SOCCER / GRAHAME L. JONES : U.S. Women Sharp as They Prepare for Title Defense
Less than a month from now, on June 6 in the small coastal town of Gavle, Sweden, the U.S. women’s national team opens defense of the world championship it won so dramatically in China four years ago.
The Americans’ opponent that evening will be China, one of five countries likely to pose serious threats to the U.S. team. The other four, in no particular order, are Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Barring an upset of sizable proportions, the final four in the second FIFA Women’s World Championship will come from those six nations. Because the United States also has to play Denmark--as well as underdog Australia--in the first round, it is no lock to win the group.
Anything less, however, could set up a potentially troublesome quarterfinal game against another group winner. Sweden, Germany and Norway all were beaten by the United States in the first championship in 1991 and all will be out to avenge those defeats.
For the moment, however, U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco’s concerns are not so much on the playoff permutations but rather the business of finding the correct blend of starters. Indications are, he is making progress.
Last week, DiCicco, who inherited the national team position from Anson Dorrance after serving as goalkeeper coach for the 1991 American squad, selected his 20-player roster. Included were nine members of the world championship team--Michelle Akers, Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Carin Gabarra, Linda Hamilton, Mia Hamm, Mary Harvey, Kristine Lilly and Carla Overbeck.
Newcomers who have earned the trip to Sweden this summer are Amanda Cromwell, Debbie Keller, Jennifer Lalor, Holly Manthei, Tiffeny Milbrett, Sarah Rafanelli, Tiffany Roberts, Briana Scurry, Thori Staples, Tisha Venturini and Saskia Webber.
Gabarra, 30, deservedly the most valuable player at the first world championship in China and now the coach at Navy, is the oldest. Roberts, a senior at Carondelet High in Concord, Calif., is the youngest. She turned 18 on Friday.
Nine of the players are California-born: Akers (Santa Clara), Fawcett (Inglewood), Foudy (San Diego), Harvey (Palo Alto), Lalor (La Mesa), Overbeck (Pasadena), Rafanelli (Santa Clara), Roberts (Petaluma) and Venturini (Modesto).
DiCicco has been experimenting with different lineups this year, during which the U.S. team has an 8-1-0 record.
The Americans routed Denmark, 7-0, in Winter Park, Fla., in February. Then, in the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March, they shut out Finland, 2-0, and Portugal, 3-0, before being upset by Denmark, 2-0.
In April, the U.S. won an international tournament in Strasbourg, France, blanking Italy, 3-0, Canada, 5-0, and France, 3-0.
Currently, the team is in the middle of a six-game North American tour. In the first two matches, it shut out Finland, 2-0, in Decatur, Ga., and, 6-0, in Davidson, N.C. On Friday, it plays Brazil in Tacoma, then meets the Brazilians again in Portland on Sunday. The tour concludes with two games against Canada, in Dallas on May 19 and in Edmonton on May 22.
Brazil and Canada also have qualified for the 12-nation world championship, as have England, Japan and Nigeria. The top seven finishers plus the United States will qualify for the first women’s Olympic soccer tournament at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The U.S. team leaves for Sweden on May 29.
Notes
Former U.S. national team coach Bora Milutinovic, dismissed without adequate explanation by the U.S. Soccer Federation last month, is being courted by Costa Rica, the country he coached into the second round of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. . . . Interim Coach Steve Sampson has included long-blacklisted goalkeeper Kasey Keller on his roster for the national team’s game against Costa Rica in Tampa on May 28. Keller’s last U.S. appearance was against Scotland in Denver on May 17, 1992. The USSF claims he was not blacklisted, but Keller, who plays in the English first division and was the No. 2 goalkeeper on the 1990 U.S. World Cup team, was not chosen for the next 74 U.S. games. . . . Catherine Hepburn and Michael Jackson could meet at the Women’s World Championship in Sweden. Hepburn, of Aurora, Colo., is one of only 25 women and the only American named in February to FIFA’s international referee list, allowing her to officiate at the top level worldwide. Jackson is a player on Brazil’s women’s team. . . . U.S. lineswomen Susan Cicchinelli of Austin, Tex., and Janice Gettemeyer of Maryland Heights, Mo., were appointed FIFA lineswomen. . . . U.S. national team defender Alexi Lalas appears likely to stay in Italy now that his team, Padova, is likely to avoid relegation and secure its first-division status for next season. . . . The A League, formerly known as the American Professional Soccer League before Commissioner Richard Groff decided to copy Japan’s altogether more upscale J League, has kicked off its 1995 season with a mere six teams--the Atlanta Ruckus, Colorado Foxes, Montreal Impact, New York Centaurs, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver 86ers. . . . Similarly, what used to be the U.S. Interregional Soccer League but is now the far more cumbersome United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues, has started its season with 86 teams nationwide under Commissioner Francisco Marcos. Local USISL teams are the Los Angeles Salsa, the Montclair Standard Falcons and the Valley Golden Eagles.
