At Least They Don’t Have a Defeatist Attitude

Thomas Dooley, sweeper and captain of the U.S. national soccer team, hasn’t been an American all that long--his first U.S. passport was stamped in 1992--but he knows his U.S. World Cup history.

“Three World Cups and we didn’t start well in any of them,” Dooley says.

“In 1990, we lost our first game, 5-1, to Czechoslovakia.

“In 1994, we tied Switzerland in a game we should have won.

“In 1998, we lost to Germany.

“Every time we have started very badly.”

The point being?

“One bad game is just that--one bad game,” Dooley says. “In 1994, we came back and reached the second round. Now, we still have two more games, against Iran [on Sunday] and Yugoslavia. Both teams are very good, but they are not unbeatable. . . .

“If we go out and play like we can against Iran, we will win.”

Of course, in 1990, after losing by four goals to Czechoslovakia, the United States also lost to Italy (1-0) and Austria (2-1) and was flying home before the third week of June.

U.S. striker Eric Wynalda, however, points out that Bulgaria lost its 1994 opener to Nigeria, 3-0, and then “turned it around and made the semifinals.”

“We’re excited about the opportunity to turn things right,” Wynalda said. “I’m totally confident in this team. I think we have an incredible opportunity to do something great.”

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With the exception of the 37-year-old Dooley, most of the American players have faint-to-nil memories of the American hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.

Wynalda, 29, says he was “just like any other kid who watched it on TV. I was excited when they were released. But most people remember that.”

Not 23-year-old midfielder Frankie Hejduk.

“I was maybe 4 years old, 5 years old,” Hejduk says. “It wasn’t on my mind. I think that’s when I first grabbed my surfboard. That was all that was on my mind. That and recess.”

Dooley was 18 in 1979, living in his native Germany, not paying very close attention to U.S. international politics at the time.

“Not really,” Dooley says. “But the other thing is: I don’t want to talk about something that happened 20 years ago.

“We are playing soccer. We are playing against the Iranian team. Everybody wants to live in the present. I’m looking forward after the game to shaking hands and changing jerseys with the Iranian players.”

Midfielder Ernie Stewart says he hopes Sunday’s game can be “a symbol to both nations to show how things can be. I know I’m going to shake hands and exchange shirts afterward. That should be a good example to the people watching on television.”

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Defender Alexi Lalas was laughing off an incident the other night when a young local fan accosted him in the street and berated him, telling Lalas, “I hate the way you play soccer!”

“Just some young punk,” Lalas said with a shrug. “I was just walking down the street when he started yelling at me. Good for him. Now he can go home and tell all his buddies he cussed me out.”