U.S. Must Awaken From Sleepwalk
In its first international soccer game of this World Cup year, the United States used a dull blade to dispose of Sweden, 1-0, Saturday in front of a yawning throng of 12,773 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
That the U.S. team won at all was due only to a fine piece of opportunism by Joe-Max Moore and cool bit of finishing by Roy Wegerle in the game’s second minute.
The remaining 88 minutes were testimony to just how dreary soccer can be when the players lack both passion and commitment.
If the Americans play in France in June the way they did on a blustery afternoon in Florida, their World Cup trip will be brief and unpleasant. Germany, Yugoslavia and, yes, even Iran are not going to be as easy to defeat as the Swedes should have been.
This was a game the U.S. should have won by three or four goals if it is to have any impact in France. Instead, it struggled to win by one.
After finishing third in the 1994 World Cup, Sweden failed to qualify for France ’98. As a result, it brought a young and inexperienced team to Orlando, one being groomed for the 2000 European Championship and the 2002 World Cup.
Nowhere was the contrast more evident than in this statistic: Sweden’s starters had barely 60 international appearances between them, with five players making their national team debut, whereas the U.S. bench boasted a combined 517 caps.
It should have been a walkover. Instead it was a sleepwalk.
Coach Steve Sampson has less than five months to prod his players awake before the World Cup opener against Germany in Paris. It might take a lot sharper stick than he has used to date.
Sampson surprised some by leaving such normally automatic choices as Alexi Lalas, Marcelo Balboa and Eric Wynalda on the bench.
Brad Friedel started in the nets and did nothing to hurt his standing as the No. 2 U.S. goalkeeper behind Kasey Keller. He made a couple of good saves, one in each half, but was not overly troubled by the Swedes.
The only Swedish player to stand out, in fact, was forward Yksel Osmanovski, 22, of Malmo. He was easily the most creative and exciting player on the field.
The U.S. defense featured Mike Burns at right back. Burns was beaten a few times, forced to foul, handled the ball once and earned a yellow card. He looked better going forward.
Jeff Agoos at left back and Eddie Pope in the middle were solid, if unspectacular. The revelation was the play of Gregg Berhalter alongside Pope in the central defense.
Berhalter, 24, who plays for Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands, was poised and confident in only his third U.S. appearance.
Having cut usual defensive midfielder Mike Sorber from the roster, Sampson inserted John Harkes in his place. The experiment will take time to settle.
Claudio Reyna was the creative midfielder, but showed little. He was flanked by wingers Cobi Jones and Ernie Stewart in the 4-4-2 formation, but Jones had an indifferent outing and, given Stewart’s fear of flying, it is a wonder he keeps being asked to cross the Atlantic to play for the U.S.
Moore and Wegerle looked capable up front. Moore created it by latching onto a loose ball, beating two defenders and delivering a fine pass to Wegerle on his right.
Wegerle made a diagonal run, drew out Swedish goalkeeper Magnus Kihlstedt, then rounded him and slipped the ball into the net from a sharp angle.
Wynalda was brought on for Jones in the second half, but appears uncomfortable in the left midfield position Sampson wants him to play, especially with its additional defensive duties.
Roy Lassiter and Preki later replaced Moore and Wegerle, but Lassiter’s only scoring chance was a header he sent high, while Preki’s only shot was deflected away for a corner.
All in all, it was a disjointed and discouraging performance by the U.S. team.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Upcoming U.S. Games
*--*
Date Opponent Site Feb. 1 Cuba Oakland Feb. 7 Costa Rica Oakland Feb. 10 Gold Cup Los Angeles Feb. 15 Gold Cup Los Angeles Feb. 21 Netherlands Miami Feb. 25 Belgium Brussels March 14 Paraguay San Diego April 22 Austria Vienna May 30 Scotland TBA June 15 Germany Paris-x June 21 Iran Lyon-x June 25 Yugoslavia Nantes-x
*--*
x-World Cup
