Defense Will Have to Be Much Better If U.S. Hopes to Get Past Costa Rica

Their names are Hernan Medford, Paulo Wanchope and Rolando Fonseca. In Costa Rica last Sunday, they were the architects of the first United States World Cup qualifying defeat in seven years.

They are the trio of forwards that the U.S. team must hold in check Saturday at Palo Alto or else face the possibility of not making it to France ’98.

Which is why, at the American team’s training camp in Chula Vista this week, so much attention has been paid to the U.S. defense.

Is it a shambles or is it in shape?

According to Coach Steve Sampson, the defenders will have to be much sharper against the Costa Ricans at Stanford Stadium on Saturday afternoon than they were in Costa Rica last Sunday.

“This is an area that we have to focus on,” he said. “We have to do a much better job of not only shutting them down but our cover behind the pressing player has to be much better. We were too stretched defensively [in the 2-1 loss in Costa Rica]. We didn’t close the gaps quickly enough. Our work off the ball to close down those spaces was not effective enough.

“Certainly, we’ll take a look at different personnel to match up with those three players [Medford, Wanchope and Fonseca], but I think the key for us is our response as the ball moves. We were reacting much too late.”

But it’s not that simple. Compounding Sampson’s problems is the fact that his once-solid defensive ranks have been thinned considerably.

The two players with the most experience, Paul Caligiuri of Diamond Bar and Marcelo Balboa of Cerritos, each with a record 113 international games and two World Cups on their resumes, will not be playing. The Columbus Crew’s Caligiuri picked up his second yellow card of the qualifying campaign in Costa Rica and is suspended. The Colorado Rapids’ Balboa, injured for much of the year, is not ready to return.

“He’s no longer injured but he’s not 100% physically fit and he hasn’t played in a long time,” Sampson said of Balboa. “My expectations are not to play him this weekend. The reason he’s in camp is to train with the national team and to integrate himself once again into this pool of players. He’s not in playing form.”

Also missing will be the Los Angeles Galaxy’s Robin Fraser, who has a back strain.

“We were informed, via telefax, that he was not being released by the Galaxy due to injury and we respect that decision,” Sampson said. “We have enough personnel to resolve the situation in the back.”

But not if the defense plays as tentatively as it did in Costa Rica. Two New England Revolution players, Mike Burns and Alexi Lalas, looked slow and uncertain, with both Costa Rican goals originating after one or both had been beaten. Caligiuri was not much better. The only defender to shine, in fact, was D.C. United’s Eddie Pope, a newcomer to the national team.

“I was very, very pleased with Eddie’s performance against Costa Rica,” Sampson said. “We had him matched up against Medford, a very fast and skillful player, and I thought he did a tremendous job for someone who has relatively little experience internationally.”

Helping matters Saturday will be the return of German-born sweeper Thomas Dooley, who missed the last game because of injury and flew to Munich to undergo treatment, Also back in the picture is D.C. United’s Jeff Agoos, who is coming back from suspension.

The likelihood is that Sampson will play a four-man defense, with Dooley at sweeper--a sort of free safety position--behind Burns, Lalas and Agoos. Given the injuries and suspensions, he has few other options. The Tampa Bay Mutiny’s Martin Vasquez, from West Covina, could be used in a pinch, but Sampson apparently is not ready to call upon two other players who could help.

San Jose Clash captain John Doyle was Major League Soccer’s defender of the year, but has not been able to break back into the national team.

“Certainly, there are opponents that I would consider playing John Doyle against and others that I wouldn’t,” Sampson said. “He’s in the pool of players for the national team. He’s a player I would look at to help us out. But I’m relatively happy with the team that we have in camp right now. If that changes, I wouldn’t hesitate in bringing in John Doyle.”

Similarly, former UCLA and now Tampa Bay Mutiny defender Frank Hejduk is not yet being considered.

“I continue to bring him into camp because I think he’s a player who is important for our future and it’s important for him to understand the level of intensity of these matches and the type of preparation the goes into a qualifying match,” Sampson said. “But I’m not going to put the pressure on him to come in and play in a World Cup qualifying game when he really hasn’t played that much for the national team.”

The United States has to tie both or win one of its last two games this year to advance to the next round of qualifying. Its final game is against Guatemala in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Dec. 21.

The Americans’ problems on defense are evident. They also have problems on offense, but that’s tomorrow’s story.