Westlake Enjoys Taste of World Cup : Soccer: Former high school teammates relish roles of Wynalda, Jones on U.S. team.

When Eric Wynalda hooked the free kick over the Swiss human barrier, sending the ball on a 28-yard flight into the net just under the crossbar and barely inside the left post for a spectacular goal, American soccer fans everywhere celebrated.

Whether at the Pontiac Silverdome, where the shot that gave the United States a 1-1 tie with Switzerland in a World Cup match Saturday sent fans into a cheering frenzy, or in front of television sets around the world, it was a magnificent moment for U.S. soccer fans.

But perhaps no one besides Wynalda’s family rejoiced more than the guys who played with him and U.S. teammate Cobi Jones at Westlake High in the late 1980s.

“What a goal,” Wally Androski said. “It’s the goal of the tournament so far, as far as I’m concerned. That’s probably the most important goal he’ll ever score. It was an unbelievable shot.”

Androski, a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas, knows Wynalda and Jones well. He was an inside right halfback and captain of the powerful Westlake team that posted a 22-2-2 record in the 1986-87 season and reached the semifinals of the Southern Section 4-A Division playoffs. Wynalda, a senior, was the most feared striker in the section. Jones, a junior midfielder, was becoming a fine playmaker.

Like many other former Westlake teammates, Androski, who later played at UC Santa Barbara, was watching at home when Wynalda scored against Switzerland. The goal sparked memories of their time together in high school, when Wynalda was honing the skills many thought would take him far in the game.

“With Wynalda, you knew he was going to do something (in soccer),” Androski said. “It was almost expected. With Cobi, he blossomed after high school (at UCLA) and became a real good player. He is a pleasant surprise.”

That Wynalda became a heralded player at San Diego State and more recently with Saarbruecken of the prestigious German Bundesliga and the U.S. team wasn’t a surprise for Brett Potter, a Westlake teammate.

“Eric always had that desire that would take him the full distance. Eric was Mr. Soccer,” said Potter, who works for a publishing company in Camarillo. “Cobi is a big surprise to me. But when he got to UCLA, (Coach) Sigi (Schmid) turned him into a serious player.”

Another player from that Westlake team is Chris Volk, a goalie who joined Wynalda at San Diego State and now plays for the Las Vegas Dustdevils in the Continental Indoor Soccer League.

“Eric would talk about taking soccer to the highest level and I never doubted he would.” Volk said. “Perseverance is one of his best qualities. A lot of people are a little astonished that Cobi is playing at this level, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who works harder than Cobi.”

Former Westlake Coach Mike Williams, who was in his first season with the Warriors in 1986-87, has been following the careers of Wynalda and Jones since their days in youth leagues. Williams coached at Westlake for five seasons and now works for a security company. He will be at the Rose Bowl today when the United States meets Colombia, and also was among the more than 91,000 who saw the U.S. beat Mexico, 1-0, in a tuneup in Pasadena on June 4.

“It brought tears to my eyes in the game against Mexico when I saw Eric pumping up the players on the sidelines,” Williams said. “That was one of the things I tried to motivate him to do, to be more of a leader. He has learned that lesson finally.”

Williams said that the 1986-87 Westlake team was not only immensely talented, but also united in purpose. He noted that Wynalda, who gained a reputation for cockiness and seemed content to nurture the image, caused no problems at Westlake. Jones was the epitome of a team player, Williams said.

“I had more fun with that team than any other team I’ve ever coached,” Williams said. “There wasn’t a game we didn’t have pizza afterward at somebody’s house and watched a video of the game. . . . Eric had a bad rap, worse than he ever deserved. Cobi was a delight to coach. The Cobi I remember from high school was good-natured and always laughing.”

The current Cobi, the one depicted in a new cartoon strip by former U.S. teammate Desmond Armstrong, sports short dreadlocks that make him instantly recognizable. He still flashes a contagious smile. And the midfielder, who replaced Ernie Stewart for the last 10 minutes of the match against Switzerland, still possesses some of the qualities that endeared him to Williams.

“We called him ‘The Weeble,’ ” Williams said. “That was an old toy that would fall down and spring back up again. You could knock Cobi down at full speed and he would be up right away and never miss a step.”

Neither does Wynalda. He has become a respected player whose stature continues to grow in Germany and at the international level.

And he remembers his roots. Many friends will be rooting for him and Jones today, and some, like Walt Androski, will attend the match. Androski is Wally’s father and Wynalda’s former club coach.

“We had bought tickets to all the first-round games but Eric got us some other tickets,” Androski said. “Eric did such a nice thing and remembered his old coach.”

And maybe the old coach will get to see his pupil or Jones provide more heroics against the Colombians today. Although, for Potter, matching or improving on the goal Wynalda scored Saturday would be nearly impossible.

“My mouth dropped,” he said. “That was the perfect ball. It was a phenomenal shot. We need more shots like that to put America on the (soccer) map.”

Thanks to Wynalda and Jones, Westlake already has a place on that map.