Balboa’s Injury Makes Things Rocky for U.S. : Soccer: Sweeper tore knee ligaments in game against Iceland, but he says he will be ready for the ’94 World Cup.

It happened so fast that, in that urgent moment, Marcelo Balboa forgot that he had been forewarned.

Less than an hour earlier, Balboa and teammate Janusz Michallik had walked the field at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, assessing its condition.

The U.S. national soccer team was preparing for a recent game against Iceland, and the two players were scanning the field, looking for small holes that might affect their play.

Michallik stopped about 18 yards in front of one of the goals, motioning for Balboa to join him. Together they examined a barely noticeable furrow in the field. Not much, only an irregularity in the surface. Something to keep in mind.

But it was forgotten when, three minutes into the game, Balboa dashed forward in front of his goal and positioned himself to clear the ball. The cleats of his right shoe gained purchase, digging into the turf in preparation to push off. The push-off did it.

“I heard the pop, a real loud ‘ pop!’ “ Balboa said. “I can still hear it, to tell you the truth.”

It was the sound of Balboa’s knee giving way and his career ending--for the moment. It was also a harbinger of change for the U.S. team as it prepares for next year’s World Cup. For with the loss of Balboa--who underwent reconstructive knee surgery last week--the American team must replace one of its most consistent and experienced players in one of soccer’s most critical positions.

Balboa, 25, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s 1992 player of the year, is the sweeper, a team’s last line of defense in front of the goalkeeper. Aside from the goalkeepers, the sweeper is the only player on the field not assigned to mark, or guard, an opposing player. The player the Italians call the libero --sort of a free safety--is potentially a team’s most creative.

Balboa, of Cerritos, has played the most of any national team member in the last two years. The team has come to depend on him to such a degree that sweeper is the squad’s thinnest position. Defender Desmond Armstrong played the position in an exhibition game last Thursday night and has played five different positions for the U.S. team, but his experience at sweeper is limited.

“We don’t have six or seven names to throw out at the position,” assistant coach Timo Liekoski said. “(Balboa) has been dubbed ‘the Iron Man,’ because he’s played so much. Marcelo has always played there, and we really haven’t considered the possibility that he won’t play sweeper.”

Balboa’s absence is sure to expose a tactical weakness on the U.S. team. His first responsibility was to defend the goal, but he added another dimension, as a scorer. Coach Bora Milutinovic has set plays that call for Balboa to bring the ball up the field after free kicks or corner kicks. Balboa scored three goals in that fashion last year.

“I love to go forward,” Balboa said from his parents’ Cerritos home, where he is recuperating from the 1 1/2-hour surgery. “I know I have to defend the goal, but with the ball at my feet I also want to go forward. You have to be a leader at the position. You have to be vocal. You have to watch the game and be able to read what’s going on. It’s a creative position, but you have a lot of responsibility.”

His primary responsibility for the next six to nine months, according to his doctors, will be an ambitious rehabilitation program. And it has already begun. Attached to Balboa’s right leg eight to 10 hours a day is a Continuous Passive Motion machine, a large contraption that moves Balboa’s leg for him to help him regain full range of motion.

He says he will be riding an exercise bike soon and even has taken short walks with his dog.

“The good thing about the injury is how far medicine has advanced,” Liekoski said. “I’ve had six surgeries. The first one, in the ‘70s, the scar was this long (Liekoski held his hands in front of him as if measuring a prize fish catch). By the time of the fifth one, I was able to watch it on (a video monitor).”

Like most athletes, Balboa is convinced he will be a record-setting rehab patient. His doctors caution that nine months is a more reasonable time frame for such a serious injury. Surgeon Bert Mandelbaum termed the damage to Balboa’s knee as moderate.

“I’m going to go as far and as fast as the therapists will let me,” Balboa said. “When you see Marcelo Balboa come back, you’ll see a different player, a much stronger player. They tell me that I’ll be gaining weight in my legs and upper body from the therapy. There’s nothing going to stop me from coming back and getting on the field.”

U.S. soccer officials hope he is correct. Balboa’s is the first major injury in camp this year, and officials are hopeful on two fronts--that Armstrong works out well as fill-in sweeper and that Balboa comes back to fight for the job.

Armstrong, who like Balboa was a member of the U.S. 1990 World Cup team, played well at sweeper in his first opportunity.

“They are big shoes to fill,” Armstrong said. “Marcelo has really put his stamp on the position. I’ve got to come in and do what I do well. It’ll take a few good games to get adjusted. But this is my profession. I should be able to do it.”

The two players seem determined to win a single position, which adds intrigue to Milutinovic’s decision, a year from now, about which players to name to the World Cup roster.

If he has fully recovered, Balboa figures to have a place, somewhere.

“Marcelo is a big part of this team,” Liekoski said. “Everything we have done thus far has been with Marcelo. When we look ahead to the World Cup in ‘94, Marcelo is there.”