World Cup Draw Puts U.S. Soccer to the Test
Talk about a “gulf” war.
The United States, a relative minnow in a sea of soccer sharks, was thrown into a pool with two of the most dangerous of them Thursday when it was drawn to play Germany and Yugoslavia in next summer’s World Cup.
But it was the third U.S. opponent that caused the most animated discussion in Marseille, France, where the draw for the France ’98 tournament was held.
After opening against three-time World Cup champion Germany in Paris on June 15, the American team travels to Lyon to play Iran five days later in a game with all sorts of undertones.
“Certainly, we are going to try not to allow the political ramifications of this game to influence our preparation,” U.S. Coach Steve Sampson said, “but it’s only natural there is going to be an enormous amount of interest.
“Looking at it on paper, Iran is the game that we must win, especially after having played Germany. Ideally, you always want to win your first match, but if we could get a point [against the Germans], that would be a tremendous result. If we don’t, then we must go into the Iran match playing to win and getting three points. I think it’s absolutely essential.”
Only the winners and runners-up in the eight, four-nation groups advance to the second round. Germany, the reigning European champion, and Yugoslavia, which the U.S. plays in Nantes on June 25, are favored to finish first and second, respectively, in Group F.
The United States has never played Iran or Yugoslavia and is 0-5 against Germany, the most recent games in 1993--a 4-3 defeat in Chicago and a 3-0 loss in Palo Alto.
Still, there is a strong connection between the countries. No fewer than five starters on the U.S. team--defenders Thomas Dooley and Jeff Agoos, midfielder Claudio Reyna and forwards Jovan Kirovski and Eric Wynalda--either have played or currently play in the Bundesliga. There are half a dozen others with German ties.
“The experience that we have with 11 players having played in Germany gives us a little bit of an edge from a confidence standpoint because there will be no surprises,” Sampson said. “This is a team we know very well, all the players’ individual strengths and weaknesses.”
Even so, the June 15 game figures to see the 1954, 1974 and 1990 World Cup winners not be unduly troubled by the Americans.
The Iran match, meanwhile, conjures up all sorts of possibilities. The cultural difference between the countries is enormous. Consider, for example, what occurred in Tehran after Iran had clinched the final World Cup ’98 place last Saturday with a 2-2 tie against Australia in Melbourne.
A crowd of more than 70,000 turned out at Azadi Stadium to welcome the players home and celebrate Iran’s first World Cup appearance since 1978. The fans included several thousand women who forced their way into the stadium, ignoring an official order barring females from attending.
“In view of the lack of suitable space and in order to safeguard Islamic dignity, sisters will be strictly prevented from entering the Azadi Stadium,” Tehran radio reported. “Sisters can witness the fervent ceremonies at home [on television].”
Try telling that to Mission Viejo’s Julie Foudy, a former world champion and current Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women’s team, who took part in Thursday evening’s draw at the Stade Velodrome.
Of equal interest to the U.S. is the fact that after clinching its place in France, Iran has decided to fire its coach, Brazilian Valdeir “Badu” Vieira.
“He was appointed as a temporary coach and we are looking for a new coach,” Dariush Mostafavi, president of the Iranian soccer federation, said earlier this week. Sampson did not rule out the possibility of taking advantage of such a move by Iran.
“I think we have a number of different sources that I’m not prepared to discuss publicly that will give us information about Iran,” Sampson said, “but certainly if they do fire him, we might want to consider using him as a consultant.”
Vieira coached Costa Rica to a victory over the U.S. during qualifying play before the Central Americans fired him in a financial dispute.
Iran is not Germany or Yugoslavia, but neither is it a pushover. On June 2 in Damascus, it routed the Maldive Islands, 17-0, the highest-ever score in the World Cup’s 67-year history.
Iranian striker Kharim Bagheri scored seven goals in that game and was the top scorer in qualifying play worldwide with 19 goals. The team also features Asia’s player of the year, Khodadad Azizi.
Yugoslavia, with such world-class strikers as Real Madrid’s Predrag Mijatovic and AC Milan’s Dejan Savicevic, presents an even greater challenge. Barred from competing in the 1994 World Cup because of United Nations sanctions, the Yugoslavs have bounced back stronger than ever.
“They have some of the best individual players in the world,” Sampson said. “We know that it’s going to be a very difficult match for us.”
Sampson can turn to his goalkeeping coach, Milutin Soskic, for some help. Soskic was a gold medal-winning goalkeeper for Yugoslavia in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games and was voted best keeper in the 1962 World Cup in Chile.
Then too, there is always another Yugoslav, former coach Bora Milutinovic, to turn to if need be.
Sampson said the U.S. will play the Netherlands and Austria in the spring to help prepare for Germany. It also will try to arrange a match against Saudi Arabia, especially if New York/New Jersey MetroStar Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira takes charge of that team, to try to prepare for Iran.
Parreira, incidentally, coached the Rest of the World team to a 5-2 victory over Europe in the all-star game that preceded the draw. Brazil’s Ronaldo scored two goals and assisted on three others, Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta scored twice and Antony de Avila, the MetroStars’ Colombian forward, netted the other goal. Europe’s goals came from Romania’s Marius Lacatus and France’s Zinedine Zidane.
“As far as the group is concerned, I don’t think it’s either the weakest group or the strongest group,” Sampson said of the U.S. draw. “It certainly isn’t ‘the group of death’ [that dubious honor belongs to Group D with Spain, Nigeria, Paraguay and Bulgaria].
“Anybody who gets to the second round will have deserved it and earned it.”
Especially the United States. Doing so would show it has bridged the gulf between it and the rest of the world.
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World Cup Draw
Following are the eight groups selected in Marseille, France for World Cup play next June.
Group A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland.
Group B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy.
Group C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
Group D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain.
Group E: Belgium, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea.
Group F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia.
Group G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia.
Group H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan.
