U.S. Makes an Early Point, but Argentina Leaves a Lasting Impression

Here in the city that likes to call itself “the capital of football,” 81,067 fans streamed into Legion Field on Saturday night and waited expectantly.

To its credit, the sellout crowd cheered happily, even when the game on the field was revealed to be futbol, as in soccer.

Fans remained polite throughout, even refraining from leaving when the game was over--12 minutes into the second half--but waiting to exit until after the whistle blew.

Numerous but undiscerning, the Olympic soccer fans here were thrilled when the underdog U.S. team scored in the first 31 seconds against mighty Argentina, but sat quietly as the Argentines roared back to win, 3-1. The loss all but dashed the Americans’ hopes of advancing out of the first round of the Olympic tournament, something the United States has never done.

It is expected that the United States must gain at least a victory and a tie in its two remaining first-round games to advance.

The game was the first in Birmingham, which had its own, modest, opening ceremonies, and it had some drama going for it:

--The game pitted the lowly Americans against a gold-medal contender.

--It had a revenge aspect--the U.S. senior team upset Argentina at last year’s Copa America, a loss that sent Argentines rushing into the streets and calling for the head of Coach Daniel Passarella.

--And it brought a huge crowd out to a satellite venue.

But soccer almost always does. The Olympic soccer tournament is expected to generate about one-third of all ticket sales and, by virtue of the size of the stadiums and the number of games, will probably lead all Olympic sports in attendance.

The U.S. team, which automatically qualified as the host, didn’t give the impression that it had capitalized on the increased national interest in the sport.

Alexi Lalas, who played in Barcelona in 1992 with a broken foot and was one of the team’s veterans here, was asked to assess the progression of the intervening four years.

He stroked his carrot-red goatee by way of answer.

U.S. Coach Bruce Arena had an easier time.

“We lost battles all over the field,” Arena said. “We got a great effort from seven or eight players for 90 minutes. A couple of players lost the battles. We were on our heels out there.”

The U.S. team had said it planned to attack early and often, hoping to unsettle Argentina’s attacking front. Such an approach is usually well conceived on paper but disintegrates on the field when the opponents are quicker and faster.

The strategy yielded the first U.S. goal--a quick strike initiated by the sliding tackle of Claudio Reyna, who has roots in Argentina. Reyna is the only U.S. player besides Lalas who played in the 1992 Games.

Argentina controlled the ball at the start of the game, but Reyna darted forward to challenge and stripped a surprised Argentine forward of the ball then quickly sent it ahead.

The Argentine defenders backpedaled, but Imad Baba was already receiving the ball in the right corner. He centered it, bouncing it off the back of a defender, and Reyna was on it, sending a left-footed shot sharply to the corner of the net.

The goal was special on several counts: Saturday was Reyna’s 23rd birthday, the game was his first against Argentina’s national team, and it was being televised in Argentina, where his father’s family still lives. And, it was one more goal than most thought the U.S. team would manage.

“We really came out and attacked from the start,” Reyna said. “A lot of people around the world expected us to sit back and go for the 0-0 tie.”

The United States didn’t so much sit back as it was pushed back by overwhelming forces. Still, Arena said he was impressed with the number of scoring chances his team generated.

Argentina was relentless after the U.S. goal, attacking U.S. goal keeper Kasey Keller in well-organized blue waves. The first Argentina goal should have been scored when Marcelo Delgado had a clear field from 12 yards out. Keller dived but the ball sailed wide right.

It was one of many scoring chances offered by the U.S. team that Argentina failed to finish. Three minutes into the second half, Diego Simeone burst through and, perfectly alone, missed wide.

Argentina tied the game in the 27th minute after another U.S. breakdown. Hernan Crespo pushed the ball across the goal mouth, past Lalas, who came flying into the box, cleats up. His acrobatics were futile. Gustavo Lopez sent the ball high to the back of the net.

There were more chances in the second half. Javier Zanetti was at the front of yet another two-on-none breakaway but appeared to be momentarily distracted by Keller, who charged out of the goal to challenge. That shot sailed wide. A minute later, another did not.

Zanetti scooted up the right side and centered a pass to Crespo, who shot it past Keller.

“A free kick, outside the box and we let a guy run,” Keller said. “That’s inexcusable.”

Argentina got its final goal in the 90th minute, this time on a 4-on-1, with Lalas again racing back too late. Crespo passed to Simeone, who beat Keller.

The Americans got two good chances late, the first on a crafty run by Reyna in the 75th minute. He crossed midfield, shaking one defender, then dribbled around the next to open space, blasting a shot that goalkeeper Carlos Bossio did well to save.

Two minutes later, Jovan Kirovski turned in a superb effort. He dribbled right into the heart of Argentina’s defense and picked up two men. He lost them as he faked in and went wide. His hurried shot flew over the crossbar.