COMMENTARY : WORLD CUP USA ‘94: SEMIFINALS : Swedish Strategy Went for Nil
Today Romario has the world of international soccer precisely where he has always wanted it.
On bended knee, bowing before his cleated feet, thanking him profusely from the bottom of a billion hearts.
Had it not been for Romario’s noggin in the 81st minute Wednesday, Brazil and Sweden might have very well finished their World Cup semifinal in a nil-nil draw, dragging 84,569 unwilling passengers along for a dead-end drive through overtime and into soccer’s version of the California lottery, also known as penalty kicks.
And you know what that would have meant.
Svennin’ Time.
Penalty kicks are the reason the fjord-like, no-motion, bore-them-til-they-keel Swedes made it to the Rose Bowl instead of Hopalong Hagi and the Roamin’ Romanians. That’s enough. This World Cup needed Sweden in its final the way next year’s Super Bowl needs the Buffalo Bills, but for 80 minutes, the Swedes were a fluke, a quirk, a sneeze by Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel away from slow-dancing with Italy.
They were 80 minutes of hell. Sweden’s Tommy Svensson, in the biggest match of his coaching career, with a chance to put his country in its first Cup final in 36 years, decided to borrow a strategic page from that feared and revered soccer juggernaut, the United States.
This was Brazil 1, USA 0 all over again, except that there are no two dots over the O’s in “Tony Meola.”
The Swedes played Boraball. They vacuum-packed the defense tightly around their most imaginative, creative player--goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli--and planted themselves like a thicket of tall, white birch trees in the Pasadena turf.
If a Swede falls in the forest and no one hears it because everybody’s sleeping, does that Swede make a sound?
Most of the noise in this match was the thud, thud, thud of Brazilian shots smacking against Swedish shins, Swedish knees, Swedish stomachs. The United States played this way out of necessity. The United States managed three goals in four World Cup games--and one of them was scored by a Colombian. Another glanced beneath the crossbar and slanted into the net. The U.S. was all glove, no hit. Banjo hitters in shorts and shinguards.
But Sweden, Sweden had options.
It had Martin Dahlin, who scored twice in a 3-1 Group B victory over Russia.
It had Tomas Brolin, the hard-churning striker who pumped in three goals in a World Cup qualifier against Israel.
It had Kennet Andersson, whose two goals ousted Saudi Arabia in the round of 16, whose dangerous in-the-air presence had Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira this week calling him “one of the revelations of the Cup.”
Svensson, however, chose option D, which was none of the above, everybody drop back.
You may have heard about the efficient, workmanlike 4-4-2 defensive alignment that brought the Swedes this far. Allegedly, that means Sweden plays with four defenders, four midfielders and two strikers, whose job it is to direct the ball in the general vicinity of the opposition net.
Wednesday, that was nothing more than a bad rumor.
Most of this game, the Swedes were playing 10-0-0. Until Jonas Thern got hit with that red card in the 63rd minute. That made it 9-0-0.
Then, Sweden decided to get conservative.
In the 68th minute, Svensson pulled Dahlin and replaced him with a ball-controlling midfielder, Stefan Rehn.
While this is not quite the soccer equivalent of a general handing over his sword, it should have been accompanied with a public-service announcement on the Rose Bowl message board.
SWEDEN IS PLAYING FOR PENALTY KICKS
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THE REST ROOM OR CHECK OUT THE CONCESSION STANDS FOR THE NEXT 50 MINUTES OR SO
You could have landed a small Cessna on Brazil’s defensive half of the field.
Or played a slo-pitch softball game.
Or played another soccer game, better still.
Svensson chalked it up to fatigue, to the fact that “we did not recover well from our tough match on Sunday. Some players were not at full strength and that created some unsure play.”
“Today,” Svensson assessed, “we were not up to par.”
Sadly, the analogy was a poor one.
In golf, even if one is not up to par, one at least must try a few shots.
Gratefully, Romario kept his head on the ball in the 81st minute, put the ball past Ravelli, put the Swedes out of their misery.
Sweden--with a game as bland as its all-white, ripped-off-from-Penn-State uniform--will not be permitted anywhere near Sunday’s championship final.
All hail the great Romario, the man who saved the 1994 World Cup.
