Platt, 24. “If I had let the ball bounce, it was going to get away.”

Ireland found its way into the quarters with the assistance of subs Niall Quinn, whose goal against the Netherlands got the Irish into the second round, and David O’Leary. It was the 32-year-old O’Leary who came off the bench and put in the winning penalty kick in a shoot-out with Romania.

“I couldn’t be happier for David,” coach Jack Charlton said. “He has waited so long for this.”

The man who has waited longest for World Cup glory is Roger Milla. He was with Cameroon in 1982, when it tied three first-round games and was eliminated on tiebreakers.

Since then, Milla played in France, then went into retirement from the professional ranks, moving to an amateur team on the island of Reunion.

But he was summoned back to the team for this World Cup and, usually coming on for the second half, has four goals. He personally beat Romania in the opening round and Colombia in the second phase.

Does that mean Milla will follow Schillaci’s path into the starting lineup? Not likely. At 38, he is most effective being used sparingly.

Like most supersubs.