This Rivalry Gets Going Just in Time

By GRAHAME L. JONES

March 29, 1998 12 AM PT

The game some believe might have been a preview of this summer’s World Cup final took place Wednesday in Stuttgart, featuring European champion Germany against South American and world champion Brazil.

The outcome was a 2-1 Brazilian victory, but there is no reason for Mario Zagalo, Brazil’s coach, to be crowing, or for Berti Vogts, Germany’s coach, to be moping.

“The winners of this match will be the World Cup favorites,” Vogts said before the game. “We are still among the favorites,” Vogts said after the game.

So what did it mean? Only that results can be interpreted any way a coach wants to interpret them. Of more interest than the outcome were the lineups fielded by the teams and their approach to the match.

It was a near-freezing night, but tempers were hot throughout the game. English referee David Elleray yellow-carded seven players and ejected two--German defender Juergen Kohler for a particularly vicious tackle and Brazilian midfielder Dunga for fouling Ulf Kirsten after receiving an earlier warning.

“Our strategy was to wait and let them come, and it worked,” Zagalo said.

“We had problems after the stupid foul by Kohler,” Vogts said. “We took risks and we could have gotten a draw. They were a bit lucky to win. I think a draw would have been more just. I hope we can draw a lesson. We could see how quickly and brutally mistakes are punished at this level.”

The loss ended Germany’s 22-game unbeaten run, one shy of the national team record.

Brazil has appeared in all 15 World Cup tournaments, winning four, and Germany in 13, winning three, but excluding an East Germany-Brazil clash in 1974, the teams have never played each other on soccer’s ultimate stage.

Perhaps France ’98 will remedy that.

STRIKINGLY DIFFERENT

The Stuttgart game was the first time two of the world’s finest strikers have had the chance to play against each other.

Give the nod to today’s star, Ronaldo, over yesterday’s hero, Juergen Klinsmann.

Klinsmann, 33, who is being courted by Major League Soccer in general and the Galaxy in particular, was unimpressive in his 101st game for Germany. The 1990 World Cup winner came off at halftime.

Ronaldo, 20, was held in check for much of the night by Christian Woerns, but he took off on a dazzling 50-yard run with only two minutes left in the game, beat Woerns and then slotted the ball past goalkeeper Andreas Koepke to win the game.

“He showed just how fast and how clever he is,” Zagalo said of the two-time world player of the year. “He has matured a lot in Europe.”

REALITY CHECK

Brazil fielded what is considered its strongest possible lineup against Germany, which prompted an immediate question: How did the starting 11 differ from the Brazil team that was beaten, 1-0, by the United States at the Coliseum in February?

Sad to say for those who wave the flag at every opportunity, the teams were almost entirely different. Only two players, goalkeeper Taffarel and forward Romario, played in both games.

In other words, the U.S. defeated a second-string team. Still a good result, but not the earth-shaking upset it was touted as.

What was phenomenal about that game was the play of Kasey Keller, the U.S. goalkeeper. As for the outcome, it should not be taken as a sign that the Americans are anywhere near Brazil’s level.

REALITY CHECK II

U.S. Coach Steve Sampson and midfielder Tab Ramos watched the Germany-Brazil match on TV in New York, after which Ramos provided his usual honest assessment.

“We have to play to the best of our ability and we have to hope that that rattles Germany enough for them not to play their best,” he said of the U.S. World Cup opener June 15 in Paris. “Because, if we play our best and they play their best, they win.

“If we don’t play our best and they don’t play their best, they win.”

Rather than going out to attack Germany, Ramos says a better tactic would be to try to contain the European champions as long as possible.

“If we can do that, we got a shot at a tie and we have a shot at a win,” he said. “I think we need to make it last 0-0 as long as we can. I know that the first 15-20 minutes they are going to just be flying out at us, trying to put the game away. The longer we can stand a 0-0 tie, the more of a chance we have to counter on them.

“I don’t think we have a shot if they score first.”

FUTURE FOES

The United States’ other two first-round World Cup opponents also have been warming to the task.

Iran, which plays the U.S. on June 21 in Lyon, came away from a three-game trip to France a little chastened and a lot wiser. It was beaten, 1-0, by Guingamp, defeated Nantes, 2-1, and was shut out by Montpellier, 3-0.

“We were unable to maintain attacks and need to work on our organization,” said Iran’s Croatian coach, Tomislav Ivic.

“Physically, the players are not at such a high level professionally as in the European leagues. The organization in defense is not good enough and in front of goal they need to create more chances.”

Yugoslavia, which the U.S. will play June 25 in Nantes, and Colombia played to a 0-0 tie in Bogota on Wednesday, the Yugoslav team having arrived in South America only the day before the game.

The result should not necessarily be encouraging for the U.S. As an indicator of Yugoslavia’s depth and potential strength, Red Star Belgrade midfielder Dejan Stankovic is one of its bench-sitters, yet the 19-year-old is the target of $15-million offers from several top clubs in Europe.

That would be enough to pay the salaries of all 240 MLS players for a year.

WORLD CUP WATCH

Bora Milutinovic coached Mexico in the World Cup in 1986, Costa Rica in 1990 and the United States in 1994, but he believes his current team, Nigeria, is his best yet. “This is the strongest national team I’ve ever had at my disposal,” he said.

Austria, which the United States plays on April 22 in Vienna, suffered a surprise defeat Wednesday, losing, 3-2, to Hungary in Vienna. “We were not as concentrated as we usually are because the pressure was off our backs after we qualified [for the World Cup],” said team captain and all-time leading scorer Anton Polster. “But we have become aware of our weaknesses.”

Another future U.S. opponent, Macedonia, scored a 1-0 upset of World Cup-bound Bulgaria in Skopje on Wednesday on a goal by Gjorgi Hristov. The Macedonians will be in San Jose on May 16. And how often do you see a sentence like that?

The Americans’ next-to-last warmup game for France ’98 will be against Kuwait in Portland, Ore., on May 24. The Kuwaitis are supposed to give the U.S. a chance to size up Arab opponents in preparation for the Iran game. Kuwait is ranked No. 43 in the world; Iran is No. 45. African champion Egypt, ranked No. 21, would have been a much more worthwhile opponent, however.

Macedonia, meanwhile, is seen by U.S. Soccer as being “similar to Yugoslavia.” Except that the Yugoslavs are No. 12 in the world and the Macedonians are No. 91.

In a prime example of how farcical the FIFA rankings are, the Netherlands leapfrogged from No. 25 to No. 6 on the strength of victories over the United States and Mexico in Florida last month. The Dutch should have been ranked higher to begin with.

The U.S., by the way, dropped four places to No. 16 when the latest rankings were released last week.

GOLD CUP 2000

It’s never too early to start thinking about the next Gold Cup, even though the last one ended only a few weeks ago. At least that’s the thinking at CONCACAF headquarters in New York, where CONCACAF President Jack Warner announced that the tournament field is being increased by two.

Twelve teams will take part in February 2000, including Mexico as defending champion, the United States as host, Colombia as a South American invitee and the joint hosts of the 2002 World Cup, Japan and South Korea. No venues were announced.

SHORT PASSES

England midfielder Paul Gascoigne, 31, transferred from Glasgow Rangers in Scotland to Middlesbrough of the English first division for $4.9 million. . . . Tunisia’s best player, Hassene Gabsi, tore ligaments in his knee and will miss the World Cup. . . . Belgium goalkeeper Filip De Wilde left Sporting Lisbon in Portugal to sign a three-year contract with Anderlecht in Belgium. . . . United States midfielder Joe-Max Moore sprained left knee ligaments and will be sidelined for four to six weeks. Meanwhile, his MLS club, the New England Revolution, has signed U.S. No. 4 goalkeeper Ian Feuer of Los Angeles. . . . Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov was released by Barcelona and signed with his former club, CSKA Sofia. . . . Japan playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata, 21, has developed such cult status that NHK-TV keeps one of its 12 cameras exclusively on him for each of Bellmare Hiratsuka’s J-League matches. . . . Roger Milla, the flamboyant four-goal star of Cameroon’s 1990 team that reached the quarterfinals in Italy, said he is in line to coach the team in France. . . . German sweeper Matthias Sammer has been given until May 30 to regain his fitness after October knee surgery or he will be left of the World Cup team. . . . A third-minute goal by Sergei Yuran in Moscow gave Russia a 1-0 victory over World Cup host France on Wednesday.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Brazil vs. Germany

All-time results

* May 5, 1963--Hamburg: Brazil 2, West Germany 1.

* June 6, 1965--Rio de Janeiro: Brazil 2, West Germany 0.

* June 16, 1968--Stuttgart: West Germany 2, Brazil 1.

* Dec. 14, 1968--Rio de Janeiro: Brazil 2, West Germany 2.

* June 16, 1973--Berlin: Brazil 1, West Germany 0.

* June 26, 1974--Hanover: Brazil 1, East Germany 0. *

* July 18, 1976--Toronto: Brazil 0, East Germany 0. **

* June 12, 1977--Rio de Janeiro: Brazil 1, West Germany 1.

* April 5, 1978--Hamburg: Brazil 1, West Germany 0.