SOCCER / JULIE CART : Perez Hopes to Give U.S. Some Punch
The U.S. national soccer team has an obvious problem: It has trouble scoring goals. The team has played 30 games and scored 29 goals, a rate that will not hold it in good stead against the soccer powers at next summer’s World Cup.
Two recent changes have helped the team. One is the addition of Thomas Dooley to the full-time player pool. Dooley, who has spent his entire professional career in the German Bundesliga, has been a boon to the team both in games as a scorer and as a leader during practices.
The most recent upgrade came when Hugo Perez returned to the team from his stint in Saudi Arabia. Perez is known for his creative play, his field vision and his skill as a finisher.
Perez left a lucrative contract and signed for much less here. With Perez playing full time, the team is stronger at midfield and Perez has a better chance to be selected for the World Cup roster.
But it is a different Perez who has returned. After contentious relations with the U.S. Soccer Federation--including being left off the 1990 World Cup team--Perez has learned to take nothing for granted. No longer does he pin all his hopes on the World Cup, or even the national team.
Perez said last week he is considering returning to Saudi Arabia to play for his former club, Ittihad, or another club in the same city.
“Things are happening,” he said. “I’m in contact with my old club. There have been some changes. I would be willing to go back, I like Saudi. I fully understand, that if not for the national team, I wouldn’t be in a position to be getting the kinds of contracts I have overseas. I’m happy. Whether I’m going to stay for the year, I don’t know.
“I’m not going to make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past. Before, it would worry me. ‘What would the federation think?’ Now, I believe that if God wants me to play here, I will. For me, 1990 was very disappointing. Everything fell through. Now, I’m prepared for whatever happens.”
Perez has had a prickly relationship with the USSF, fueled by his snub in 1990. Many believe the federation has never shown proper respect for one of this country’s most dynamic players. The new Perez is resigned to whatever happens. Anyway, he says his main concern with not with the USSF, but with Coach Bora Milutinovic.
“For me, the relationship I have to worry about is my relationship with Bora,” Perez said. “I have to do what Bora tells me to do.”
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Marcelo Balboa is back practicing with the national team after six months of rehabilitation from surgery to his right knee. Balboa, who had a torn anterior cruciate ligament, rejoined the team last week.
Typical of his personality, Balboa attacked his return with the same energy that he had put into his rehab. Some athletes carefully work their way back into the pace of practice, mindful of re-injury. Balboa is tackling and running as before.
“The first day I jumped up for a header and I came down on the side of my feet,” Balboa said. “I didn’t know it. My attitude is, if it holds, it holds. I can’t hold back at all. Some of the guys have been careful, though. They’ll come up behind me on the field and say, ‘Watch out!’ They don’t want to hurt me. But I tripped someone the other day, by sticking my leg out. He ran full-on into the brace. I think it might have hurt. Now, they are coming at me hard.”
Balboa is using a brace during practices but is expected to be weaned off it by December. Team trainer Rudy Rudawsky said Balboa’s recovery has been remarkable, and greatly aided by his natural flexibility.
“There’s more girth and strength in both his legs now than before the injury,” Rudawsky said.
Balboa’s return to the lineup could come as soon as Dec. 18, when the U.S. team plays defending World Cup champion Germany at Palo Alto. Milutinovic will have a choice when Balboa returns: If he returns Balboa to his position at sweeper, what will become of Desmond Armstrong, the versatile defender who has been playing at sweeper?
“It’s all up to Bora,” Balboa said. “My job is to get fit.”
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Pele was a winner last week in court. A state Supreme Court justice in New York ruled on Thursday that a civil case involving the soccer legend would be tried in Brazil instead of the United States.
The suit alleges Pele fraudulently sold exclusive rights to appear in a television series to International Sports, Ltd. . . . three years after he sold the same rights to another company.
International Sports paid Pele $96,000 up front for a series of programs about soccer, tied to the World Cup. Pele stood to gain more than $1 million in royalties and other fees.
The judge did not rule on the merits or facts of the case. He simply ruled that the case would more conveniently be heard in Brazil, where all of the principles have residences.
Soccer Notes
Thomas Dooley and Kristine Lilly were chosen as U.S. Soccer’s athletes of the year. Dooley is the goal-scoring leader for the men’s national team, with four goals in 14 internationals. Lilly is the women’s all-time appearance leader with 64 caps. Lilly scored nine goals in 16 games in 1993. The women’s team is 13-4 in full internationals and won the CONCACAF championship. . . . The men’s national team’s next match is Sunday against the Cayman Islands at 3 p.m. at Trabuco Hills High in Mission Viejo. The U.S. team plays host to El Salvador Dec. 5 at the Coliseum.
Prime Ticket is preparing to televise Mexican professional league games via its new all-sports, all-Spanish network, set to debut Nov. 15. Teams included in the cable agreement include Las Chivas, Los Tigres, Monterrey and Los Pumas. La Cadena Deportiva will broadcast 80 games from the Mexican league. The network already shows games from Spain and Argentina.
Unintentional hilarity of the week from Diego Maradona: “I am only here to bring happiness.”
