Sampson Mulls Wynalda-Wegerle Situation

With only four days left before its game with Germany at Parc des Princes Stadium here in its first World Cup ’98 game, questions still surround the United States team.

Who will start Monday? Will Eric Wynalda play? Will the tactics be offensive or defensive? Is the U.S. ready?

The last question is perhaps the easiest for Coach Steve Sampson.

“This team is ready to play,” he said. “It has been ready for a long time. It’s time to put behind us the friendly matches and get on with the competition. I think the players have wanted it since January. It’s been a long process for us. I think they’re very excited about going to Paris.”

The American team is staying far to the southeast, near Lyon, and has been feeling a little cut off from the bright lights and broad boulevards of Paris. It arrives here Saturday.

As to who will start against the European champions, Sampson says he has a pretty good idea of his first 11.

“I do have a lineup in my mind,” he said. “It just depends on the health of players and their form in these last few days. I have 13 or 14 players in mind who will probably play during the match.”

The role of Wynalda, who has been recovering from arthroscopic surgery, is inextricably linked to the tactics Sampson will use. It seems unlikely that Wynalda can go the full 90 minutes, so it becomes a question of whether to start the national team’s all-time leading scorer or bring him on later.

“Everyone would admit that [Wynalda] has a special talent that maybe some of the other players don’t have,” Sampson said. “But I would have no hesitation in starting Roy Wegerle. I think Roy has earned the right to start. His work rate and his ability to hold the ball is something that I’m sure could be very helpful to us, especially against Germany.”

On the other hand, Wynalda has 32 goals in 100 international games and has played in the German Bundesliga. Wegerle has only seven goals in 39 games and his experience goes back to the English Premier League.

“I constantly have to assess whether it’s better to have a player [Wegerle] who gives you an enormous amount of work rate, is constantly closing down defensively and holds the ball very well for us offensively, versus an individual [Wynalda] who maybe doesn’t work as hard defensively but who on occasion can do absolutely brilliant things with the ball,” Sampson said.

“I couldn’t tell you today which way I’m going to go with that against Germany.”