Gold Cup Crowds Hardly Pro-U.S.

By GRAHAME L. JONES

Feb. 19, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. —

For the U.S. men’s national soccer team, which plays Colombia in Miami today in the Gold Cup soccer tournament, it’s a case of win or go home.

And that can be interpreted several ways.

The 12-nation event has reached the quarterfinals, so from here on a loss means elimination. Still in contention, besides the United States and Colombia are Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago.

But going home also can mean something else for the American players. In their two games so far--a 3-0 victory over Haiti and a 1-0 win over Peru--the U.S. players have been seen by 85,635 fans in the Orange Bowl.

Perhaps 635 of those have been sporting U.S. colors. The rest have been there to cheer on the Haitians, the Jamaicans, the Peruvians, the Colombians and, most of all, the Hondurans.

Fan support for the tournament has been good. Attendance for the six doubleheaders in the first round at Miami, San Diego and Los Angeles totaled 209,428, an average of 34,904 per playing date.

But American flags have been few and far between.

The U.S. players are so used to that, however, that it no longer bothers them.

“We really don’t talk about it, to be honest with you,” former UCLA goalkeeper Brad Friedel said. “We like to play in stadiums that are full. It doesn’t matter who is in there. As a player, I like walking out of the tunnel and seeing a full stadium. I don’t like seeing half-full stadiums. So whoever is in there, it’s great.”

Striker Eric Wynalda echoed that view.

“We’ve played a lot of games over the years, whether it be in L.A. or down here in Miami, where fans have been supporting other teams,” he said. “It’s not something that hurts our feelings or anything.”

The situation will be no different this afternoon. A crowd of 40,000 or more is expected, and the Colombian team will have substantial support.

“We’re very confident we can beat them,” Friedel said. “But at the same time, we’re going to have to work very, very hard.”

Luis Garcia, Colombia’s coach, knows all too well what a loss today might mean. His predecessor, Javier Alvarez, was summarily fired after a 9-0 loss to Brazil in a Sydney 2000 Olympic qualifying game on Feb. 1. Garcia’s team was upset by Honduras, 2-0, on Wednesday, so another defeat, especially by the U.S., could send him packing.

“I will expect to have our hands full,” U.S. Coach Bruce Arena said. “Colombia’s a team with a lot of tradition and quality players. [Forward Faustino] Asprilla has been a little bit quiet in this tournament and I’m afraid he can erupt, so we need to be aware of him.”

In the second game of the doubleheader, Honduras plays Peru. The winners advance to the semifinals Wednesday night at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

GOLD CUP

QUARTERFINALS

Today at Miami

United States vs. Colombia, noon PST

Honduras vs. Peru, 2:30 p.m. PST

Sunday at San Diego

Costa Rica vs. Trinidad & Tobago, noon

Mexico vs. Canada, 2:30 p.m.

SEMIFINALS

Wednesday at San Diego