SOCCER / WORLD CUP REPORT : Meola Leaves Goal to Try His Foot as Kicker for Jets
Tony Meola, the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national soccer team since 1989, was signed by the New York Jets as a kicker, it was announced Monday.
“We gave Tony quite an extensive workout late last week and were really impressed by his leg strength and accuracy,” said Dick Steinberg, the Jets’ general manager.
Meola, 25, from Kearny, N.J., was one of the high-profile members of the first U.S. team since 1930 to advance beyond the first round of the World Cup. He is second in international appearances for the United States with 89 and held eventual champion Brazil scoreless for the first 73 minutes of the Americans’ 1-0 loss in the second round of the World Cup. “He’s a tough competitor who has played in some big games as an international soccer player,” Jet Coach Pete Carroll said.
Last month, Meola, who was once drafted by the New York Yankees as a center fielder, said this would be his final World Cup. At the time, he said he still might be willing to play in the pro league that is scheduled to start in the United States in April.
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Sunday’s World Cup final drew impressive television ratings locally and, although not as strong nationally, was probably the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history.
ABC’s coverage of the showdown between Brazil and Italy averaged a 12.4 rating in 32 markets for which ratings were available Monday. The national rating will not be available until Thursday, but it is expected to exceed the previous record of 9.3 for the U.S.-Brazil World Cup match July 4.
By contrast, the Super Bowl last January had a 27.8, and last week’s baseball All-Star game earned a 15.7.
Nowhere was the game more watched than in the market covering Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, where it registered an 18.1 rating on KABC-TV Channel 7 and a 6.7 on Spanish-language KMEX-TV Channel 34--for a total viewership of more than 1.2 million homes, about 56% of all households watching TV between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.
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Several Italian newspapers ran banner headlines saying: “Thanks Anyway.” Other papers referred to the penalty kicks as a poker or roulette game that left the result to chance.
“Brazil: World Poker Champion,” read a headline in La Gazzetta Dello Sport. “Goodby World Cup. The Unlucky Italy Loses in the Final Roulette,” wrote Corriere della Sera, a Milan daily.
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Adriana Galisteu, girlfriend of deceased Formula One driver Ayrton Senna, celebrated Brazil’s victory in Lisbon, Portugal. The team had dedicated the tournament to Senna, who died in an accident while racing. . . . Cheering as if they had won the title, more than 100,000 soccer fans welcomed home Sweden’s national soccer team in a raucous celebration of its third-place finish in the World Cup. . . . Brazil was named the tournament’s most entertaining team. . . . Belgium’s Michel Preud’homme was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
