Meola to Start as Goalkeeper for the U.S. Team--or Will He?

U.S. Coach Bora Milutinovic named Tony Meola to start as goalkeeper in the team’s opening World Cup soccer game on June 18 against Switzerland.

Or did he?

During a news conference Thursday at the Rose Bowl to introduce those who had made the team’s final 22-man roster, Milutinovic preceded his remarks to the press with a short lecture to Meola, beginning, “When you lead the team against Switzerland. . . . “

Afterward, when asked about it, Milutinovic was typically evasive, saying that he will not identify his 11 starters until an hour before the game. But team officials said that Milutinovic has decided that the No. 1 goalkeeper will be Meola, who started all three U.S. games in the 1990 World Cup.

Meola, team captain, said he is not taking anything for granted in his competition with Brad Friedel for the position.

“That’s the first thing I’ve heard anything about it, too,” he said of Milutinovic’s remarks to him. “I’m still not sure if that was a yes or a no. I hope it was a yes.”

Meola will start Saturday at the Rose Bowl against Mexico in the United States’ final exhibition game before the World Cup.