World Cup ’94 : WORLD CUP USA ’94 GROUP A PREVIEW : United States at a Glance
* COACH: Bora Milutinovic.
* KEY PLAYERS: Tony Meola, Thomas Dooley, Eric Wynalda.
* STRENGTHS: Not many. The team is individually skilled but collectively weak. Wynalda, Ernie Stewart and Cobi Jones have excellent speed. There is creative ability in Tab Ramos and Claudio Reyna. Dooley reads the game well. Meola, when in form, can be an above-average goalkeeper.
* WEAKNESSES: The players make mistakes when pressured, passes go astray, the ball is kicked aimlessly. There is a general lack of cohesion. Defense can be turned on either flank. Midfielders are forced to spend more time helping the defense than creating chances for the forwards.
* WORLD CUP HISTORY: Four previous appearances. Record of 3-7-0. Best finish was third place in 1930.
* LITTLE-KNOWN FACT: The United States’ June 22 match against Colombia will not be the first World Cup encounter against the South Americans for U.S. goalkeeper coach Milutin Soskic. He was Yugoslavia’s goalkeeper when it beat Colombia, 5-0, in the 1962 World Cup.
* OUTLOOK: Victory over Switzerland in the opening match at Pontiac, Mich., is virtually imperative. The crowd will be behind the team in the first World Cup match to be played indoors and the Swiss might be caught by surprise. Realistically, though, it is difficult to see the U.S. team doing better than in 1990, when it lost all three matches by a combined eight goals to two.
* PREDICTED FIRST-ROUND FINISH: Fourth.
ROSTER
No. Name Position 1 Tony Meola Goalkeeper 12 Juergen Sommer Goalkeeper 18 Brad Friedel Goalkeeper 2 Mike Lapper Defender 3 Mike Burns Defender 4 Cle Kooiman Defender 17 Marcelo Balboa Defender 20 Paul Caligiuri Defender 21 Fernando Clavijo Defender 22 Alexi Lalas Defender 5 Thomas Dooley Midfielder 6 John Harkes Midfielder 7 Hugo Perez Midfielder 9 Tab Ramos Midfielder 13 Cobi Jones Midfielder 15 Joe-Max Moore Midfielder 16 Mike Sorber Midfielder 19 Claudio Reyna Midfielder 8 Ernie Stewart Forward 10 Roy Wegerle Forward 11 Eric Wynalda Forward 14 Frank Klopas Forward
