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Sampson out as U.S. soccer coach
Posted: Tuesday October 27, 1998 11:18 AM
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Sampson is out as the U.S. National Team coach Brian Bahr/Allsport |
PARIS (CNN/SI) -- Ask and you shall receive, no matter how poorly your
performance. That's what happened Monday when U.S. soccer coach Steve
Sampson was forced out of his job after numerous complaints from the U.S.
soccer players.
The first American-born coach to lead the United
States at a World Cup, Sampson oversaw an 0-3 flop and a last-place
finish in the 32-team field.
The U.S. players, led by a strong veteran contingent that ended up sitting
on the bench for much of the three first-round matches, began questioning
Sampson and calling for him to lose his job in the aftermath of the U.S.'s
2-1 loss to Iran on June 20.
"We were naive to think an inexperienced coach would see the value of
experienced players," forward Eric Wynalda said. "We should never let this
happen again."
U.S. Soccer Federation president Alan Rothenberg met Sampson for
breakfast in Paris on Monday morning, then announced Sampson's resignation.
Neither Sampson nor Rothenberg was immediately available for comment.
When Sampson's predecessor, Bora Milutinovic, left three years ago,
Rothenberg announced he had resigned, but Milutinovic later said he was
fired.
"We at the federation thank Steve for his tremendous service to our
national team program and to soccer in the USA," Rothenberg's statement
said. "His tireless work has helped advance our sport and, on balance, it
was an era of growth. I compliment him on his many achievements with our
team."
Carlos Alberto Parreira, who led Brazil to the
1994 World Cup title, is probably the top candidate to take over, with D.C.
United's Bruce Arena available if Rothenberg wants an American. Parreira
turned down the U.S. job after leading Brazil to the World Cup title four
years ago and was fired June 20 by Saudi
Arabia after it started the tournament 0-2.
"I think someone with certainly some international experience,"
midfielder Tab Ramos said when asked what qualities the new coach should
have.
"It needs to be somebody who can handle pressure at the highest level,"
former captain John Harkes said, "someone who can still teach us things,
someone who's been there at the highest level, maybe someone who's played.
When you have someone like that, automatic respect is there."
Sampson, who took over in April 1995, had a 26-22-14 record, by far the
best of any coach who led the U.S. team for an extended period. But in
soccer, the quadrennial World Cup is far more important than all the other
games. And because his only previous experience as a head coach was at
Santa Clara, players began to question him.
"We need to learn some lessons from the problems that we had this time
around so it never happens again, so future teams are prepared properly to
show at the international level," defender Alexi Lalas said.
The high point for Sampson was a 1-0 victory over world champion Brazil
on February 10. But two months later he began a series of controversial
moves, starting with the April 14 decision to cut Harkes from the World Cup
roster for tactical and disciplinary reasons.
Once at the World Cup, Sampson relegated Wynalda, Lalas, Ramos, Marcelo
Balboa and Jeff Agoos to secondary roles, provoking bitter attacks. Ramos,
Lalas and Agoos vowed after Thursday's tournament-ending 1-0 loss to Yugoslavia
that they wouldn't play for the national team again as long as Sampson was
coach.
"It's unfortunate for everyone, the way things turned out," Ramos said.
"Some guys, like myself, said some things and Steve answered back. At the
end, I was thinking, `This isn't smart by anybody."'
Sampson on Friday said he never considered resigning and that Rothenberg
had to decide whether the team's performance was caused by poor coaching or
poor execution. He also said he was proud of the way the team played during
most of the tournament and maintained the United States improved since
1994, when it was eliminated by Brazil in the second round.
"The entire team, we're responsible for the performance we had in France, and I
hope we can look at the experience and we can learn from our mistakes,"
Lalas said. "But I think it's insulting to the American fans to say, `We
put on a show, we worked hard and we're getting better as a soccer-playing
nation.'
"There's nothing wrong with saying we failed. If we're saying we want to
be viewed as a progressive soccer-playing nation, we want to be viewed
along with the best teams, we have to be honest -- both when we succeed and
when we fail. If we're just going to continue saying, `Rah, rah for the
red-white-and-blue, and we played well and we showed things,' we might as
well have orange peels at halftime and it'll be a youth league."
Sampson used an unusual 3-6-1 formation (three defenders, six midfielders
and one forward) in the opening 2-0 loss to Germany, then
made five changes in the lineup for the critical game against Iran. Players
didn't seem to know where they stood.
"Maybe there's a sense of frustration that international careers are
coming to an end and they needed a scapegoat," Sampson said last Friday.
"It's unfair it was pointed at me, the individual who stuck with them for a
long time."
Players were angry that U.S. soccer's reputation was damaged.
"The federation somehow could have prevented what happened," Harkes said.
"The sad thing is the rest of the world looks at us now and says we're not
that good. But the talent was undermined. That was the decision by the
coach."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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