Mexico Wins U.S. Cup ‘96; Americans Look Ahead
Rafael “Chiquis” Garcia wasn’t the only one able to put a unique spin on the ball Sunday at the Rose Bowl. He simply did it better than anyone else.
Garcia’s superbly taken free kick in the dying seconds of the first half was the best of four fine goals as the United States and Mexico played to a 2-2 tie in front of 92,216.
The result, in a game that was both dramatic and incident-filled, was enough to earn Mexico the championship of U.S. Cup ‘96, though both coaches claimed a victory.
For Bora Milutinovic, so overjoyed at taking a 2-1 lead that he danced on the field, it offered hope that this young Mexican team can do well at the Atlanta Olympics.
“I think today we not have winner,” Milutinovic said in his usual fractured English. “Winner is the soccer.”
For Steve Sampson, the U.S. coach, the result showed that his players, despite little time to prepare for the four-nation tournament, were able to recapture their form, albeit after a struggle.
The importance of that lies in the World Cup ’98 qualifying campaign, which begins in September for the U.S. team. It won’t have much time to prepare for that, either.
“In July, we hope to have a few days of training,” Sampson said. “It’s not enough. In August, we hope to play El Salvador here in Los Angeles and get a few training sessions around that. And then we participate in the qualifiers. It’s dramatically not enough time to work with this team to get it right.
“I hope that we will be able to get through the first few games of our qualifiers without any hiccups, and I really expect some quality time [with the players] after the [Major League Soccer] season to prepare for the last three or four qualifying games.”
The need for that was evident throughout the tournament, in which the U.S. team beat Ireland, 2-1, and lost to Bolivia, 2-0, before Sunday’s match. The team lacked shape in the earlier two games, looking sluggish in its reactions and playing at too slow a pace.
The reason, Sampson said, is the lower level of competition the national team players are experiencing in MLS.
“I think initially their reaction in closing players down, their reaction to the ball, was slower than I was ever accustomed to with this team,” Sampson said. “A lot of it is because they’re playing in a new league, but I have to reiterate, we knew this going into it. I predicted this would happen. We have to just work through it. We have to support the league. It’s really the future of soccer in this country and of the national team.”
Sunday’s effort by the United States was noticeably better. Goalkeeper Brad Friedel was superb in the nets, time and again thwarting the Mexican forwards when they broke through one on one.
Said defender Alexi Lalas: “It took time to get back together, but it’s something that we’re going to have to learn to do.”
Eric Wynalda put the Americans ahead in the 34th minute, firing in a shot off a crossing pass from Mike Burns on the right. The first half was well into injury time when Garcia tied it up.
Thomas Dooley fouled Enrique Alfaro just outside the penalty area, and Garcia curled an excellent free kick over the U.S. defensive wall and into the upper left corner of the net.
“When you are lucky [as a coach] like me, you score a goal,” Milutinovic said, grinning. “Chiquis Garcia is very smart guy. He kick it exactly where Friedel don’t think.”
Said Friedel: “There’s a lot going on in that instance. You have to be prepared for him hitting it over the wall to the left, which a lot of Latin players like to do. They ended up hitting the ball in a place where I couldn’t get to it.”
Sampson agreed that there was not much his goalkeeper could have done.
“It was a phenomenal shot, but it didn’t take the wind out of our sails,” he said. “I was actually very impressed with our players at halftime. They knew they had the upper hand. They knew they were playing well. They knew they were playing much better than they had in the previous two matches.”
With the U.S. team pushing forward because a tie would give Mexico the title, Cuauhtemoc Blanco hit a shot that deflected off U.S. defender Marcelo Balboa and inside the right post in the 90th minute.
But Milutinovic’s victory dance was short-lived.
With mere seconds remaining, a John Harkes corner kick was headed by Brian McBride to Balboa and on to Dooley, who headed the ball past Jorge Campos.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
U.S. Cup ’96
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Team W L T GF GA Pt Mexico 1 0 2 5 4 5 Ireland 1 1 1 6 4 4 U.S. 1 1 1 4 5 4 Bolivia 1 2 0 2 3 3
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