To U.S., El Salvador, Qualifier Means a World of Difference
Steve Sampson insists he is not looking beyond today’s game against El Salvador at Foxboro Stadium, but the U.S. national team coach’s mind is surely focused more on Marseilles than Massachusetts.
Having secured a place in next summer’s World Cup in France, the U.S. team has nothing at stake this afternoon other than improving its 6-1-7 all-time record against the Central Americans.
But for El Salvador, the match means everything. If it wins and Mexico defeats Jamaica in Kingston in another of today’s final World Cup qualifying games, it will qualify for its second World Cup. It previously qualified for Spain ’82.
But if the results go any other way, Jamaica will qualify for its first World Cup.
And as far as Major League Soccer is concerned, it would be just fine if the Caribbean islanders make it to France.
That’s because MLS would lose Washington D.C. United’s Raul Diaz Arce, the Galaxy’s Mauricio Cienfuegos and the San Jose Clash’s Ronald Cerritos for a significant portion of next season. All three play for El Salvador.
Wolde Harris of the Colorado Rapids is the only Jamaican national team player in MLS. That might change before the 1998 season, however, because New England Revolution Coach Thomas Rongen scouted Jamaica’s recent game in San Salvador with an eye on a couple of Jamaican players.
Not that MLS should worry. Sampson insists the United States will not be taking it easy today, even though several starters are missing and no fewer than 12 players are sitting on a yellow card.
“We’re playing to win,” Sampson said. “We’re going to play with the best team that we possibly can as a tribute to the people of Boston [the game is near to being a 57,000-seat sellout].”
Players who already have a yellow card and who receive another caution today could be suspended for the first game of the World Cup.
Sampson’s future as national coach has been in doubt a couple of times during the yearlong qualifying process, and a loss to El Salvador would not help his cause. Still, he believes the first game next June is more important than the last game this November.
As a result, today’s U.S. starting lineup might look a bit experimental.
“The big picture is the main thing, even at the expense of my own career,” Sampson said. “I hope [U.S. Soccer] Federation officials understand exactly what I’m doing.”
DRAW IS IN REACH
Today’s game marks the end of the season for the U.S. team, which has an underwhelming 4-6-7 record for 1997.
The next big date on Sampson’s calendar is Dec. 4, which is when the World Cup ’98 Draw will be held in Marseilles, France. At the ceremony, the 32 teams will learn who their first-round opponents are to be next June.
The draw will be accompanied by a Europe vs. Rest of the World match, featuring players from the World Cup ’98 participating countries.
Franz Beckenbauer, who led Germany to World Cup triumphs as captain in 1974 and as coach in 1990, will take charge of the Europe team.
The Rest of the World will be coached by Brazil’s victorious 1994 World Cup coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, now coach of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.
The match will be played at Marseilles’ Velodrome, one of the nine 1998 World Cup venues.
For the draw, which will take place in the stadium, the 32 nations will be divided into eight groups of four, from which the first- and second-place teams will advance to the second round.
So far, 28 countries have qualified: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Tunisia, the United States and Yugoslavia.
The remaining four will be either Chile or Bolivia; El Salvador or Jamaica; Iran or Japan; and Australia or the Iran-Japan loser.
Chances are, as a third-seeded team, the United States will have to play at least one European team, probably an African team, and possibly an Asian or South American team.
In 1994, under then-coach Bora Milutinovic, the U.S. advanced to the second round by tying Switzerland, defeating Colombia and losing to Romania.
TAKING THE HEAT
Jamaica’s coach, Rene Simoes, cannot rely on the United States defeating El Salvador today. On the other hand, he will find Mexico in no mood to roll over, either.
The Mexican team has been severely criticized in the media for its 0-0 tie against the United States two weeks ago and its 3-3 tie against Costa Rica last week.
The last thing Bora wants is another poor result. His job is hanging by a thread, as it is.
Sampson, who served as Bora’s assistant in ‘94, believes the criticism is “insulting.”
“I hope he’s getting compensated for it,” Sampson said, “because that would be the only saving grace. To qualify a team for the World Cup and then be treated that way is, I think, insulting.
“I think it’s unfortunate. I think the expectations in Mexico are much higher than maybe what they should be. The press and the people in Mexico expect them to be able to beat the Englands and the Germanys and the Italys and the Brazils of the world. I think that’s unrealistic.”
OLYMPIC AGE RINGS
The grand experiment of 1996, when Olympic soccer teams for the first time were permitted to field up to three players over 23 years old, appears to have been a one-time event.
On Wednesday, the FIFA committee responsible for Olympic soccer said it will submit a proposal to the FIFA executive committee at next June’s FIFA Congress in Paris asking it to drop the rule that allows teams to field overage players.
“It was mostly at the request of the International Olympic Committee to add the over-age players to complement the competition,” FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said. “But nowadays we believe the competition is attractive enough on its own.
“Many of the best players, like [Brazil’s] Ronaldo, are under 23 anyway. At the last Olympics, the European teams did not use their over-age players and went with purely under-23 squads anyway.”
If approved, the return to the under-23 restriction will mean U.S. Coach Clive Charles will not be able to call on any veterans. In the Atlanta Games, the U.S. used goalkeeper Kasey Keller, midfielder Claudio Reyna and defender Alexi Lalas as its over-age players.
It will be tough enough for the U.S. to qualify, anyway. CONCACAF will receive only two places in the 16-nation finals. Australia, as host nation, will receive one place, while four will go to Africa, including one extra place in recognition of Nigeria having won the gold medal in Atlanta.
Four places will go to Europe and two to South America. Asia will receive three berths, but the third Asian team to qualify will have to have a playoff against the top team from Oceania.
FIFA revealed that the men’s final will be played in the main Olympic stadium in Sydney while the women’s final--the United States is the defending champion--will be played at the Sydney football ground.
Olympic qualifying begins Aug. 1, 1998, and runs through to April 2000.
SHORT PASSES
Swedish World Cup ’94 goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli, signed by MLS last week, is the first of a number of new foreign players the league will be acquiring in the months ahead. Among others already mentioned are Croatian midfielder/defender Aljosa Asanovic, Swedish midfielder Thomas Brolin and Colombian midfielder Walter Escobar. Word out of Florida is that the colorful and unpredictable Ravelli will be assigned to the Miami Fusion but traded to the Tampa Bay Mutiny for Colombian midfielder Carlos Valderrama.
Soccer lost one of its finest coaches last Sunday when Helenio Herrera, who coached Inter Milan to two European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups in the 1960s, died of a heart attack at 81 in Venice, Italy. Born in Argentina and known as “Il Mago” (the magician), Herrera was credited with inventing the catenaccio, a defensive formation and system of play that contributed to numerous Italian club and national team triumphs, including Italy’s 1982 World Cup victory.
