U.S. Women Hope Speed Is Key to the Cup
What will it take to win the Women’s World Cup this summer?
If speed is the answer, U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco believes the American squad has players who can run away with the world championship.
“That’s a trademark of the type of team I like to coach,” he said. “What gives us an edge on the rest of the world is speed, and this team is very, very fast at almost every position.
“When you prepare a team, you prepare to beat the best opponents out there, and for sure China is one of the teams that will have to be dealt with this summer. They’re very athletic, very quick, they have a lot of speed all over the field.
“So speed was something we wanted to have, and I think we’re as fast as ever with this team.”
With only two games left before the World Cup--a closed-door match against Australia on June 3 on the Nike campus in Beaverton, Ore., and a send-off game against Canada at Civic Stadium in Portland on June 6, DiCicco says his squad is reaching its peak.
“We’ve got some improvements to make yet, but right now I like where we are,” he said. “There’s nothing in our game that I think is problematic. Right now it’s just a matter of fine-tuning and then just continuing to train to get that little extra edge in fitness and in confidence. We’re pretty much on track for where we want to be.”
The U.S. opens the tournament June 19 against Denmark at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Danes last week were beaten, 4-0, by fellow World Cup team Sweden.
Its second game is against Nigeria at Soldier Field in Chicago on June 24. Nigeria last week defeated World Cup-bound Ghana, 2-1, with FIFA world all-star Mercy Akide scoring both goals for the Falcons.
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The U.S. team will be given a send-off reception and luncheon by the Los Angeles Sports Council and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce at 11:30 a.m. June 1 at the Hotel Inter-Continental downtown.
The event is open to the public, with individual tickets $60 apiece. Tables for 10, which come with a U.S. team member, are available for $1,000. For more information, contact the Sports Council at (213) 482-6352.
THE YOUNG
The United States on Saturday kept intact its record of having qualified for every FIFA Under-17 World Championship when it defeated El Salvador, 4-0, at Columbus, Ohio, to advance to the 1999 event in New Zealand in November.
The U.S. is the only country to have taken part in all seven tournaments since the competition’s inception in 1985.
“It is a big load off our shoulders,” said midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, who scored one goal and assisted on two others. “We didn’t want to be the first U.S. team not to qualify for the tournament. . . . We can beat anyone in the world and can’t wait to get to New Zealand to prove ourselves.”
Oguchi Onyewu scored twice and Landon Donovan of Redlands, who has signed to play for Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, netted the final goal, his 30th in 32 games for the U.S.
The victory completed a two-game sweep of the Central Americans. The U.S. won the first match in San Salvador, 6-1.
“First we had the pressure of qualifying for the world championship but now we will have the pressure of performing well in New Zealand,” Coach John Ellinger said. “I’m confident this team will do well.”
THE OLD
Old soccer players never die, they simply find another tournament to enter.
That seems to be the case now that FIFA, the sport’s worldwide governing body, has announced an eight-nation “Championship of Heroes” event to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in June.
Players 35 or older or retired from professional soccer are eligible. The eight countries taking part in the inaugural tournament are Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
Former U.S. national team forward Roy Wegerle has been given the task of assembling the U.S. team, with such players as Thomas Dooley, Fernando Clavijo, Ricky Davis, Dale Ervine, Bruce Murray, Jim Gabarra, Paul Krumpe and Hugo Perez among those eligible.
The U.S. plays Spain on June 17, England on June 19 and Germany on June 21. The American roster will be announced Wednesday.
At stake is $1.5 million in prize money and the Joao Havelange Trophy, named after the former FIFA president who will present it to the winning team at the National Stadium in Port-of-Spain on June 27.
THE RESTLESS
The U.S. national team plays its second significant game of the year when it faces Argentina on June 13 at RFK Stadium in Washington.
The South Americans, preparing for the June 29-July 18 Copa America tournament in Paraguay, are bringing their strongest lineup. Coach Marcelo Bielsa’s squad has included such France 98 World Cup standouts as Gabriel Batistuta, Diego Simeone, Ariel Ortega and Javier Zanetti.
Argentina will play Mexico four days earlier at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Galaxy players Cobi Jones and Robin Fraser--but somewhat surprisingly not Clint Mathis--have been called into the U.S. team by Coach Bruce Arena, who will field his strongest lineup for the first time since becoming national team coach last fall. European-based players Brad Friedel (Liverpool), Kasey Keller (Leicester City), Claudio Reyna (Glasgow Rangers), Gregg Berhalter (Cambuur Leeuwarden), Jovan Kirovski (Fortuna Cologne), David Regis (FC Metz) and Tony Sanneh (Hertha Berlin) are all on Arena’s roster.
The U.S. team also features two newcomers: forward Chris Albright of the University of Virginia (Arena’s former home) and Donovan from the Under-17 team. Albright, 20, from Philadelphia, was a starter on the U.S. Under-20 team that reached the second round of the FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria in March.
“I think we have two players here who have the potential to step up to the next level, so it only makes sense to bring them in and introduce them to the national team,” Arena said.
The last time the U.S. played Argentina it caused a minor sensation by upsetting the South Americans, 3-0, to advance to the quarterfinals of the 1995 Copa America in Uruguay. Argentina holds a 5-1-1 all-time edge, however.
The U.S., which defeated Germany, 3-0, this spring for Arena’s most significant victory to date, is preparing for the FIFA Confederations Cup in Mexico in July. The Americans play New Zealand (July 24), Brazil (July 28) and Germany (July 30), all at Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara.
The U.S.-Argentina game will be shown live on ABC at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
QUICK PASSES
Coach Clive Charles’ U.S. Under-23 national team, the Sydney Olympic team in training, was held to a 1-1 tie by Canada at Charleston, S.C. Josh Wolff of the Chicago Fire scored for the U.S. in the 46th minute, but Canada’s Steve Kindel tied the score in the 88th. The Americans are preparing for the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. . . . The U.S. Under-18 national team, led by Coach Mitch Murray, is in Europe to compete in the 1999 Tournoi International de Football in St. Martin d’ Heres-Grenoble, France, and the 1999 Youth International Tournament of Terborg in the Netherlands. . . . Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Wizards and the Columbus Crew, is the second individual to be presented with the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s medal of honor. Former U.S. Soccer president Alan Rothenberg was the first. The Hall of Fame will open its new multimillion facility June 12 in Oneonta, N.Y. . . . The final of this year’s U.S. Open Cup will be played Sept. 14 in the new Columbus Crew Stadium at Columbus, Ohio.
Comunicaciones of Guatemala celebrated its 50th anniversary by winning its third consecutive Guatemalan championship and its 17th overall. . . . Referees Brian Hall of the United States and Gilberto Alcala of Mexico have been named by FIFA to officiate in the July 24-Aug. 4 Confederations’ Cup in Mexico City and Guadalajara. . . . Saprissa won the Costa Rican championship for the 22nd time in the competition’s 50-year history. . . . Those wondering how Lazio of Italy won the European Cup Winners’ Cup last week, beating Mallorca of Spain, 2-1, in the final, need only check what Lazio owner Sergio Cragnotti splashed out on players. Christian Vieri cost him $30 million, Marcelo Salas $25 million, Dejan Stankovic $15 million, Sinisa Mihajlovic $15 million and Fernando Couto $15 million. As Major League Soccer knows, $100 million just doesn’t go as far as it once did.
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FIFA Men’s World Rankings
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Ranking Last Month Team Points 1 1 Brazil 817 2 2 France 785 3 3 Germany 742 4 4 Italy 740 5 5 Czech Republic 736 6 6 Croatia 730 7 7 Argentina 729 8 8 Spain 724 9 9 Netherlands 703 10 10 Romania 701 11 10 England 695 12 12 Norway 690 13 13 Mexico 679 14 14 Sweden 673 15 15 Portugal 670 16 16 Yugoslavia 647 17 18 Austria 642 18 17 Denmark 634 19 19 Morocco 631 20 20 Paraguay 614 21 28 Scotland 603 21 22 Ukraine 603 23 21 Chile 600 24 24 United States 596 24 26 Slovakia 596 24 27 South Africa 596 27 25 Belgium 593 28 29 Tunisia 591 29 30 Poland 590 30 23 Bulgaria 589
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