No Room for Sentiment When Teammates Clash
When Galaxies Collide. The image is a little dramatic perhaps, but it’s a fitting title for today’s crucial World Cup ’98 qualifying match between El Salvador and the United States. Consider:
On one side of the field will be the Galaxy’s Mauricio Cienfuegos; on the other, the Galaxy’s Cobi Jones--Major League Soccer teammates pitted against each other with a France ’98 berth in the balance.
Or perhaps it can be called United They Don’t Stand. Consider:
On one side of the field will be Washington D.C. United’s Raul Diaz Arce; on the other, Washington’s John Harkes, Eddie Pope and Jeff Agoos.
Cienfuegos and Diaz Arce are not the only MLS players in the El Salvador lineup. There are also the San Jose Clash’s Ronald Cerritos and the Dallas Burn’s Jorge Rodriguez.
It all makes for an intriguing game at sold-out Cuscatlan Stadium.
“He’s a very good player,” Jones said of Cienfuegos. “He’s very good with the ball and he can work well under pressure, so I think it’s going to be very interesting to play against one of my teammates.
“At this point, though, he’s the enemy and I’m going to be going against him 110%. Cienfuegos, [Mexico’s Jorge] Campos, anybody who’s on the opposite team, they’re fair game and I’ll be going all out.”
Cienfuegos, meanwhile, was quick to return the compliment. And the challenge.
“Cobi means a lot to the [Galaxy] team,” he said. “He is a young man who has a lot of years in front of him and has a lot to offer.
“As teammates, you never want to face each other as rivals, but the day has come once again. He is going to defend his colors and I am going to defend mine, and I think that we need to do it in the best possible way. Therefore, I wish him the best of luck in my country.”
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
From the United States’ standpoint, the good thing about today’s encounter is that it comes against a country that has beaten the U.S. only once in 15 games dating from 1971. The U.S. is 8-1-6 against El Salvador.
The bad thing is the Americans’ record in Central America, 0-5-4 in the last nine games. Their most recent victory was 1-0 over El Salvador in September 1989.
Then there is the ugly. The Americans’ No. 1 goalkeeper, Kasey Keller; No. 1 playmaker, Tab Ramos; and No. 1 goal scorer, Eric Wynalda, all will sit out the game because of injury.
THE CIENFUEGOS FACTOR
“As Cienfuegos goes, so goes El Salvador. If we allow him to face goal and be playmaker, he’ll be very dangerous.”
That was U.S. national team Coach Steve Sampson’s quote in Soccer America magazine last week.
But Cienfuegos plays for the struggling Galaxy. Does that mean its lack of form might be carried over to the El Salvador team?
“No,” Sampson said before the U.S. team left Miami. “Cienfuegos plays much better for the national team than he does for the Galaxy because he’s so much more passionately involved.”
The same could be said of Jones.
FEAR AND LOATHING AT CUSCATLAN STADIUM
El Salvador’s most recent World Cup qualifying game, a 1-0 loss to Mexico on June 8 at Cuscatlan Stadium, featured a controversial goal by Luis Garcia that Salvadoran defenders believed should have been disallowed because of offside.
The game degenerated further in the final minute when the home team was denied a penalty kick by Argentine referee Hugo Alberto Cordero, even though Elias Montes appeared to have been fouled in the penalty area.
That brought a hail of debris from the fans, hitting an assistant referee on the head and holding up the game for several minutes. The unrest prompted FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, to fine the El Salvador soccer federation $35,000 and to hand its Yugoslav coach, Milovan D’Joric, a $5,000 fine and a two-match ban.
Cienfuegos said he does not believe the violence will be repeated today.
“The problem was caused by a decision by the referee,” he said, “but there should not be any reason [for fans] to behave in such a manner and do the things they did to the referee.
“We are going to try to pacify the fans and tell them that this is a mere soccer match for which one’s human life should not be risked. It is simply a sporting event. I think the U.S. team should not worry because they will be respected, as will the referees.”
BAN? WHAT BAN?
Sampson does not expect the ban on D’Joric to have any impact on the Salvadoran team.
“The only thing he is not allowed to do is sit on the bench during the game,” said Sampson, who expects D’Joric to be running the team by cellular phone.
“He can be in the locker room before the game and at halftime and afterward, he can be in the stands. . . .”
In other words, like so many FIFA bans, this one is meaningless.
QUICK QUIPS
A quartet of quotes from both sides:
* Wynalda, declining to offer advice to Sampson as to whom to play in his stead:
“That’s not my place. I don’t know. I’m sure if I keep getting injured like this, I’ll be a coach soon enough so I’ll be able to make those kinds of decisions.”
* Diaz Arce, the second-leading scorer in MLS last season and one of the leaders this season, on the league’s impact on his career:
“The truth is that it has helped me feel more confident near the goal.”
* Sampson, on the importance of the game:
“A victory would put us in solid second place, a tie on the road would be an acceptable result, not necessarily desirable, but acceptable because it would once again put us ahead of El Salvador, Canada and Jamaica.
* Harkes, the U.S. captain, on how the American players will cope with the expected rain of coins and other items that might be thrown their way:
“We’ll be wearing our new Nike helmets.”
PREPARED FOR ANYTHING
Having experienced a hostile crowd in Costa Rica last year, the U.S. team is prepared for a similar reception today in what FIFA has designated a “high-risk” game.
The delegation of American players, coaches, trainers, assistants and federation officials will be guarded by Salvadoran security personnel.
The team arrived Friday night and will leave first thing Monday morning. During their stay, the players are not allowed to leave the hotel grounds except for training and the match itself.
A total of 1,500 police have been assigned to provide security at the game.
To guard against forgery, tickets did not go on sale until Friday at Cuscatlan Bank in San Salvador.
Tom King, general manager of the national team, said he expects no trouble.
“From the federation’s standpoint, it’s our job to prepare for the worst and hope for the best and we work very closely with the embassies in the Central American countries that we go and visit. They’ve never let us down.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Today’s game marks the halfway point in the final qualifying round for France ’98. The U.S. team will regroup for an Aug. 7 friendly against Ecuador in Baltimore and plays its next qualifier against Costa Rica in Portland Civic Stadium on Sept. 7.
After that comes Jamaica at RFK Stadium in Washington on Oct. 3; Mexico at Guillermo Canedo Stadium in Mexico City on Nov. 2; Canada at Swanguard Stadium in Vancouver on Nov. 9; and El Salvador on Nov. 16.
The last game could be played in Los Angeles, but only if the United States already has qualified.
EVEN FURTHER AHEAD
Assuming the United States reaches the June 10-July 12 World Cup, its calendar in 1998 promises to be more than full, with world champion Brazil already penciled in on the schedule, along with European champion Germany.
“We intend to have a three-week training camp in San Diego in January,” Sampson said, “with three closed-door matches during that month and finishing it off with a match against Holland in late January or early February.
“Then there is the [four-nation] Gold Cup, which is in February in Southern California and possibly in Oakland as well.
“At some point we will take the team, prior to the MLS season, for two to three weeks to Europe, where we can call the European-based players in for midweek matches.
“After that, we intend to play one, but ideally two, matches every month leading up to the U.S. Cup in May.”
The four-nation U.S. Cup ’98 probably will feature World Cup teams from Asia or South America on their way to Europe and/or nations that came close to qualifying but failed to do so.
“I want to be in Europe two weeks prior to our first [World Cup] match so that we could play a friendly in Europe 10 days before our first match,” Sampson said. “We are looking at possible training sites in Spain or in Switzerland or in the northern part of Italy.”
But that is looking far down the road. The immediate obstacle in the United States’ path is El Salvador today.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
UNITED STATES vs. EL SALVADOR
World Cup ’98 Qualifying WHAT: World Cup ’98 qualifying game. WHO: El Salvador vs. United States. WHERE: Cuscatlan Stadium, San Salvador. WHEN: 11 a.m. PDT today. TV: Channel 34, 5 p.m. HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD: United States leads the 26-year-old series, 8-1-6. FIFA RANKING: United States 26th; El Salvador 73rd. AT STAKE: Top three finishers from among Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico and the United States qualify for France ’98. All teams play one another home and away.
STANDINGS
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Team GP W-L-T GF GA PT Mexico 5 3-0-2 13 2 11 Costa Rica 5 2-2-1 7 6 7 United States 4 1-1-2 7 5 5 Canada 5 1-2-2 2 7 5 Jamaica 5 1-2-2 2 9 5 El Salvador 4 1-2-1 2 3 4
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