Warmup Doesn't Measure Up for U.S.

By GRAHAME L. JONES

May 31, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

WASHINGTON —

Well, the Brazilians and Germans are not going to be trembling in their boots today at the prospect that awaits them. On the contrary, they probably can’t wait for the World Cup to begin.

The reason was evident on a hot and muggy Saturday afternoon at RFK Stadium, where a crowd of 46,037 endured 90 mostly dull and dreary minutes as the United States and Scotland played to a 0-0 tie in the final France ’98 warmup match for both countries.

The Scots open the tournament against world and South American champion Brazil on June 10 in Paris. Only a miracle can save them from a heavy defeat.

The Americans play their first World Cup match five days later against European champion Germany, also in Paris. Lourdes would be a better venue if they want to win.

For the second time in its last three games, the United States was shut out.

For the umpteenth time in who-knows-how-many games, Coach Steve Sampson tried a new lineup.

This time, it was forced upon him. Midfielders Claudio Reyna and Brian Maissoneuve both pulled out of the starting lineup during warmup drills. Reyna’s groin injury and Maissoneuve’s turned ankle were cited as the reasons.

So Sampson juggled his starters. Tab Ramos played in place of Reyna and lasted about an hour. Newcomer David Regis took Maissoneuve’s defensive midfield position and played the entire game.

But in a match billed as a send-off celebration for the American team, which leaves for France on Thursday to play in its unprecedented third consecutive World Cup, there was not much to celebrate, other than a fourth consecutive shutout by the U.S. defense.

Yes, Roy Wegerle managed to hit the crossbar with a shot in the 20th minute. Yes, Eric Wynalda fired a shot narrowly wide of the left post late in the game after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Wegerle. Yes, Cobi Jones was denied by a sharp save from Scotland’s ancient--OK, he’s only 39--goalkeeper, Jim Leighton.

But the most dramatic shots of the day took place before the kickoff, when each of the 22 U.S. World Cup squad members was introduced, each player running onto the field through a cloud of smoke to the accompaniment of two cannon shots so loud they had half the crowd stuffing their fingers into their ears. All for ABC-TV, of course.

After that, to be honest, there wasn’t much else for ABC’s cameras and microphones to pick up.

Scotland, its defense marshaled by team captain and “Braveheart” reject Colin Hendry, should have scored in the 59th minute after a dreadful mistake by the normally reliable Eddie Pope.

Pope tried to force a square pass to teammate Thomas Dooley, but Scotland’s Darren Jackson intercepted it and passed to Kevin Gallacher, putting him into a one-on-one duel with U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

But Gallacher made a mess of his shot, firing it directly at the keeper, and Keller was able to block it without much difficulty.

“That’s why we have goalkeepers,” Dooley deadpanned.

Sampson’s quotes were more prosaic.

“It’s a disappointing tie for us,” he said. “But I think in the first half we played very well and created some very good [scoring] chances. In the second half both teams were overly affected by the heat and that made for a less entertaining game than we wanted.”

The Scots, average age 31, were noticeably drained by the 88-degree temperature, but the Americans weren’t much better off in the heat. In France, it will be cooler. The Germany game, for example, starts at 9 p.m. “Playing at night will be nice,” said Wynalda, who on Saturday became only the fourth men’s player after Marcelo Balboa, Paul Caligiuri and Cobi Jones to play in 100 games for the United States.

Wynalda did not add to his all-time record of 32 national team goals, but he felt the tie was an acceptable result.

“For the most part, I think it’s a positive,” he said. “It’s not like we went out there looking for a 0-0 tie. We set higher goals for ourselves these days. But under the circumstances and with Reyna and Maissoneuve out, that changed things a little bit and I think we did really well.”

Perhaps, but the tone of the game is best illustrated by the sound of Scots fans who sang along when a kilt-clad piper played “Scotland the Brave” before the start. These, uh, well-lubricated fans, gave it their best, but it is virtually impossible to sing to bagpipes, and the combined noise probably drove every stray cat out of the greater D.C. area.

But who knows? Perhaps in France, the Scots and Americans will hit the right note. For the time being, however, the Brazilians and Germans aren’t worrying.

Men’s Team at a Glance

Jan. 24: U.S. 1, Sweden 0

a-Feb. 1: U.S. 3, Cuba 0

a-Feb. 7: U.S. 2, Costa Rica 1

a-Feb. 10: U.S. 1, Brazil 0

a-Feb. 15: Mexico 1, U.S. 0

Feb. 21: Netherlands 2, U.S. 0

Feb. 25: Belgium 2, U.S. 0

March 14: U.S. 2, Paraguay 2

April 22: U.S. 3, Austria 0

May 16: U.S. 0, Macedonia 0

May 24: U.S. 2, Kuwait 0