As Tension Grows, U.S. Gets a Respite, 4-0 : Soccer: With player cuts looming, team has an easy time defeating Estonia at Fullerton.
Maybe the stress is starting to get to U.S. soccer Coach Bora Milutinovic. As his players await the impending World Cup roster cuts and perform on the field with a certain tense desperation, Milutinovic carries the roster around in his head.
After the U.S. team scored a 4-0 victory over outmatched Estonia on Saturday night, Milutinovic addressed the question of player cuts in his usual oblique manner.
“This is the toughest moment for myself,” Milutinovic said. “We have players with us for three years. They make big effort. We analyze everything. We make decisions.”
All World Cup rosters must be submitted on June 3, but some coaches choose to make their final cuts weeks before to avoid the sort of tension that has held the U.S. team in its grip. Three players have been released from the player pool so far, but a torrent of cuts are expected, perhaps as soon as next week.
Players are fighting for jobs on the 22-man roster with inevitable results: The last two U.S. games have featured pressing play in the front and tentative play on defense. Saturday night’s game, in front of 2,158 at Cal State Fullerton, provided the American players a chance to relax as Estonia provided little resistance.
The four U.S. goals were the most the team had scored in 15 matches and after the game players were talking about “confidence building,” but the subtext to any discussion these days is always the roster: Mike Lapper was red-carded after an altercation with an Estonian player and was asked how it might affect his chance to make the team. Each of the goal scorers was asked if his chances had improved.
The questions can all be answered by Milutinovic, who has known for weeks the players he wants on the team. Milutinovic--who has the unique ability to be gregarious and uncommunicative at the same time--is increasingly the center of media attention, which he both loves and loathes.
Most of the players on the team have been training together for more than a year, making the breakup all the more emotional.
“It is a tough decision,” Milutinovic said. “I am human, also.”
On the field, U.S. players were trying to make Milutinovic’s decision tougher and used Saturday night’s game as a showcase.
“We were able to put together things we have tried in practice,” Desmond Armstrong said. “The real test will come against a better opponent.”
Frank Klopas scored in the 36th minute on a straight-on shot from 15 yards. Claudio Reyna scored the only other goal in the first half, on a direct kick from 25 yards out. His shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced in.
The third scoring play was initiated by Reyna, who tapped a free kick to Hugo Perez, who crossed the ball to Marcelo Balboa, whose booming shot from the top of the box got past goalkeeper Mart Poom.
Joe-Max Moore scored in the 87th minute.
Each team lost a player when Lapper and Igor Prins were ejected in the 71st minute.
