Three for Three
There are frontiers still to be crossed by American soccer players, honors to be gained and recognition to be won in a country where sports fans generally dismiss the game as boring unless their kids are among the hordes kicking the ball around on patches of suburban grass.
Without the proper perspective, it’s difficult to appreciate what defender Marcelo Balboa, midfielder Tab Ramos and forward Eric Wynalda are about to do. Having already been among the first wave of Americans to play in premier foreign leagues, they are poised to add the distinction of becoming the first Americans to participate in three World Cups.
That would have been unthinkable a few years ago, perhaps even impossible had the United States not gained an automatic berth in 1994 by hosting the tournament. And how much each will play in France 98 remains uncertain.
However, by merely reaching this stage, the three have again played the part of pioneers and have made themselves an indelible part of an American soccer story still in its early chapters.
“I think it’s amazing, taking into consideration where we were 10 years ago, thinking that we might never even participate in one World Cup, ever,” said Ramos, the creative playmaker and pacesetter who has overcome two major knee injuries in the past 18 months.
“If you would have told me 10 years ago, I would never have believed it. Going to three is incredible. It says we’ve taken giant steps. Now we’re a team that the world knows if they come in and don’t play their best against us, they’re going to lose, it doesn’t matter who it is. Whereas 10 years ago, we were just hoping to give people close games, whether it was Guatemala or just Central American teams. And now we’re facing the whole world.”
Said Balboa, who played every minute of the U.S. team’s four matches in the 1994 tournament and has made a U.S.-record 126 international appearances: “I never thought we’d play in one. Being an American, it was a dream come true. Being able to play in three as an American, I guess shows how much soccer has grown in the U.S. and how much individual players have gotten better.”
Although the U.S. as a team isn’t on a level with defending World Cup champion Brazil and perennial powers Germany, Argentina and Italy, the country has begun to produce players who can compete with the best produced by renowned soccer nations. The experience Americans have gained by playing at an elite level will enable them to take the field Monday at Parc des Princes in Paris for their opening match against Germany with more assurance than ever before, and higher expectations.
As Wynalda sees it--and with good reason--this might be the first time the U.S. has truly earned its place in the finals. When the U.S. qualified in 1990 for the first time in 40 years, its passage was eased by the surprising elimination of regional rival Mexico. In 1994 its spot was automatic.
The U.S. made it to the second round in 1994, shocking Colombia before losing to eventual winner Brazil, 1-0, in Palo Alto. That was an immense improvement over its showing in Italy in 1990, when it lost all three of its games, including a 5-1 humiliation against Czechoslovakia in which Wynalda was ejected for elbowing an opponent.
That was another historic moment for U.S. soccer: the first American tossed out of the World Cup.
“In 1990 we definitely didn’t belong there,” said Wynalda, the most prolific scorer in U.S. history with 32 goals in 100 full international games. “Maybe you can call it destiny, whatever you want. We had a hard time with it at that time and we wanted to fight back. Everybody said, ‘You’re not good enough,’ and we said, ‘Yeah, we are,’ and we weren’t. . . .
“I was in complete awe. That’s one of the reasons I got thrown out of my first game. I realized a couple of things. I realized how little it meant at that time to be one of the best soccer players in America. You get on the world stage and it didn’t mean anything at all. We weren’t competitive, and that was frustrating at that time that we weren’t good enough, and that led to frustration in our play. Mine kind of blossomed in that first game, and I’ll have to live with that.
“But I think it’s the best thing that ever happened to me, in retrospect. It taught me a great lesson.”
Balboa, Ramos and Wynalda have much in common besides an opportunity to record a hat trick’s worth of World Cup appearances.
All have played in foreign leagues but have come home to play in Major League Soccer. Balboa played for Leon of the Mexican First Division and now plays for the Colorado Rapids; Ramos played in Spain and Mexico but now plays for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, near where he grew up in Kearny, N.J. Wynalda, of Westlake Village, ventured to Germany to play in Saarbrucken and now plays for the San Jose Clash.
They’re also among the oldest players on a roster with an average age of 28.3. Ramos is three months short of 32, Balboa two months short of 31 and Wynalda was 29 Tuesday. And they’ve all survived several coaching regimes and systems. “You never look at it as, ‘Oh, God, we’ve got to learn another philosophy.’ Every coach has something different to offer and you learn from every coach,” Balboa said. “In that regard it’s been great. I’ve learned a lot in the eight years since I’ve been on the national team.”
Finally, and perhaps less happily, they share another distinction in that all have had to fight to keep their spots, with varying success.
Ramos, recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee for the second time, isn’t fully fit and will probably lose his starting job as an attacking midfielder to Ernie Stewart. Not quite as creative or fast as teammate Claudio Reyna, Ramos nonetheless has been invaluable because of his steadying influence and determination.
“There was a couple of days after I found out about tearing my ACL the second time where I really felt, ‘No, do I have to go through this whole thing again? I don’t feel like it.’ But then I snapped out of it,” he said. “I was [thinking] like, ‘This is what I do for a living. I enjoy playing this game.’ If it happened to me a third time, I’d go through it all and go back on the field again. I don’t think I have a choice. I enjoy doing what I do. I don’t think there was ever a time where I thought I wouldn’t come back.”
Said Balboa, who tore the ACL in his right knee in 1993: “I’m amazed he can rehab the same injury twice. The first time, you always know you can come back from the first one. But the second, I was surprised because he came back real quick and was feeling good. Maybe I should have done it twice because Tab said it was easier coming back the second time.
“Tab’s done a great job. He thinks about it, sure, but it doesn’t show.”
Ramos has no qualms about fighting for a spot. “When you play for the national team you have to prove yourself every day. There’s very good talent here and every player here deserves to play,” he said. “We have a very good team. If you count from the first guy to the 22nd, it’s definitely the most complete team we’ve had. Realistically, I’m trying to get onto the field. I still have a positive attitude. I’ll try and come in and do the best I can, whether it’s for 15 minutes or 30, I’m willing to do anything asked of me.
“There are very few players that, at certain moments, can count on being in the starting 11. I’ve been fortunate to have been starting for 10 years, but I know every time I’ve been out there I’ve had to earn my spot, and I think it will continue to be that way.”
Balboa, who rebounded from his 1993 injury to be voted U.S. player of the year in 1994 for his steady play at central defense, appears to be a victim of age and Coach Steve Sampson’s switch to a three-defender, six-midfielder, one-forward configuration, which virtually eliminates his spot. Team captain Thomas Dooley and Eddie Pope are sure to start, and newly naturalized David Regis also appears to have vaulted past Balboa. However, Balboa has not conceded anything.
“You always draw something out of everything. Positively, being on the World Cup team for the third time and being among the 22 is a big step,” he said. “Sometimes you make it, sometimes you don’t, but I think I can help the team. I think I’ve proven that over the last year in qualifying games. Being a starter I can help and coming off the bench, I can help. Now, it’s kind of figuring out what role you’re going to play.”
Wynalda was hobbled by a knee injury that limited his playing time in the team’s final warmup games, but he pronounced himself fit after going all-out in practices since the team’s arrival in France. As the target man, his finishing skills are the key to the team’s offense. “Eric is one of the few players on this team that can make a difference with one moment of brilliance,” Sampson said.
Wynalda expects nothing less of himself.
“I think I have a lot to offer right now. Whether that’s by playing on the field or whatever, the fact that this is my third time around and I know what to expect, things are not going to have such a huge awe effect on me. I’m not going to have that problem again,” he said. “There will be guys that might have that effect and for me to come into this World Cup and have younger guys and be able to help them, that means a lot to me. . . .
“The World Cup all comes down to who’s in good form and who’s not. We haven’t scored many goals, but we haven’t been scored on in four games. Going against Germany, one thing we have as an advantage is a little knowledge about them. They have to play well or we could get the result we want. It’s a great feeling to go into a World Cup and know if you play as well as you can as a team, it’s going to be a good game.”
