Political Games Playing a Role

Unless there is a sudden change of direction, U.S. Soccer is about to steer itself right over a cliff.

Interviews will be held in Denver this week to determine who will replace Tony DiCicco as coach of the women’s national team that won world and Olympic championships. Contrary to popular belief, DiCicco did not resign but was forced out.

The race is down to four candidates, and, as usual with the federation, the final choice appears likely to be based on politics rather than common sense.

Lauren Gregg, DiCicco’s assistant and coach of the U.S. under-21 team, is the obvious successor. But sexism looms large in the federation’s thinking, and unfortunately there are those in powerful positions at U.S. Soccer who don’t believe a woman should be in charge.

It’s good enough for powerful Sweden, which is coached by Marika Domanski Lyfors, and for European champion Germany, coached by Tina Theune-Meyer, but apparently not good enough for the U.S.

The three other finalists are men, each with some pluses but also with some very obvious flaws that U.S. Soccer will do everything to cover up, should one of them be selected.

Two of them are Englishmen: Clive Charles, the U.S. men’s Olympic coach and the men’s and women’s coach at the University of Portland, and Bobby Howe, who coached the U.S. men’s under-20 national team at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia in 1993. The third is an American, Jay Hoffman, another of DiCicco’s assistants.

Their track records come nowhere near Gregg’s.

Charles coached the U-20 women in three Nordic Cups, finishing third, fifth and seventh. Gregg won the tournament twice. Howe has never coached a women’s team at any level, and Hoffman’s only coaching success was taking the U-18 women to the Pan American Games title last summer.

The decision will come down to more than experience, on-field success and familiarity with the program, however.

There is immense jealousy, not to mention resentment, among some at U.S. Soccer headquarters in Chicago over the success of the women’s program, compared to the frequent failings and flailings of the men’s teams.

The U.S. women have won two world championships and an Olympic gold medal, two Nordic Cups and a Pan American Games title. The national team has attracted fans in record numbers across the country. The next generation of players has all the potential to continue that legacy.

But U.S. Soccer now seems ready to drop the ball.

Why it forced DiCicco to step down is beyond belief. He put his heart and soul into the program for a decade, and he and Gregg were looking forward to the challenge of introducing new players to the team as it prepares for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

No doubt, some changes will be made in the lineup, but surely it makes sense those changes should be evolutionary, not revolutionary. And surely they should be made by coaches who are at least familiar with all the players, rather than by newcomers with scant knowledge of what has occurred over the last decade.

Continuity apparently counts for little in Chicago.

Just who will make the decision on the next coach is not entirely clear. Certainly, Robert Contiguglia, U.S. Soccer’s president, will be one. Certainly, Hank Steinbrecher, the federation’s secretary general, will be another. Tom King, general manager of national teams, could be another. King, incidentally, is English, which won’t hurt Charles’ and Howe’s chances.

Having already disillusioned DiCicco and apparently intent on doing the same to Gregg, U.S. Soccer is poised to not only turn gold into straw but to set fire to the straw as well.

Fans and the media have been captivated by the women’s team and its players. The successes of 1991, ’96 and ’99 have finally given Americans a soccer team to cheer and some stars whose names and faces are known.

Is U.S. Soccer really intent on tearing all that down?

Because if it makes the wrong decision in the next few weeks, not only are the players going to be upset, there will be a backlash of significant proportions.

Perhaps it’s time for Alan Rothenberg, former president of U.S. Soccer, and Marla Messing, Women’s World Cup president, to step in and exert some of their considerable influence.

And if they won’t do so, then Contiguglia should consider taking the initiative by mending fences with DiCicco. It might not be too late to get him to return as coach and to keep Gregg and Hoffman on board too.

If that doesn’t work, former coach Anson Dorrance’s telephone number isn’t that difficult to find.

PLAYER POWER

The Sydney Games probably will be the last hurrah for most, if not all, of the veterans on the U.S. team. Players such as Michelle Akers, Joy Fawcett and Carla Overbeck are certain to step aside after the Olympics, assuming they are selected for the Australia trip.

So, too, might Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy.

What concerns the seven right now, however, is not so much their own future as the future of the team. They are working hard in current contract talks to make sure the next generation of players is better cared for than they were.

“Any time there’s any sort of negotiation or renegotiation, it’s a huge step for us,” Foudy said. “We realize that it’s a give and take. We want this and they [the federation] want that.

“Obviously, we want to make sure that not only the veterans but the future that comes up behind us is taken care of.

“With the success of this [1999 Women’s] World Cup, the federation realizes the potential of this team and understands how important it is to sponsors and fans.

“For so long we’ve been trying to convince people that women’s soccer is a viable product and that it can draw fans and create a lot of profit for U.S. Soccer. We’ve been battling that for so long and I think that they’re finally convinced that this is something they should really treat on the same level as the men.”

MEANWHILE, IN CLAREMONT . . .

It’s going to be a strange reunion in Claremont next month when the 34 players who men’s national team Coach Bruce Arena has called into training camp finally get together.

Among them are 10 of the 22 players former coach Steve Sampson took to France last year for what turned out to be a World Cup debacle.

Arena said the group that will train for nine days before the match against Iran on Jan. 16 at the Rose Bowl “is as close to a full team that we’ve had since I’ve been coach.”

All the same, Arena will be without No. 1 goalkeeper Kasey Keller, defenders Eddie Pope and Robin Fraser, midfielder Joe-Max Moore and forward Ernie Stewart. All are injured or unavailable, but still figure in Arena’s World Cup 2002 qualifying plans.

The roster includes nine foreign-based players and 25 Major League Soccer players. Six of the 34 are former UCLA starters and another half-dozen are from MLS champion Washington D.C. United, Arena’s former team.

“Obviously, this is a critical year for us, with World Cup qualifying approaching at the end of summer, so it’s important for us to start on a positive note,” Arena said.

“We want to make some real progress in 2000, but that can only be measured by what we do when qualifying starts [in October].”

After the Iran game, the U.S. will travel to South America for a game against Chile in Coquimbo on Jan. 29 and then play in the 12-nation Gold Cup Feb. 12-27 in Miami, San Diego and Los Angeles.