Consolation Can Be a Prize
Champions in 1991. Runners-up in 1993. Third place in 1996?
It’s hardly progress, but that’s the best scenario awaiting the United States as it prepares to play Guatemala in the CONCACAF Gold Cup today at the Coliseum.
For the first time in three Gold Cup tournaments, the American team will be merely the curtain-raiser, providing some light entertainment at 2 p.m. before the championship match two hours later between the tournament’s two unbeaten teams, Brazil and Mexico.
This is a far cry from four years ago, when the United States won the first Gold Cup, defeating Honduras on penalty kicks in the final at the Coliseum.
Nor was it this way in 1993, when the U.S. team again reached the final, only to be trounced by Mexico in front of 120,000 at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
But, because of some bizarre decisions--supposedly made months ago in Mexico but never announced--today’s third-place game actually has significance.
If the expected happens and Brazil, which is not part of CONCACAF and was invited for entertainment value, defeats Mexico to win the Gold Cup, the tournament’s second- and third-place teams will meet in a two-game, home-and-home playoff series this spring or summer to determine the CONCACAF champion.
And why should anyone care who that is?
Because that’s who will represent the North and Central American and Caribbean region (CONCACAF) in the Intercontinental Cup next year in Saudi Arabia.
Apart from the prestige, there’s also the small matter of financial incentive.
“We must get motivated for this game,” U.S. Coach Steve Sampson said after Thursday night’s 1-0 semifinal loss to Brazil, “because [going to the Intercontinental Cup] would be a very good experience for us and, from the federation standpoint, it’s financially a great opportunity.”
The Intercontinental Cup is a relatively new event but has quickly become accepted. Argentina won the first, in 1992, and Denmark was the most recent winner, in 1995. The Saudi royal family has invested heavily in the sport, and the full name of the trophy is the King Fahd Intercontinental Cup.
The winner receives more than $1 million--an amount that would come in handy at the supposedly cash-strapped Chicago headquarters of U.S. Soccer.
But the U.S. team is still a long way from Riyadh and still has Guatemala and, most likely, Mexico, standing in its way.
Brazil must be considered the favorite to win the Gold Cup today. Coach Mario Zagalo’s young team had little difficulty in beating Canada, 4-1, and Honduras, 5-0, before edging the United States. Brazil will probably find Mexico an easier opponent than the Americans.
For one thing, the Mexicans have had a day’s less rest and, for another, they have not really been tested. Even Coach Bora Milutinovic probably won’t consider a 5-0 victory over St. Vincent and the Grenadines and successive 1-0 victories over Guatemala adequate preparation for facing the Brazilian attack.
Milutinovic has spent the last few months tinkering with the Mexican team, trying new players and different combinations, much to the displeasure of many fans and a sizable number of Mexican reporters, who see such experimentation as fixing what was not broken.
He has shrugged off the criticism in typical Milutinovic fashion--”This is the life”--but there are those who question how long he can remain in favor if the results do not start improving.
