U.S. Players Favor Style Change : Soccer: Americans prefer attacking game rather than the ball-control approach that Milutinovic prefers. They play Germany today.
Nevermind convincing the rest of the world they can play up-tempo, attacking soccer, the players on the U.S. national soccer team simply want to convince their coach.
In their 2-0 upset over England in the U.S. Cup last Wednesday at Foxboro, Mass., the reconstituted American team displayed a flair for the European style of pushing the ball up, getting behind the defense and putting the ball on goal. That was accomplished because of the return of eight European-based players who projected their style on the team’s play--whether Coach Bora Milutinovic liked it or not.
“When he took this job, I think Bora wanted to play a South American style, slow possession game,” said forward Roy Wegerle, who plays in England. “With the players we have, I think it’s better to play a more European, attacking game. With the players back from Europe, we are all accustomed to playing that way. We just have to get Bora to agree with us.”
The entire U.S. midfield and both forwards in the England game were European-based players. The attacking style utilized the U.S. team’s superior speed and mobility. The decision to depart from the slower, ball-control style was made, ad hoc, by the players on the field. They fell naturally into what they are trained to do.
It’s a style that the Mission Viejo-based players also prefer, but they have been admonished not to engage in such freewheeling escapades.
“I prefer the faster style, that’s my game,” Cobi Jones said. “We’ve been doing what Bora has been telling us to do. The European players are given the freedom to play their style.”
Milutinovic said he will play the same lineup today against defending World Cup champion Germany, in the U.S. team’s last game of the U.S. Cup. That lineup used Thomas Dooley at defensive midfielder, Tab Ramos on the right and John Harkes on the left, Wegerle at forward and Eric Wynalda at striker.
“We have the speed, we have the talent--we have to push forward,” sweeper Desmond Armstrong said. “We have to get Bora to agree. I think it’s a matter of allowing the players to play. We have suggested it to Bora. We’ll see.”
Germany is coming off a come-from-behind 3-3 tie with Brazil on Thursday. One of the most disciplined and relentless teams in the world, the Germans will be familiar with the style the U.S. players want to adopt. Two starters, Dooley and Wynalda, play in the German Bundesliga and are familiar with the German style.
“I know these players well,” Wynalda said. “It gives me a great deal of pleasure to say this: We can definitely play with them.”
Soccer Notes
The U.S. Soccer Federation’s hope to select a new goalkeeping coach soon has again been stymied. The man the federation wants to hire, Milutin Soskic, is undecided about taking the job because of family obligations. Soskic, a former goalkeeper for Partisan Belgrade and for the former Yugoslav national team, remains in Belgrade, even as the paperwork involved in his new job is completed. Soskic, like national team coach Bora Milutinovic, is an ethnic Serbian.
Leigh Steinberg met Saturday morning with the national team, which he now represents in negotiations with the USSF. Steinberg said he and Alan Rothenberg, USSF president, will meet next week in Newport Beach to begin talks on a wide range of issues. . . . Midfielder John Harkes is considering surgery for herniation of his abdominal wall. Harkes has been playing for some time with a tear in a stomach muscle and said he may have the surgery as early as next week.
Brazilian player Julio Cesar, saying he was too upset to continue playing in the U.S. Cup, returned home after $150,000 in cash and watches were stolen from his Washington hotel room, a team spokesman said.
