Titles Up for Grabs for U.S. on Top and Down Under
They are on opposite sides of the globe, but two United States national teams will be playing games today that will have a significant bearing on their future.
Coach Bruce Arena’s U.S. men’s team is in East Rutherford, N.J., taking on Mexico in the nationally televised title game of the U.S. Cup at Giants Stadium.
A U.S. victory would break Mexico’s string of three consecutive titles in the event and give the Americans their first championship since 1995.
Coach April Heinrichs’ U.S. women’s team is in considerably more scenic Australia, taking on the host nation in what amounts to the title game of the inaugural Pacific Cup at Breakers Stadium in Newcastle.
A victory would earn the Americans a trophy that appeared out of reach after an opening 1-0 loss to longtime rival China in the six-nation, round-robin tournament that is a warmup of sorts for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
What follows is a quick comment on the odd route each team has followed in its climb toward the top.
OFFSIDE, WHAT OFFSIDE?
After thrashing an indifferent South Africa, 4-0, at RFK Stadium in Washington, with the Galaxy’s Cobi Jones contributing two of the goals and Claudio Reyna and Earnie Stewart scoring the others, the U.S. ran into a storm against Ireland at Foxboro Stadium near Boston.
The high winds and driving rain were bad enough, but the real storm surrounded the goal scored by Ante Razov that caused the game to end in a 1-1 tie.
It was clearly offside and should have been disallowed, but Mexican linesman Jose Ramos Rizo inexplicably kept his flag down and Razov, the former UCLA striker, was not about to admit he had gotten away with something.
Asked if he had been offside, Razov said, “The game ended 1-1, so apparently not.”
Ireland Coach Mick McCarthy was not amused.
“It was quite blatantly offsides,” he said. “It was a terrible decision. I’m pleased with the lad who said it didn’t bother him. If I had scored it, it wouldn’t have bothered me either.”
Television commentators were less forgiving.
“Criminal” ESPN’s Seamus Malin said of the non-call that robbed Ireland of a probable victory.
CHINA STUMBLES
The U.S. women thought the Pacific Cup was beyond their reach after they had lost the opening game, 1-0, to China on a Sun Wen penalty kick.
It didn’t stop them from blasting their way through the rest of the field, however.
They crushed Canada, 9-1, with Cindy Parlow getting her first career hat trick and Tiffeny Milbrett her second. Lorrie Fair scored twice and Shannon MacMillan once.
Next, New Zealand was trounced, 5-0, as Mia Hamm became the first player in U.S. history to reach 100 career assists, Parlow scored three more goals and Christy Welsh scored two.
Japan was the next victim, falling, 4-1, on goals by Parlow, MacMillan, Brandi Chastain and Aly Wagner.
Meanwhile, China ran into all sorts of trouble. First, it was held to a 1-1 tie by Australia and won on penalty kicks, 5-4. It managed only a 2-0 win over Japan and then, astonishingly, was tied, 2-2, by Canada and lost on penalties, 5-3.
That opened the door for Heinrichs’ team today to add the Pacific Cup to the Algarve Cup and U.S. Cup it already has won this year.
EURO 2000 CURIOSITIES
With only the suggestion of a bow in David Letterman’s direction, here are the top 10 reasons why Euro 2000, the 16-nation European Championship that began Saturday in Belgium and the Netherlands and runs through July 2, makes for curious reading:
* 10. Because Germany has yanked the passports of known soccer hooligans and ordered them to report to local police stations regularly during the championship. “If it’s necessary, we will detain the troublemakers,” said North Rhine-Westphalia state interior minister Fritz Behrens. “Police have enough cells.”
* 9. Because Belgium’s justice ministry has sent 150 prisoners home for three weeks and will allow criminals convicted of lesser offenses during the tournament to delay their incarceration simply so that there will be room to lock up soccer hooligans. Unlike Germany, Belgium does not have enough cells. In Amsterdam, meanwhile, troublemakers are to be locked up in a converted aircraft hangar, but still will be able to watch the games on a giant screen.
* 8. Because in Brussels, Molotov cocktails were thrown, cars were set ablaze, mounted police charged into the crowd, and water cannons were used to knock people down--including a British cameraman who was filming the training riot staged by Belgian police in preparation for Euro 2000. Three tabloid reporters from England have since been arrested for brandishing knives and a crossbow in an Amsterdam park while testing Euro 2000 security.
* 7. Because a U.S.-owned English supermarket chain is squirming under the revelation that the England team replica jerseys it is selling--with a large St George’s Cross and the word “England” emblazoned on the front--are, in fact, made in Turkey.
* 6. Because Dutch economists are calling for the favored Netherlands not to win the tournament because victory would increase consumer spending and overheat the economy. “A further boost to confidence could be harmful, and that is why we would like to call on the sense of national duty on the part of the Dutch players and managers,” the economists’ report states.
* 5. Because of the plight--not to mention the reaction--of luckless Aleksandar Kocic, Yugoslavia’s third-string goalkeeper, who broke his finger three days before the team’s departure for the tournament. Said Kocic, who did the damage when he slipped in the shower: “This happens once in 100 years. I don’t know how I could fall just before the trip.” Or trip just before the fall.
* 4. Because it elicits the most ludicrous comments from Germany’s coach, Erich Ribbeck, who told the weekly Die Zeit newspaper that black players have a natural advantage in soccer. “It’s like with dancing,” Ribbeck said, “a black person simply has different movements, it’s not just a question of training. You’d have to be colorblind not to see the truth. Five black players dominate the Dutch national team, for example.”
* 3. Because it was color that led to the arrest of one Dutch fan, who is so overcome by the tournament that he painted his rented home orange, the team’s jersey color, and the sidewalk in front of the house red, white and blue, the colors of the Dutch flag. “We cannot tolerate people who cause irreparable damage to our property,” the building’s colorless owner said. Meanwhile, an undertaker in the Dutch town of Vught is offering orange coffins to Netherlands fans who die during the tournament.
* 2. Because the Atomium, the huge atom-shaped landmark that is a symbol of both Brussels and Belgium, will not be repainted to represent soccer balls, despite an offer of $40,000 from a sportswear company seeking permission to do just that. The nonprofit organization that manages the monument had a valid reason. It said the offer was too low.
* And the No. 1 reason why Euro 2000 makes for curious reading: Because the Swedish team can’t figure out where rumors of a ban on sex originated. “I don’t know where it comes from,” midfielder Fredrik Ljungberg said. “When we are in the camp here we don’t have any wives, so obviously there’s no sex either.”
