U.S. Squad Stands to Benefit From Iran’s Firing of Coach

For U.S. national team Coach Steve Sampson, what happened in Rome and Amsterdam last week was every bit as important as what happens in Portland, Ore., where the United States plays Kuwait today.

Because in Rome, the less famous of the city’s two Serie A teams--AS Roma as opposed to Lazio--thrashed Iran’s World Cup team, 7-1, on Tuesday.

The tremor set off by that demolition was felt all the way back in Tehran, where embarrassment and anger was so keen that it cost Tomislav Ivic, Iran’s Croatian coach, his job within a matter of hours.

Few countries would be willing to oust their coach a mere three weeks before beginning a grueling World Cup campaign, but Ivic was sent packing and was replaced by assistant Jalal Talebi.

“Under Ivic, the national soccer team was rapidly approaching a dead end,” one team official said.

Iran will play its first World Cup game in 20 years on June 14, against Yugoslavia in Saint-Etienne, France. It then will play the United States on June 25 in Lyon, before closing the first round against Germany in Paris on June 26.

The “dead end” that Ivic supposedly was approaching might look like a highway to the stars by the time those three games are over. Certainly, the turmoil caused by this late change of coaches will benefit the United States.

All the same, Sampson does not believe Iran made a wise move.

“Obviously, they’re trying to make a statement,” he said. “I’ve never seen a decision like this at this late a date be positive. Maybe I’m wrong. But to my knowledge, even though they had a poor result against Roma, I think he [Ivic] knew where he was going with this team.

“Two of their most prolific players were missing in that match--Khodadad Azizi and Ali Daei. Those two players make a big difference.

“But these are things that happen in that part of the world, and we’ve grown to kind of expect these kind of decisions. Only the Iranian [soccer] federation knows what’s best for them, given the state of mind of their players and what the public wants in their team.

“You have to respect the decision, but I question whether it will be of help to them so close to the World Cup.”

BEWARE OF PREDRAG

Asked whether he had watched Wednesday’s European Champions’ Cup Final between Real Madrid and Juventus in Amsterdam, Sampson replied: “I sure did. The whole team watched it.”

Given that, what was Sampson’s impression of Predrag Mijatovic, the Yugoslav striker who scored the game’s only goal to give the Spanish team its first European championship in 32 years?

“I thought he played an excellent match,” Sampson said. “I thought he was a very complete player on the field. Obviously, the goal was a well-taken goal. He is one of those players who could have an exceptional World Cup, and he’s one that we’re going to watch very closely. But then again, they have three or four of those on the Yugoslav team.”

The U.S. will play Yugoslavia in Nantes on June 25, in a match that will have special significance for at least two American squad members.

One is midfielder Preki Radosavljevic, who was born in Belgrade and, like Mijatovic, also was named Predrag before the name was Americanized. Preki could well have been on the opposite side of the field on June 25 had he not chosen to leave Red Star Belgrade in 1984 to pursue a career in the U.S.

The other is goalkeeper coach Milutin Soskic, who was born in Pec and was voted goalkeeper of the tournament when he played on Yugoslavia’s 1962 World Cup team in Chile after winning a gold medal for Yugoslavia at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

It will be up to Soskic to figure out a way for Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel and Juergen Sommer--the three U.S. keepers--to keep Mijatovic off the scoreboard. No easy task.

NO, IT’S NOT AN OMEN

Don’t take this as anything more than a curiosity, but the last time Real Madrid won the European Cup was 1966, the only time England won the World Cup.

The England team that summer featured brothers Bobby and Jack Charlton. This summer’s England team will have brothers--Phil and Gary Neville--for the first time since 1966.

The odds on England winning the World Cup have not dropped because of it, but those are rare coincidences.

THE DIVINE PONYTAIL

Cesare Maldini, Italy’s coach, named his World Cup roster last week and had the pleasure of including his son, defender Paolo Maldini, on the team.

But Paolo has been a regular starter for Italy for years. The surprise inclusion was a player perhaps even more familiar to American fans-- forward/midfielder Roberto Baggio.

“The Divine Ponytail,” as he was nicknamed when his hairstyle was somewhat more offbeat than it is now, Baggio, 31, played himself back into the reckoning with a 22-goal season for Bologna in Italy’s Serie A.

It was on Baggio’s inspiration alone that Italy rode into the 1994 World Cup final, losing to Brazil at the Rose Bowl after the not-so-divine one missed a penalty kick. Now, against considerable odds, he is back.

“It’s a wonderful feeling,” he said. “It repays me for so many disappointments.”

LILLY’S WORLD RECORD

The sign on the road leading into the small Connecticut town reads: “Welcome to Wilton--Hometown of Kristine Lilly.”

So who, drivers might ask, is Kristine Marie Lilly?

Anyone who has followed women’s soccer over the past decade should realize that, while forwards such as Michelle Akers, Carin Jennings Gabarra and Mia Hamm have received all the headlines, midfielder Lilly has deserved just as many accolades.

And last week she got them.

The moment Lilly stepped onto the field at Memorial Stadium in Kobe, Japan, on Thursday, she set a world record.

It was Lilly’s 152nd appearance for the United States women’s national team, breaking the mark held by Norway’s now-retired Heide Stoere. No player in history--male or female--has represented a country more often.

“It’s fitting for Kristine to be the player to achieve this incredible accomplishment,” U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco said. “With her work ethic and warrior spirit, she epitomizes the success of not only the U.S. team during its history but the growth of women’s soccer worldwide. . . . She must be classified as one of the best female players ever to play the game.”

Lilly, who made her national team debut against China in 1987 at age 16 and has played in 86% of the matches played by the U.S., is no stranger to records.

Three state championships at Wilton High, four consecutive NCAA championships at North Carolina, a world championship in 1991 and an Olympic gold medal in 1996 are only some of the honors that have come her way.

Modesty, however, remains her signature.

“The record is not something I pursued or was aware of until just recently,” she said during the U.S. team’s three-game tour of Japan. “To stop and think about it is nice, but it doesn’t differentiate me from any of the players on this team, or make my accomplishments any more special than everything this team has done together.”

The U.S. defeated Japan, 2-1, in Tokyo last Sunday in the first game on its tour, with Debbie Keller scoring both goals in a come-from-behind victory. It then shut out the Japanese, 2-0, in Kobe as Lilly and Keller scored.

The goal was Lilly’s 57th, third on the all-time U.S. list behind Akers and Hamm.

The victory in Tokyo made DiCicco the winningest U.S. women’s coach, passing former coach Anson Dorrance. DiCicco has a 67-6-5 record going into today’s tour finale against Japan in Yokohama.

Next Sunday, the U.S. will play New Zealand at RFK Stadium in the first game of a televised doubleheader that also features the U.S. men against Scotland. Chances are, the first game will be the one to watch.

Lilly is one of many reasons why.

LOOKING GOOD

Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew lost four players to World Cup duty, but the team still is a winner, even without goalkeeper Sommer, defender Thomas Dooley, midfielder Brian Maissoneuve and forward Brian McBride.

Not on the field, necessarily, but off it.

Last week, the Ohio Expositions Commission voted, 6-2, in favor of a 25-year lease agreement that would allow the Crew to build a 22,000-seat stadium (expandable to 44,000) on the grounds of the Ohio Expo Center.

Columbus intends to have the $15-million to $20-million stadium built and ready for the 1999 season.

Meanwhile, a Portland 2000 group has been formed to bring an MLS team to the city by that season, and the New York-New Jersey MetroStars are negotiating with several New Jersey cities regarding a move from Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., to a more soccer-friendly environment. In other words, one with a grass field and without an NFL team.

Given time, MLS might yet carve a permanent home in the U.S. sporting landscape.

The signs are positive.