U.S. Victory Anything but Pretty Picture
There was something quite fascinating going on at Anaheim Stadium Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with the United States’ 2-0 victory over El Salvador in a Gold Cup soccer game that organizers claimed attracted 52,345 despite the rain and the freeway gridlock.
Instead, all the action was behind the scenes.
In the bowels of the stadium, filmmakers were at work on some scenes for “The Fan,” Robert DeNiro’s upcoming film.
Needless to say, it’s about baseball, not soccer.
And any extra who might have poked his head out to see what was going on out on the field would instantly have understood why.
Dull. Tedious. Boring. Unimaginative. How many other adjectives does it take to describe the negative showing by both teams?
“I told them to play intelligently, not to play for the tie. But I don’t think our players know how,” U.S. Coach Steve Sampson said afterward. “I told them not to do anything too risky.”
As Sampson had said after the United States’ 3-2 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday afternoon, at this level, the result is what counts.
Fine, but doesn’t entertaining the fans factor into the equation too?
The victory, on second-half goals by Eric Wynalda and Marcelo Balboa, was deserved, but hardly scintillating. It put the U.S. team into the semifinals, with a game against Brazil on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Coliseum.
Guatemala, which defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 3-0, in the first game Tuesday, will play Mexico in the other semifinal Friday night at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.,
“We look forward to playing Mexico in the final,” Sampson said. “We feel very confident we can play with and beat Brazil. And it is not our intent to play defensive-minded. We’re going to attack. What have we got to lose?
“We have a chance to show we can play and beat the best in the world. What better test than to play Brazil?”
Beating the South Americans, even if it is only their Olympic team, will take a lot more offensive imagination and creativity than the Americans showed Tuesday night.
In a game marred by the slick surface and frequent fouls and sloppy play by both teams, it took the U.S. squad more than an hour to break through the El Salvadoran defense.
The first goal came in the 63rd minute when John Harkes sent the ball into the box, where it bounced around before finding Alexi Lalas at the far post. Lalas sent a square pass across the goalmouth and Wynalda fired it home.
It was Wynalda’s 21st goal for the national team team, tying him with Bruce Murray for the all-time lead.
Lalas was also involved in th second goal, setting up Balboa off a pass from Claudio Reyna.
“Every game we’re getting stronger,” Balboa said. “Brazil’s going to be a very tough opponent, but the important thing for us is that tactically we play well.”
Sampson made three changes in the lineup from the previous game, dropping defender Paul Caligiuri and midfielders Mike Sorber and Reyna. Starting in their place were Thomas Dooley, John Harkes and Mike Burns.
The American defense was solid throughout, but it was in midfield that the U.S. game bogged down, seemingly at a loss for ideas.
After the final whistle, the night was further marred by clashes between El Salvadoran and American fans outside the stadium.
Soccer Notes
Anaheim Stadium officials estimated the crowd to be at least 45,000. . . . U.S. winger Cobi Jones has been granted a work permit in Brazil, allowing him to appear for Vasco da Gama, the club with which he has been training with since last fall. . . . If Tuesday’s game had ended in a tie, a coin flip would have determined which team played Brazil and which played Mexico. . . . The United States is now 7-1-6 in games against El Salvador.
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SOCCER TUESDAY AT ANAHEIM STADIUM
* United States 2, El Salvador 0
* Guatemala 3, St. Vincent and the Grenadines 0
