El Salvador Reveals Roster for U.S. Game
El Salvador named an 18-player roster Monday for Sunday’s game against the United States at RFK Stadium in Washington.
The Salvadoran team, which did not qualify for the 2002 World Cup, has not played since the 2002 Gold Cup in January, at which time it was beaten, 4-0, by the U.S. in a game in which Brian McBride scored a hat trick.
The full roster:
Goalkeepers: Juan Gomez and Fidel Mondragon.
Defenders: Ramiro Carballo, Julio Castro, Marvin Gonzalez, Carlos Menjivar, Jr., Alfredo Pacheco, Mauricio Quintanilla, William Torres and Victor Manuel Velasquez.
Midfielders: Selvin Gonzalez, Gilberto Murgas and Roberto Vasquez.
Forwards: Rudis Corrales, Francisco Fuentes, Jose Galdamez, Diego Mejia and Jose Mejia.
The U.S. holds an 8-1-4 all-time record against El Salvador. Sunday’s match will be the Americans’ final game of the year, during which they have won the Gold Cup, reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup, risen to an all-time high of No. 8 in the FIFA world rankings and compiled an 11-6-2 record.
Sampson Signs
Former U.S. World Cup coach Steve Sampson, who last month agreed to become Costa Rica’s coach and technical director of all its national teams, signed a four-year, $1.4-million contract in San Jose, Costa Rica.
“I am very proud to be here and I understand the great responsibility that I will have in Costa Rica,” said Sampson, who will take charge on Dec. 1 after moving to San Jose from Agoura. “We will start working immediately.”
Sampson replaced Bora Milutinovic as the U.S. coach in 1995 and resigned after the 1998 World Cup, where the Americans went 0-3 and finished last. His record with the U.S. was 26-22-14.
Guatemala Surprise
Joaquin Alvarez, a 6-foot central defender from Jersey City, N.J., who plays for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars’ reserve team, MetroStars Black, in the New Jersey Champions League, was called up by the Guatemala under-21 national team for the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador. Alvarez was born in Guatemala City.
Heading Verdict
A coroner in England ruled that Jeff Astle, former West Bromwich Albion and England national team forward, died earlier this year of a brain disorder aggravated by repeatedly heading a heavy leather soccer ball during his playing career in the 1960s, before the introduction of lighter balls made of water-repellent synthetic material.
Heading played “a significant role” in Astle’s death at 59 in January, coroner Andrew Haigh told Reuters.
“The head trauma which Mr. Astle suffered during his professional career made at least a significant contribution to the degenerative brain condition which ultimately caused his death,” Haigh said.
“What actually caused his death was a build up of protein in the vessels in the brain, so the heading of a football would certainly have played a significant role.”
Astle scored 137 goals in 292 matches for West Brom and also played five times for England, including the memorable 1-0 loss to Brazil in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
Iraq Gets a Coach
Choosing what might be viewed as a peculiar time for such a career move, German-born coach Bernd Stange ended five weeks of negotiations and signed a four-year deal in Baghdad to be Iraq’s Olympic and national team coach, with the intention of qualifying for the Athens 2004 Games and the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Stange, 54, who was criticized in his own country for even considering the post, consulted with FIFA and with the German foreign ministry before accepting the job. The contract gives him the option of leaving in the event of war.
Armenian Double
Pyunik Yerevan, which earlier this year won the Armenian Cup, clinched the Armenian league title with a lopsided victory in its next-to-last game of the season to give Argentine Coach Oscar Lopez the double in his first season in charge.
