BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS : After Apologizing, Snow to Start on U.S. Soccer Team

Lothar Osiander, U.S. Olympic soccer coach, got his apology from Steve Snow and decided to put the disgruntled star into the starting lineup for tonight’s game against Kuwait.

Snow, the team’s leading scorer, did not play in the opening U.S. loss against Italy. Osiander said he intended to put the high-scoring Snow into the game, but used both his substitutions to replace injured players.

Snow, from Schaumburg, Ill., was furious after the game, saying Osiander was playing favorites and the team was not able to win without him.

Osiander appeared to take Snow’s harsh comments well, but concluded by saying Snow would have to apologize to him and the team if he wanted to play again.

The apology came Sunday.

“I was very disappointed when I didn’t play and I said some things (to the media) I now regret,” Snow said in a statement. “I have apologized to Coach and the team and we’ve put it behind us. Coach is the boss. We’re all in this together and we know what we have to do. Right now, the game with Kuwait is all we’re thinking about.”

Defense is not considered one of Snow’s strong points, but Osiander plans to stress offense tonight: “The Italy game is behind us. We will definitely play an attack brand of soccer--we need to score goals. Despite the loss Friday, our confidence and physical abilities are still up.”

The U.S. team plays Kuwait at Zaragoza and needs at least a tie to keep alive their chance of advancing. The team plays Poland Wednesday to end the first round. Kuwait lost its opener to Poland.