PAN AMERICAN GAMES : In Argentina, Soccer Gold Is a Must

“Jump! Jump! Jump!” the 30,000 Argentine soccer faithful chanted. “Whoever doesn’t jump is a fan of the United States.”

And so they jumped and jumped and jumped, expending at least as much energy as Argentina’s team did in its 3-0 victory over the United States in the first round of the Pan American Games here Sunday night.

It was a game against an unheralded, overmatched opponent in an internationally insignificant tournament, matching teams made up primarily of players under 23, but there was no question that Argentine fans took it seriously.

“If we lose, you will find me at the funeral home,” said Hernan Cortez, selling sausage sandwiches outside the stadium before the kickoff.

There was little chance of that because Argentina’s national coach, Daniel Passarella, is taking this tournament as seriously as the sausage seller, so much so that he is coaching the young players himself. And he is virtually insisting that they win the gold medal as a sign that he was the right man to take over the national team from Alfio Basile, fired after Argentina lost in the second round of the 1994 World Cup.

Basile was criticized because his players were undisciplined. But Passarella has made certain that will not happen to him, ordering his players to cut their hair so short that they resemble military school cadets.

He accepts no back talk, not even from owners of Argentina’s professional teams who have the players under contract. When Independiente refused to release midfielder Diego Cagna for the Pan American Games until after its game Sunday in Buenos Aires against rival Racing, Passarella said that Cagna would never again be asked to wear Argentina’s colors. Independiente relented, but, to assure that everyone knows he is in charge, Passarella did not use Cagna until 21 minutes into the second half.

He was hardly needed on a team that includes 18 players from the Argentine professional league’s first division, among them one who was a member of the last World Cup team and four or five others who probably will be asked to play for the next one in 1998.

In contrast, the United States has one professional player, from the Dutch second division; 16 collegians and one high school sophomore. Their best player Sunday night was goalkeeper Zach Thornton, an All-American soccer and lacrosse player from Loyola College in Baltimore, who made save after save as the defense collapsed.

He could not, however, stop two first-half penalty kicks, one resulting from a hand ball and another from a hard tackle in the penalty area. Ariel Ortega, who came off the bench after Diego Maradona was suspended for a positive drug test in the World Cup, scored the third goal four minutes into the second half.

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Pan-Am Notes

John Roethlisberger’s bid to join his father as an all-around gymnastics gold medalist fell short when he finished second in the men’s finals. . . . The St. John’s baseball team, representing the United States, lost to Puerto Rico, 8-1, and was eliminated from the medal round after going 0-3.

* The Associated Press contributed to this report.