WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : FINALLY, A HOME GAME

The U.S. team is accustomed to playing before hostile crowds, even at home. Against Mexico at the Rose Bowl on June 4, most of a crowd of more than 90,000 was clearly rooting for the visitors.

That’s why the players said they were so overcome by the reception given them by a decidedly pro-American Silverdome crowd.

“I walked out and I almost started crying,” defender Marcelo Balboa said. “The emotion takes over for you. You walk out and you hear the cheers and yelling and it’s incredible.”

Said forward Eric Wynalda: “It was great. That is what got us up, having people on our side. It seems like most of our crowds are anti-American.”

Balboa said that at times the partisan crowd was so loud he was unable to communicate with defender Alexi Lalas: “He’s standing right next to me. I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, and he can’t hear me.”

Swiss fans were also vocal. They filled two sections of the upper deck, and after Georges Bregy’s goal they became a bright red, dancing throng.

“We couldn’t wait until the game started,” midfielder Tab Ramos said. “It’s probably the greatest feeling I’ve had playing in the United States. And it was nice to see a lot of Swiss fans here.”