Summer No Time for U.S. to Kick Back

By GRAHAME L. JONES

May 7, 2000 12 AM PT

It is a measure of how far soccer has come in this country that the United States would even attempt as ambitious a schedule as the one facing the men’s and women’s national teams this summer.

Top-flight opponents used to be a relative rarity, with difficult games and problematic tournaments interspersed with weaker opponents and easier competitions to keep the U.S. record rosy.

No more.

If it is to maintain its No. 1 ranking in the world on the women’s side and its top-25 ranking in the world on the men’s side, the U.S. must play it tough, and few recent summers have been as tough as this one will be for coaches April Heinrichs and Bruce Arena.

What follows is a brief look ahead to the hurdles on the road to the Sydney Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup.

TO AUSTRALIA AND BEYOND

Today in Portland, Ore., Heinrichs leads the U.S. women against Canada in the championship match of the Nike U.S. Women’s Cup.

The game, which will mark midfielder Kristine Lilly’s world-record 200th international appearance, is the final warm-up before the team’s trip to Australia to compete in the inaugural Pacific Cup, to be played May 31-June 11 at six stadiums in Canberra, Sydney and Newcastle.

The U.S. will play World Cup ’99 runner-up China in the opener, followed by Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Australia in a tournament changed to a round-robin format after the withdrawal of Scotland and North Korea.

The six-nation event is seen as a dry run for the Summer Games, but also will serve as a warm-up for the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup June 23-July 3 in the U.S. Heinrichs’ squad will face Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, and Brazil, World Cup ‘99’s third-place team, in the first round.

The real test for Mia Hamm and company, however, will be in July, when the American women travel to Europe for five consecutive difficult games.

First, they go to Germany to take part in a tournament that is part of the centenary celebrations of the German soccer federation. Also competing are two-time European champion Germany, former world champion Norway and Asian champion China.

Next, they go to Norway for two games against the only country with a winning record against the U.S. The first match will be a “midnight sun” game kicking off at 10:30 p.m. in Tromso, about 115 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The second will be in Oslo.

The U.S. women also will play in a series of Olympic send-off matches in the U.S. in August and September, one at the Rose Bowl. Opponents have yet to be named, but the Americans’ approach will be clear.

“Any time we compete for something, it’s very important to us,” Lilly told the Associated Press last week. “We play to win, no matter if we’re playing a friendly, a not-so-friendly, whatever you want to call it. I think that’s why we’ve been so successful, because we play everything that way.”

TO WHO KNOWS WHERE

Things are just as tough for the U.S. men, what with the World Cup 2002 qualifying schedule looming.

Coming off a 2-0 loss to Russia in Moscow, the U.S. team’s next task is the four-nation Nike U.S. Cup, which also features Ireland, Mexico and South Africa.

Arena’s team opens against the South Africans on June 3 at RFK Stadium in Washington in the first meeting between the former champions of CONCACAF and Africa.

The Americans play Ireland at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., on June 6 and Mexico on June 11 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

“The field is outstanding,” Arena said. “Mexico is a team we’ve had a lot of difficulty with over the last few years. South Africa is a team with terrific promise, and Ireland is a team that has been pretty successful over the last couple of months in European competition.

“This is very important for us in terms of our preparation, come July 12, for our first World Cup qualifying game. This is the first time in about 18 months that we’ll have our full team together. We have not been able to do this in our previous 20 matches, and this is very exciting to me.”

To reciprocate South Africa’s participation, the U.S. has agreed to take part in the Mandela Cup in South Africa in either 2001 or 2002.

“We have two objectives for the U.S. Cup,” Arena said. “One, to try to win and, second, to get ready for the World Cup qualifying.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Up Next

Upcoming schedules for the U.S. national soccer teams:

MEN

June 3

U.S. Cup vs. South Africa

at RFK Stadium, Washington

June 6

U.S. Cup vs. Ireland

at Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Mass.