WORLD CUP USA ’94 / ROUND OF 16 : U.S. Keeps Thinking Positive : Soccer: Knowing odds are slim for victory today against Brazil, players again focus on role as giant-killers.
What scrap of optimism is there to which the U.S. World Cup team can cling, going into today’s second-round match against three-time champion Brazil? What filament of hope dangles like a lifeline before the most important game in U.S. soccer history?
The truth is that beyond the on-a-given-day axioms and underneath the pop psychology positive-thinking burbling, lies the brutal reality of the moment. An inexperienced U.S. team of largely amateur players will line up against the most talented and most creative soccer team on Earth.
What encouraging words would anyone offer the United States, the team that beat Colombia but fell in disarray against Romania. Will the giant-killers be felled by giants, when the teams meet at 12:30 p.m. at Stanford Stadium?
This team of scrappers and overachievers has developed selective auditory perception: It hears what it wants to hear and disregards the rest.
What, Ernie Stewart was asked, will be the United States’ greatest weapon against Brazil?
“Our American mentality,” was his quick response.
Translated, this means that even in the face of snickering from international media, the American players have consistently maintained they are capable of beating Brazil. The U.S. players and coaches mean it when they say it, and they are aware of the absurdity of it.
“We know who we are playing,” goalkeeper Tony Meola said.
The David and Goliath scenario works well for the United States, just as it serves to add more weight to the pressure that threatens to crush Brazil under a mountain of expectations.
“I’ve been saying it all week,” assistant coach Sigi Schmid said, “the hardest thing to do in sports is win when you are supposed to.”
Certainly, Brazil is expected to win this game easily. Coach Carlos Albert Parreira has been savaged in the Brazilian media and by the public, particularly after the team’s 1-1 tie with Sweden. The critics are all clamoring for Parreira to change his lineup; Brazilian President Itamar Franco has given his opinion on the matter, as has Parreira’s mother.
At least one change was made Sunday, as Parreira announced he was benching midfielder Rai. His place in the central midfield will be taken by Dunga, and Mazinho replaces Dunga as the outside right midfielder.
The changes are thought to give Brazil added speed and ball control, and Parreira was quick to note the changes were his idea and not in response to pressure.
It might hearten the United States to know it is capable of forcing a Brazilian lineup change.
The speculation on the U.S. lineup changes center on the midfield. John Harkes is serving a one-game suspension and U.S. Coach Bora Milutinovic has given no indication which player and which tactical philosophy he will employ in making the change.
Milutinovic’s caution is well-placed. The forward combination of Bebeto and Romario has been lethal; Romario has scored in each of Brazil’s three first-round games.
The United States will concentrate on staying compact and not getting stretched, a problem for it in this tournament. Once the midfield loses contact with the two forwards, the team’s ability to make use of its speed is greatly diminished. Winning the ball in the midfield and turning it around on the counterattack is the hallmark of the U.S. plan, as is stopping Romario.
“We can’t get too concerned about just one of their players,” Tab Ramos said. “They all attack and they all have the ability to come forward. Romario can be stopped. It’s possible.”
Asked how that would be done, Ramos laughed and said, “I haven’t the slightest idea.”
