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Don't celebrate yet
U.S. faces close encounters of the Costa Rican kind
Posted: Thursday April 19, 2001 12:12 PM
Updated: Tuesday April 24, 2001 1:19 PM
Before anyone gets overly excited and starts any premature celebrations of a
potential U.S. World Cup qualifying victory over Costa Rica, a word to the
wise: Don't.
The United States' qualifying history with the Central Americans has been littered
with close encounters and bitter disappointments, home and away. And next
week's match in Kansas City could go either way.
In fact, the U.S. owns a 7-8-4 record vs. Costa Rica. In qualifying, the U.S.
is 3-5-2 against the Central American side and 3-1-1 at home. No U.S. victory has
been by more than one goal, while the Costa Ricans have prevailed twice by
two goals.
Costa Rica and the U.S. have been involved in a number of memorable matches,
including three dramatic 1-0 encounters on U.S. soil in the past 16 years:
A victory in St. Louis on April 30, 1989 that saw goalkeeper David Vanole
made an 11th-hour save on defender Mauricio Montero's penalty kick attempt as
time was running out. Tab Ramos scored the lone goal.
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A 1-0 triumph in Portland on Sept. 7, 1997, as Ramos, just back from knee
surgery, scored a dramatic, late goal to keep the Americans' hopes alive.
And an agonizing 1-0 loss in Torrance, Calif. on May 31, 1985,
which eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup in the CONCACAF semifinal round
exactly a year to the day before the kickoff of Mexico '86. That, incidentally,
was the last time the U.S. lost at home, as the qualifying streak has reached 18
consecutive unbeaten matches.
The Kansas City match has the potential to be a classic confrontation.
A couple of things to remember:
Costa Rica is one tough side. It scored during stoppage time (yeah, there
were five extra minutes added) to tie Honduras in its opener 2-2. The
Central Americans then rolled past Trindiad & Tobago 3-0. In other words,
the winner of Wednesday's confrontation will wind up atop the six-team
standings.
The U.S. hasn't allowed a home goal in a qualifier since the 4-2 win over
El Salvador in Nov. 16, 1997. The last goal was a penalty kick by D.C. United
forward Raul Diaz Arce in the 63rd minute. Since then the Americans have
blanked five consecutive opponents and have a 477-minute scoreless streak.
2003: A dream in the making?
The next FIFA Club World Championship is scheduled for 2003, and don't be
surprised if the U.S. winds up hosting the event. Sorry, I have no inside
information on FIFA's desire on which country will host the event.
But the U.S. hosting a major international soccer event certainly seems
logical. FIFA hasn't held a major tournament here since the 1999 Women's
World Cup. And FIFA loves coming to America because it is the United States
and because organization officials feel they can have a successful event
here. Besides, the earliest a World Cup can come to the U.S. is 2014 (unless
there is another fan tragedy or two in South Africa).
I see this interesting scenario -- because FIFA would definitely want a team
from the host country, it isn't all that inconceivable that the 2002 MLS champion
would get an automatic bid and the right to host at least first-round
matches. I also could see the 2002 runner-up and the 2001 league champion
compete in the CONCACAF qualifying competition, giving the U.S. another shot
at having a second team in the 12-team tournament.
Remember, this is only a thought. Nothing concrete has happened -- yet.
Sorry, no revenge this time
Remember when MetroStars defender Mike Petke vowed "Revenge is Coming," after
MLS scoring champion Mamadou Diallo rammed into goalkeeper Mike Ammann last
Aug. 16? Petke says he has no plans to avenge the incident when the MetroStars host Tampa Bay this Saturday (3 p.m. EDT; espn2).
"No, no, not at all," Petke said. "I'm not think about that, whatsoever. It's
the third game of the season. I'm thinking about a win.
"My revenge was going to be beating him and the Mutiny in the playoffs," Petke
said. "God, I'm the president of an anti-youth-violence organization. I
wasn't going to break his leg."
Petke was fined $250 by the league last season for displaying the
controversial message on an undershirt during a goal celebration. But even
with Ammann traded to D.C. United, there still was much anticipation of the
first meeting between the two clubs since the incident.
Sack of the week
The coaching merry-go-round continues with Albanian champions SK Tirana,
which fired coach Miklos Temesvari on Tuesday. After collecting two points in
their previous two encounters, Tirana went down 1-0 to Tomori Berat on
Saturday. Tirana trails first-place Vllaznia Shkoder by two points.
"If you
ask me the reason of my dismissal I don't have one. Only the president who
took this decision knows," Temesvari was quoted in Sport Express daily.
Temesvari's successor? Why, his predecessor, Shkelqim Muca, who was dumped
after Tirana lost to Moldovans Zimbru in a pre-qualifying match for the
Champions League last summer.
Chips shots
Sad situation. Incredible news enamating out of Chicago that Rich Schneider
is no longer U.S. national team press officer. Depending on which side you
believe, Schneider either was fired, according to sources, or resigned,
according to U.S. Soccer. Schneider had been at odds (and that term might be
mild to describe his relationship) with U.S. national coach Bruce Arena over
media access to the coach and the team. The situation came to a head in
Honduras when the two had words. Since returning home Schneider has
experienced physical problems, apparently over the stress of his tug-of-war
with Arena, according to reliable sources. He was let go on Tuesday. A sad
situation, indeed.
Pele a no-show. How embarrassed are the MetroStars after they learned that
Pele announced on Wednesday that he won't attend their NASL Reunion Weekend
due to personal reasons? Pele was to be introduced to the crowd with some 40
former Cosmos and North American Soccer League stars a hour half before the
MetroStars host the Tampa Bay Mutiny at 3 p.m. Saturday. That leaves the
reunion without the Cosmos's three best-known players -- Pele, Franz
Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia -- from what is considered the best
American soccer team ever.
Missed opportunity. The NASL Reunion Weekend has been plagued with some
headaches. The MetroStars can't mention Cosmos in any of their promotions or
press releases because Pepe Pinton, a former Cosmos executive, owns the
rights to the name and could not come to an agreement with the MLS club.
That's too bad, because Pinton missed out on a marvelous opportunity to market
his team at the stadium. It's not like people are breaking down doors to have
Cosmos reunion days these days. The Cosmos might have enjoyed a glorious
past, but the MetroStars are the metropolitan area's future.
Hello, Columbus -- again. U.S. Soccer is close to announcing an
international friendly between the U.S. and Ecuador in Columbus on June 7,
according to sources. The last details are being finalized. U.S. national
coach Bruce Arena wants to use that match as a warm-up for two key qualifying
matches against Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago later that month.
Good start. The 34,000-plus crowd that attended the Women's United Soccer
Association opener at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., was encouraging,
indeed. There were major problems of long lines of fans at the will call
windows and subsequently missing a good portion of the first half. (Believe me
folks, you didn't miss much.) Weren't there similar problems of fans waiting in
line for long periods of time when Salvadorans wanted to watch Raul Diaz
Arce play when he returned to D.C. several years ago? In some respects, history
repeats itself. At least the Washington Freedom and WUSA had the right idea to give
those fans a free ticket for a future match. While the crowd was impressive,
the real test will come in the second, third and fourth games (not just in
D.C., but everywhere). Will the fans come back?
Wait until October. It seems that a Fire-MetroStars matchup is everyone's
dream game in MLS Cup. Well, if they do survive the first two rounds of the
playoffs, the Oct. 21 championship game in Columbus just might be the first
time they meet with full squads. They are scheduled to play regular-season
games on July 1 and Sept. 1, which conflict with World Cup qualifying
matches. Both teams will lose at least two players, with the Fire potentially
missing several more.
Don't panic -- yet. Heard that many New England Revolution fans are in a
fit over the team's 0-2 start. It's way too early to panic, considering the
Revs deserved a point in their 2-1 extra time loss to the MetroStars two weeks
ago. Remember, the Revs haven't had a full squad yet either, and some teams
need more time to find that elusive chemistry. If the Revs go winless it
their first four or five games, then it's time to start getting worried.
Those Wednesday night blues. I thought one reason why MLS cut its schedule
from 32 to 28 games was to increase weekend matches and get rid of those
nasty Wednesday affairs. So, what do we get in Kansas City with the season
barely three weeks old? A Wednesday match where only 4,420 spectators
show up. Wednesday night in K.C.? You're only asking for trouble. Next Wednesday match on
tap: the MetroStars vs. K.C. at Giants Stadium on May 2.
The streak is on the line. Yours truly enters next week's qualifier with an
incredible 18-game unbeaten streak going back some 16 years (no, my streak
doesn't exactly correspond to the United States' streak because I have missed some
home and away matches). Yes, I missed those losses on the road, especially
the ones in Costa Rica. Yes, I attended that 1985 match in Torrance, my only
defeat watching the national team at qualifying matches in person.
Gut feeling. Saying all of that, I believe the streak will reach 19 games,
although the U.S. will play Costa Rica to a 1-1 draw. Earnie Stewart (yeah, I
know, what a surprise!) will score the Americans' lone goal.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News.
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