U.S. Gets Close Look at Future Opponent in Win

The game itself was meaningless, but the ramifications were not. The United States national water polo team is, indeed, the team to beat when the world focuses on the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

With the championship of the first Alamo Cup already won, the United States scored a a 6-3 victory Sunday over the Commonwealth of Independent States at UC San Diego.

It left Coach Bill Barnett praising his team afterward. More importantly, the No. 1 team in the world played like the No. 1 team in the world.

With a 5-3 lead after three quarters, Barnett inserted the second team for the fourth--but with the intention of putting the first team back into the pool after a CIS score.

They never made it into the water.

“Basically, we found out what the Russians do offensively and defensively, but they found out the same about us,” Barnett said. “From a psychological standpoint, now we know we can beat the Russians--if there was any doubt in our minds.”

The CIS, ranked fourth in the world, is in the United States’ bracket in Barcelona.

The United States never trailed, but was tied at 1-1 and 3-3. Doug Kimbell opened the scoring, and Terry Schroeder and Alex Rousseau added goals in the first quarter. The CIS responded with two goals in the second quarter to tie the match.

The youngest U.S. player, Chris Humbert, 22, scored both goals in the third quarter, and John Vargas added one in the fourth.

Goalie Craig Wilson had 13 saves.

Since Barnett whittled the team down to 14 players--he will cut one more player in about two weeks--the United States is 5-0. The team defeated Canada on the first day of the tournament, 13-6, and beat Italy 9-7 on Saturday to claim the title.

Barnett said, however, that two tournaments later this month--in Budapest, Hungary and Sicily, Italy--will be a truer test.

“It’s always helpful to play in your own backyard,” he said.

Schroeder, a four-time Olympian, says this team has what it takes to bring home its first gold medal since 1904, when it was the only participating country.

“We’re well-balanced, and defensively, we may be stronger than any other team I’ve been on,” Schroeder said, “and that may be the key to winning a gold medal.

The U.S. has won silver medals the past two years. It tied Yugoslavia in 1984 but lost on the point differential, and the U.S. lost in overtime to Yugoslavia in 1988. Six Olympians return from the 1988 squad.

“I like our chances,” Schroeder said. “We have the best defense out there and we can hurt people from a lot of different places.”